Wild Country Rocks Nuts Review

On May 28, 2018August 31, 2025 By Olympus MountaineeringIn Gear Review16 Comments

It’s spring time and the winter mountaineering activities already gave place to other kind of outdoor adventures such as Long Distance Hiking and Rock Climbing. In this post, I will review a protection product that is used both for Winter Mountaineering activities and for Climbing.

The Wild Country rock with its curved sides is a Wild Country original and revolutionised how we protect routes.

Still the backbone of any good rack, the current incarnation is considerably more advanced than its predecessor and significantly lighter as well. Keeping the original groundbreaking curve, rocks now come with thinner, lighter sidewalls, a lateral side taper, anodised heads for quick selection and an extended range – with fourteen sizes in all.

WildCountry_Rock_Nuts_Preview_5200 — Wild Country ROCKS 1-8

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Winter Mountaineering Activities | Season 2017 – 2018 Summary

On April 1, 2018July 6, 2020 By Olympus MountaineeringIn Winter Mountaineering2 Comments

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

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Vardousia Mountains Alpine Climb via Lion’s Couloir

On March 12, 2018September 4, 2025 By Olympus MountaineeringIn Winter Mountaineering12 Comments

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.

The Vardousia is drained by tributaries of the river Spercheios to the north, the Mornos to the east and south, and the Evinos to the west. The Panaitoliko mountains are to the west, Tymfristos to the northwest, Oeta to the east and Giona to the southeast.

Vardousia_Lion_Gully_Olympus_Mountaineering_5366 — Mount Aselinon (Giona) while driving to Vardousia Mountains

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

On March 5, 2018March 5, 2018 By Olympus MountaineeringIn Winter Mountaineering9 Comments

We are already in beginning of March and the short winter mountaineering season in Greece will be concluded in about a month from now. Therefore, for this climb, we have decided to do a more demanding winter mountaineering ascent in the non-famous peak of Nisi (paradoxically the meaning of Nisi in Greek is “island), which is located nearby Lake Doxa, and is actually the beginning of the famous alpine route “Arête of Chelmos“.

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.

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