Winter Mountaineering Activities | Season 2017 – 2018 Summary

Winter is gone, spring has come. One more season of winter mountaineering activities have been concluded in Greece and this is a short summary post with the highlights of this year’s Winter Mountaineering activities. If you wish to see the individual posts which contain detailed information and more photos, you can click to the following links:

Vardousia_Lion_Gully_Olympus_Mountaineering_5387 — Vardousia Mountain

Parnassos Mountain Winter Mountaineering Ascent

Located at the center of Greece, Parnassus (Parnassos) is one of the biggest and most beautiful mountains of the country. Its highest part is Liakoura peak at 2.457 m. and Tsarkos (2.415 m.) and Gerontovrahos (2.389 m.) peaks follow.

For this winter mountaineering ascent, we have decided to follow a rather long but very nice route. Our starting point was the mountain hut Defner (which is located at an altitude of 1.840 m.) and we visited the three main peaks of Parnassos mountain,Liakoura peak at 2.457 m. and Tsarkos (2.415 m.)and Gerontovrahos (2.389 m.).

Parnassos_Winter_Ascent_Olympus_Mountaineering_3D — 3D view of the route

Dirfi Mountain Alpine Climb via Central Couloir

Dirfi is the highest mountain of Evia. Although Evia is technically an island, it is considered part of mainland Greece because it is only separated by a narrow channel. It stretches from NW to SE, with Dirfi rising in the middle.

Our starting point was the mountain hut of Dirfi and we wanted to reach the highest point of the mountain via the impressive and relatively difficult to climb the “couloir of Dirfi”. Unfortunately, for this time of the year the snow conditions on the mountain were really poor and therefore we were prepared to climb to the top in mixed climb conditions. This means, the climb would be done in snow and rock.

Dirfi_Mountain_Winter_Ascent_Olympus_Mountaineering_3D — 3D view of the route

Winter Mountaineering Climb on Nisi Peak (Arête of Chelmos/Aroania)

Nisi is the first high peak of the Arête of Chelmos” route and the highest point is at 2.042 meters above sea level. It has a very steep ridgeline and there are 2 main ways in order to reach the peak. The first option is to hike up from Lake Doxa towards the “hunter’s col“.

This is the same route that also leads to Mount Pentelia a.k.a. Dourdouvana and is a beautiful and relatively easy route. The second option is to start from the Monastery of St. George, which is located on a beautiful plateau overlooking Lake Doxa, and to each the “Madero Col“. From St. George Monastery till “Madero Col” the route is rather easy crossing small creeks, a beautiful pine forest and parts of a local dirt road.

Olympus_Mountaineering_Nisi-Peak_Chelmos_Aroania_3D_03 — 3D view of the route

Vardousia Mountains Alpine Climb via Lion’s Couloir

Vardousia (Greek: Βαρδούσια) is a mountain in northwestern Phocis and southwestern Phthiotis, Greece. Its highest peak, Korakas (Greek: Κόρακας) reaches 2,495 m (8,186 ft) above sea level, making it the second-tallest summit in Central Greece after Giona. It is a southern extension of the Pindus mountains. It is divided into three main parts: Northern Vardousia, whose highest peak is Sinani at 2,059 metres (6,755 feet), the very steep Western Vardousia, whose highest peak is Soufles at 2,300 metres (7,500 feet), and Southern Vardousia, with the highest peak of Korakas. The whole range measures about 25 kilometres (16 miles) from north to south.

Vardousia mountains is perhaps the most interesting mountain in Greece for winter mountaineering activities, alpine climbs and even steep ice climbing activities. In fact there are numerous of alpine climbing routes such as the following ones:

Vardousia – Gidovouni
Vardousia – Gioni To Plai
Vardousia – Korakas
Vardousia – Koryfi 2437
Vardousia – Pano Psilo
Vardousia – Pyramida
Vardousia – Skorda Mousounitsas
Vardousia – Skorda Pitimalikou
Vardousia – Skoufia

The route for the famous Lion’s couloir starts from the EOOA mountain shelter and the beginning of the route is on a slope which is about 35-40 degrees up to the rocky area of the couloir. From the first rocks, the steepness of the slope starts to get more serious and on some parts exceeds the 60 degrees of steepness. It was a lovely climb up to the rocks but due to the steepness of the slope we needed to secure our selves with snow pickets on a couple of part of the route.

Vardousia_Lion_Gully_Olympus_Mountaineering_3D — 3D view of the Lion’s Couloir

Aroania (Chelmos) Winter Mountaineering Ascent

Aroania, also known as Helmos or Chelmos, is a mountain range in Achaea, Peloponnese, Greece. At 2,355 m elevation, Aroania is the third highest mountain of the Peloponnese, after Taygetus and Kyllini, and the highest in Achaea. The largest town near the mountain is Kalavryta. The municipal unit Aroania took its name from the mountain.

Aroania is situated in southeastern Achaea, near the border with Corinthia. The slightly higher Kyllini mountain is about 15 km to its east, separated from Aroania by the valley of the river Olvios. The mountain Erymanthos is about 30 km to the west, across the valley of the river Vouraikos. The rivers Krios, Krathis and Vouraikos drain the mountain towards the Gulf of Corinth in the north. The river Aroanios drains the mountain towards the southwest, to the Ionian Sea.

Aroani_Chelmos_Helmos_Winter_Mountaineering_3D — 3D view of the route

If you wish to see the individual post and read more details and enjoy more photos, feel free to visit the links bellow:

Now that winter is gone and spring has come, we will still enjoy the outdoors but with a bit different of activities such as Day Hikes, Thru-Hikes, Overnight Adventures and various Scrambling and Climbing activities. Therefore, stay tuned on Olympus Mountaineering for the upcoming posts.