Just had two weeks in Sicily (San Vito) a great venue, well worth putting on the 'list'. There are around 450 routes within walking distance of the El Bahira camp-site (supposedly closed but has bungalows, caravans or tenting), the setting is lovely in a really wild corner of Sicily. The place was busier than we were expecting - having imagined it might have been completely deserted in late Feb/early March. The weather was a teeny bit unsettled, though we only actually lost one day through rain. Generally temperatures were fine, the crags dry quickly, access takes minutes from the accommodation, and as the cliffs face west, afternoons climbing were pure pleasure. Shops, bars, restaurants an beaches in 'town' - a five minute drive away.
From the road the cliffs look a bit scrappy, but the climbing was excellent almost without exception, the routes of all grades tend to be steep and the bolting is encouraging. Many of the pitches are very long and a bit on the sharp side - the norm for Med limestone I guess.
In summary - a great spot that deserves to become popular, the combination of sea-side setting, the great climbing, the easy accommodation and superb accessibility sure take some beating. There are 'only' around 600 routes in the whole area at the moment - compared to Kalymnos's 1700 - but that is a great starter - there is a lot of rock out there.
Top marks to Jim and Scott Titt plus all the other equippers have done us a great service.
Not to mention all the other areas were you could climb near there and the great food! Oh, but we had very bumpy seas when we were there as well! Very windy and that was Easter.
In reply to Rog Wilko:
Chris would never keep up!
Hary Röker (the Gebro guide author" was also there last week to check out the new routes, there´s about 50 not in the current Sicily Rock guide.
The UKC logbook count isn´t up to date. From the 2012 guide it is:-
In reply to Chris Craggs:
For some of the routes a quick look at some of the more esoteric lower-offs, and how to thread them, produced by Mr Titt might not go amiss - I had some head scratching at the top of a couple of routes!
> (In reply to Chris Craggs)
> For some of the routes a quick look at some of the more esoteric lower-offs, and how to thread them, produced by Mr Titt might not go amiss - I had some head scratching at the top of a couple of routes!
Yes - they could deffo do with one in the campsite to practice on!
In reply to psborland: Try either Sapori Di Sicilia or Ristorante Syrah,
(I can't remember which one it was!), we bumped into Scott and Jim in there one evening after they'd recommended the place to one of our group, hopefully Jim or Scott can confirm which restaurant it is/was!, both eateries are right next door to each other at the bottom of Via Faro. google maps will show you the way..
In this week's Friday Night Video, we follow Robbie Phillips and friends to Siurana, Catalunya, where he aims to regain some sport climbing fitness to tackle James Pearson's Le Voyage. It had been a decade since Robbie had been on a Spanish bolt...
Press Release Arc'teryx Climb Academy returns to the Lake District: May 25th – 27th
