Greece is the word (again)

Had a blast of a week with my old mate Phil Davidson down here at the end of June, before we headed off to Greece again. We went to lots of quiet places and he was pretty impressed with the Gorges du Loup. It was just like old times and the banter was spot on. Thanks yer spaz, it was great to catch up.

Phil Davidson succumbs to sugar! (Photo by Elaine).

Phil on "Perfotactyl" (7a+) at Jurassic Park. (Photo by Elaine).

Unfortunately, it's been a very hot summer this year and Greece was no exception. Despite struggling with the heat, we managed to have a great time and spent a few weeks with Dave and Rhian Cross. We started off at Leonidio again and enjoyed climbing at Jupiter, Limeri and Elona. We also visited the over-hyped sectors of HADA and Crash of the Titans, which we found very disappointing and not really worth bothering with, in our opinion. We also found a lot of the grades in the new topo pretty stiff now; there certainly weren't any "holiday" grades. Whilst at Leonidio, we stayed in a really nice little studio ("Armenaki Apartments" run by the lovely Eugenia) in the idyllic seaside village of Sampatiki (just a few km north along the coast).

The Boss at the helm.

The idyllic port and beach at Sampatiki.

Ruff approves of our studio and balcony.

Armenaki Apartments in Sampatiki.

The reception area at Armenaki Apartments, Sampatiki. (Photo by Eugenia).

For us this was the highlight of sector HADA, Leonidio.

Dave Cross on "Gene Clark" (7a) at Jupiter, Leonidio. (Photos by Elaine).

You can get great coffee and croissants in Leonidio. (Photos by Elaine).

We then moved on to Lagada (just like last year) where conditions were much better and we met up with our lovely Greek friends Artemis and Kostas. Once again we were super happy to be able to do some great routes in Petsanes Cave and also down at Splithari too. Camping in the Cali down at the dry riverbed at Lagada has to be one of our favourite places.

Camping besides the dry riverbed at Lagada.

Perfect for camper vans. (Photo by Elaine).

We met up with Artemis and Kostas again (who we met at Pyli last year).

Dave Cross on the tricky "Nistikos Deipnos" (7a!) at Splithari, Lagada.

Dave Cross on the excellent "Stefanos Notios" (7c) at Splithari, Lagada.

Artemis on the technical "Sensi Seeds" (6b) at Splithari, Lagada.

3 photos of Stefanos on the brilliant "Master Yoda" (7c+) at Petsanes Cave, Lagada. (Photos by Elaine).

4 photos of the tricky sections on the superb "Fu Manchu" (8a) at Petsanes Cave, Lagada. (Photos by Elaine).

The really bold "Guernika" (8a) at Splithari, Lagada. Only 6 bolts in 35 metres make this quite scary indeed. (Photo by Dave).

2 photos showing how steep "Pull Up" (7c/7c+) is at Petsanes Cave, Lagada. (Photos by Artemis).

We finished off with two weeks at Pyli (another excellent summer venue) where we met up with Artemis and Kostas again. We also met Rob and Désirée, a really psyched Swiss couple who were bivvying on the remains of the old decking at the crag. Whilst there, we stayed in a great studio in Kanalia, about 15 km from the crag, which belonged to the family that own the excellent "Kanalion Gefsis" restaurant.

Chicken souvlaki and tsatsiki.

Courgette chips and garlic.

Baked aubergines and yoghurt.

Great food and ambiance at the Kanalion Gefsis restaurant. (Photos by Elaine).

Local grimpeuse on the classic "Dizzy Dolls" (7b+/7c) at Pyli.

 Désirée on "IRA" (6b!) at Pyli.

Roby on the classic "Anaconda" (7c+) at Pyli.

There's lots of different beers to try in Greece.

Back home it's still very hot and sweaty, although it's not stopping the young, keen locals from sending their projects at Déversé. We haven't been able to go to Jurassic Park or Cayenne because of the repair work to the tunnels and footpath (until the end of this year). No problem, luckily there's always Art Bloc, where there have been some big improvements to the 60 degree overhang and the salle d'anniversaire, and not forgetting loads of constantly changing blocs and air con too. Just perfect!

Back at Art Bloc on one of Bernard's "violets". (Photo by Elaine).