Rock climbing at Meteora

The rock climbing at Meteora consists of huge pinnacles and monasteries (similar to Montserrat in Spain), with some of these monasteries actually located on top of the pinnacles. The routes here are a mixture between bolted and traditional (placing own protection), and vary between single pitch and multi-pitch routes up to 285m long.

There is a considerable variation in the amount of fixed gear (bolts and some pegs) used on routes and, historically the ethic was to use as little as possible. Therefore you can climb a well-bolted single pitch route, and then a more committing multi-pitch trad route, where you will need to place nuts and friends along with the occasional bolt or peg. The type of rock is mainly conglomerate along with some limestone and granite. The majority of routes are on slaby or vertical rock with many routes in the F5a to F6c+ grade range, though harder quality routes are also available.

The Meteora best of the Classics Guidebook describes 206 of the best multi-pitch routes, offering both traditional and modern routes and is available to buy from our shop.

Close to Meteora are the crags of Theopetra, Pyli and Mouzaki. These crags offer well-bolted sport climbing on good quality limestone rock. The climbing is often steep including routes with tufas on clean rock.

The sport climbing routes at Meteora and Theopetra are described in the Meteora Sport Climbing Guidebook, which is available to buy from our shop.

At Rizoma there is a good bouldering area on sandstone rock. This area is reasonably well developed with approximately 100 problems, with most of the problems marked with numbers or arrows. There is a good range of grades here (Fb 2a to 7b+), though the more popular problems are in the Fb 5a to 6c+ range. A crash mat is advisable though most of the boulders are not that high, which makes the bouldering very enjoyable.

Meteora is located in the northern half of Greece, near the town of Trikala, with the closest main city being Larisa. The best time to visit this area is from autumn through to the spring, though it can be cold (and sometimes snow) in the winter. The popular place for rock climbers to stay is the Vrachos campsite at Kastraki.

To get the most out of the rock climbing at Meteora (with it's unique atmosphere), it is advisable to take twin 50m ropes and traditional gear such as nuts and friends. A single 70m rope and quickdraws are sufficient providing you are only looking to do single pitch sports routes.

The Meteora Sport Climbing Guidebook describes over 300 sport climbing routes at Meteora and Theopetra, and is available to buy from our shop.

The Meteora best of the Classics Guidebook describes 206 of the best multi-pitch routes, offering both traditional and modern routes and is available to buy from our shop.

Meteora is included in the Rock around the World guidebook.  In this guidebook it describes 22 multi-pitch routes at Meteora, ranging from 100m up to 250m long, with grades ranging from F5c to F6b+. Further information is then given about the style of climbing found at Meteora, what fixed gear generally exists, and a suggestion of what gear is required for climbing at Meteora.  Buy this Rock around the World guidebook from our shop.