Wild Country

Telendos South Face (left of Crescendo cave, just left of Eterna) · Kalymnos & Telendos · Greece

Bail with caveatsBolting confidence: high

A sustained, varied line on sculpted limestone. It starts with an easy slab and builds to slightly overhanging jugs with huge exposure on the top pitch. Mountain Project and camptocamp grade the crux 6a+ (Rockfax says 6a). With a 70 m rope you can link several pairs of pitches.

Topo of Wild Country, left of the Crescendo cave, Telendos south facePhoto: herve thivierge · CC BY-SA 3.0

Hardest pitch: 6a
Pitches: 9
Length: 265 m
Approach: 60 min
Aspect: S; South-facing
Rope: 1×70 m

The route

Overview

Nine pitches up the buttress left of the Crescendo cave on the south face of Telendos, by the same Swiss team as Wings for Life. It is more sustained and more varied than its neighbour: easy slabs to start, balancy grey walls in the middle, and a slightly overhanging juggy finish with a lot of air. The rock is sculpted and sharp, painfully so near the top. Bolts are numerous and the belays are solid double-bolt anchors, but the line zigzags, so abseiling off is awkward and you should plan to top out and walk round the island.

The climbing

Pitch by pitch

5a5a6a5c5c6a+6a5b5c

Pitches of Wild Country
Pitch	Grade	Notes
P1	5a	Easy slab. Double-bolt belay.
P2	5a	More easy slab to a good belay ledge.
P3	6a	'Braveheart'. Up and right on balancy moves over sharp rock.
P4	5c	'Grey slab'. Up and left on an easier slab.
P5	5c	'Cresiano mantle'. Varied climbing.
P6	6a+	'Reach for glory', the crux. Right from the belay, then reachy moves and a few hard pulls on thin, sharp holds. Graded 6a by planetmountain and Rockfax, 6a+ by camptocamp and Mountain Project.
P7	6a	Sustained climbing on more grey rock.
P8	5b	'Head wall'. Easy climbing to the foot of a corner.
P9	5c	'Happy biceps'. Slightly overhanging rock on big holds with great exposure to the top.

Getting there

Approach

To the parking

Base yourself in Masouri or Myrties on Kalymnos. Small ferries cross from Myrties to Telendos about every half hour until around midnight (camptocamp). Mountain Project (2013 note) put the first boat at 07:00. You can also arrange a direct boat drop below the south face: Mountain Project quoted about 10 euros a head in 2013, a 2023 camptocamp party paid 20 euros each. Agree the price and the pick-up with the boatman beforehand.

On foot · about 60 min

From Telendos harbour follow the seafront for about 100 m, then before the end of the village take an alley that climbs away from the shore and crosses towards Hochlakas beach. Above the beach take the obvious path on the right, go through a gate (Mountain Project calls it the goat gate) and follow the blue-marked path along the coast. The wall is easy to identify once you pass below the Crescendo cave, about 30 min beyond the gate. Leave the path there and walk up the base of the buttress on the left side of Crescendo, staying close to the rock until you find the route. It starts a little left of the cave where the cliff forms a fold, immediately left of Eterna. About 1 h from the harbour. The coastal path is the shortest way in: a 2019 party who took the higher blue-marked line under Prometheus, Charybde and Rita Telendos needed 1 h 45 min. From a boat drop the walk is about 0.4 miles with roughly 450 ft (140 m) of ascent (Mountain Project).

Map of the walk-in

Crag

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The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.

Coordinates · crag

37.00697, 26.90213

Point from Mountain Project area 107264272 (Multipitch routes)

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Points are compiled from published sources, with the precision stated above. They were not surveyed on the ground: check them against a current topo.

Getting down

Descent

Walk off, 1.5 to 2 h. From the last belay you first have to go up and right to pick up the cairned path (2023 report). Cross the plateau northwards to a saddle above the cliff band of the north face, then follow the top of that cliff east to a cairned path that descends a vegetated slope on the north side. Look for the small white chapel of St Constantine on the ridge and follow the path to it. From the chapel a path drops to the shore; turn right along the coast path back to Telendos harbour. Abseiling the route is difficult because it zigzags.

Retreat

Bailing off the route

Bail with caveats

Retreat by abseil is difficult and you should plan to finish. A 2023 camptocamp report says abseiling the route is awkward because the line zigzags. The belays are solid double-bolt anchors, so going down is not ruled out, but no source describes an abseil line or lengths.

Retreat from: Not described. By inference the first two pitches, which are easy slab to a good ledge, are the simplest place to turn round; from pitch 3 the line goes up and right, then up and left, then right again.
Point of no return: Not stated as a single point. By inference, commitment grows from pitch 3 as the zigzags begin, and the slightly overhanging last pitch would be hard to reverse by abseil.
Carry: Not documented for a retreat. The climb is done on a single 60 or 70 m rope, giving 30 to 35 m abseils, and planetmountain gives pitches of 20 to 35 m. Carry spare maillons or karabiners and cord, as no source says the belays have rings.
Basis: Part stated, part inferredA 2023 camptocamp trip report states that abseiling is difficult because the route zigzags and Mountain Project states the double-bolt belays; where retreat is easiest, the growing commitment and the gear to carry are inferred.

Partly inferred from the route facts

Safety

Hazards

Before the winter 2015/16 rebolt, planetmountain reported that the bolts on this route were considered dangerous and asked climbers not to repeat it. Reports since (2016 to 2023) describe plentiful bolts and solid belays. Do not rely on pre-2016 information.
Retreat by abseil is difficult because the line zigzags. Plan to finish the route.
The walk-off is long and crosses a featureless plateau. Finding the cairned path means first going up and right from the top. Carry a headtorch and enough water.
The rock is very sharp, especially on the upper pitches.
The coastline looks similar along its length. Mountain Project suggests photographing the face on the way in so you can identify the buttress.
All rescue on Kalymnos and Telendos is volunteer-run and there is no state helicopter medical service (ExplorersWeb, April 2026). Treat a walk-off route on a remote face accordingly.

Sun and weather

Conditions

South-facing. In shade until about 10:30 to 11:00 (June 2016 report), then in full sun. A late-September party found it extremely hot. April and October ascents report good conditions.

Usual season · Mar to May, Oct to Nov

JFMAMJJASOND

Sun on the wall · S-facing

Working out the sunlit hours for this month.

January: not yet worked out
February: not yet worked out
March (usual season): not yet worked out
April (usual season): not yet worked out
May (usual season): not yet worked out
June: not yet worked out
July: not yet worked out
August: not yet worked out
September: not yet worked out
October (usual season): not yet worked out
November (usual season): not yet worked out
December: not yet worked out
060912151821

Sun on the wallDaylight, wall in shade● Usual season

Estimated from the wall's aspect only. Ignores surrounding terrain, gullies and the wall's exact shape. Clock times are local to the wall (Greek time), for the 15th of each month.

Climate figures for Kalymnos & Telendos are not available yet

What to carry

Gear

Single 70 m rope if you want to link pitches; 60 m is enough to climb it pitch by pitch. Planetmountain lists 15 quickdraws plus slings. Take extendable draws for linking. Helmet.

Checklist

Quickdraws: Number not given in the sources
Rope: 1×70 m
Helmet: One each
Abseil device and prusik: The descent or the retreat involves abseiling
Maillons or spare karabiners: To leave behind if you retreat
Cord: Mentioned for retreat

Derived from the route data; check it against a current topo

From climbers

Reader reports

Reader reports are not being collected yet. Until they are, check a current topo and the local club or guidebook publisher for recent changes to Wild Country.

Worth knowing

Tips

With a 70 m rope, extendable draws and some skipped bolts you can link pitches 1+2, 3+4, 5+6 and 8+9 (Mountain Project).
With a 60 m rope, 1+2 links easily. 3+4 also goes if you skip roughly the last three bolts of pitch 3 and the first three of pitch 4, but communication is poor.
Climbing time reported: 3.5 to 4 h.
A boat drop below the face cuts the walk from about 1.5 miles to 0.4 miles (Mountain Project). Start early to use the morning shade.
Eterna (harder) starts immediately right; check the name before you set off.

Open questions

Where sources disagree

Crux grade: camptocamp and Mountain Project give pitch 6 as 6a+; planetmountain, Explore-Share and reportedly Rockfax (not confirmed for this entry) give the route 6a. A 2019 camptocamp party called the grades friendly. 6a+ is the cautious figure for pitch 6.
Pitch count: Mountain Project and planetmountain list 9 pitches (5a, 5a, 6a, 5c, 5c, 6a/6a+, 6a, 5b, 5c). The camptocamp table has 10 rows, with a second 6a after pitch 7. This entry follows the 9-pitch version.
Pitch lengths: Mountain Project gives every pitch as 30 m, which is clearly nominal; planetmountain gives 20 to 35 m. Per-pitch lengths are left blank.
Approach direction: the French camptocamp text says to follow the seafront south from the harbour, the Spanish translation says north. The south face lies south-west of the village, so the French original is followed in spirit; ask locally for the Hochlakas path.
The planetmountain pages could not be read in full; facts attributed to them come from search summaries only.

Provenance

Sources

camptocamp – Telendos: Wild countryUsed for: approach, pitch grades and names, descent, first ascent
camptocamp – outing 24 Sep 2023Used for: bolting, abseil retreat difficulty, top-out, boat price, heat
camptocamp – outing 18 Apr 2019Used for: approach options, timings, sharp rock
camptocamp – outing 18 Oct 2019Used for: grades feel friendly, close bolting
camptocamp – outing 10 Jun 2016Used for: shade times, climbing time
Mountain Project – Wild CountryUsed for: pitch descriptions, belays, linking with 60/70 m ropes, boat, descent
Explore-Share – Telendos guided multi-pitchUsed for: grade and length cross-check
Planetmountain – Wild Country, TelendosUsed for: pitch grades, 15 quickdraws, FA date, 2015/16 rebolt; from a search summary only; the page could not be read in full
ExplorersWeb – Fatal accident in Greece's climbing paradise raises debate on safety and rescuesUsed for: island-wide bolt age warning (pre-2005 hardware), volunteer rescue

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Compiled from published sources and last verified October 2026. Bolts, anchors and access change. Climbing is dangerous and you are responsible for your own decisions: check a current topo and read the disclaimer.