The Craic

The Ivory Tower is far from the best crag on Kalymnos, but this route is a gem, and totally worth the hike up. Smack in the middle of the Ivory Tower, The Craic takes the proudest line up the center of the beautiful face.

Start on the 5.10 route Poker Face, but branch off left onto the obvious, steep face. I'd recommend that you skip all of the bolts before branching left (or back cleaning them) for rope drag purposes. The climbing here is ~5.6.

From the slab, climb out left and awkwardly clip the first bolt. Get back on the slab and figure out your plan. There is chalk everywhere! Some moves waaayyy out right, but that's nonsense. Going straight up and just right of the bolts is incredibly positive and very straightforward. Hit the big jug and pull onto that beautiful tufa. Grab a kneebar here, catch your breath, and then launch into the beautiful tufa system. The crux looms just below the first giant hueco, and involves some cool undercling pinches that are facing the wrong way and some fancy footwork. Hit the hueco, rest, and then perform another cruxy move to gain the second giant hueco. Grab a kneebar, or maybe sit down if you can, and then launch off into the incredible layback crack, with a few hand jams and finger locks. The exposure here is incredible. Clip the chains and be glad you spent that time in Indian Creek learning how to crack climb.

NOTE: there is a LARGE, LOOSE block at the very top of the route. It has a large X on it, but it is NOT necessary to use. It can be very easily avoided, and thankfully the climbing eases at this point.

middle of the Ivory Tower wall

bolts

listed as 36 meters in the guide, my 80 meter rope had a lot left to spare. A 70 meter should be adequate, as the start of the route is very easy and your belayer can scramble up without concern. Tie a knot!