UKC

Thinking of going to Kalymnos in early May (not October as in the past), has anyone had experience of going out there at this time of year and what to expect with the heat. 

I know there is a lot of information available online about sunshine, temperatures, rainfall etc (from the likes of holiday companies and weather forecast suppliers) but is is the actual experience of climbing folks who have been out there at this time of year that I am trying to gauge.

In particular trying to find out typically how hot it could be for climbing comfort. I know there are many crags in the shade on Kalymnos but if the overall air temperature is high then I know it can make even easy climbing a very sweaty and energy sapping affair, and quite frankly hard work.

I know this is a subjective topic, after all we all deal with the heat in different ways, some of you will be very tolerant and will not bat an eyelid if the mercury rises a few degrees, others will quickly wilt and have to run away (to the bar!) unable to climb.

Looking forward to hearing from anyone with experience of being out there in early May, thanks in advance.

I've been out there early May on several occasions and I can't remember any days when it was too hot to climb in the shade. We'd mostly try and get up early for the crags in morning shade. Once the sun comes onto them then it's generally too hot unless there's a strong breeze.

No first hand experience, but after lots of googling, and reading of various forum posts here and on other sites, I just booked Kalymnos for 15th of April to 15th of May and I feel pretty confident it will be fine weatherwise. 

And I got talking to some oldtimers while out there in October. People who had been to Kalymnos dozens of times over the years, and they all seemed to think it's fine to go at around that time of year too. 

Yeah some friends of a friend spend every spring out there and have done for over a decade, they love it out there at that time, definitely not too hot, though they do get up before dawn every day...

Apparently it does rain pretty frequently at that time of year, but what with the sun and breeze the rock dries pretty quick, but some of the routes which are happen to be a bit seepy basically never come into condition at that time of year.  But that's a minority of routes and as we all know there's plenty to choose from!

We had a 3 week trip there a few years ago - last two weeks of May and first week of June. We managed to climb almost every day, though not surprisingly we were often chasing the shade. You'll find posts from each day of the trip here, which will give you a good idea of what kind of conditions you might expect (and ideas for suitable venues) 

https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/category/greece/kalymnos/

Cheers, Dom 

I've been in Autumn several times, and in May once. Didn't find May generally felt any hotter than October. And fewer mosquitoes.

Thank you to everyone that responded, much appreciated.

From what I can glean, mid-Oct to mid-Nov remains about the optimum period but this is nearly matched by mid-April to mid-May, much further into the summer months and you will be chasing the shade and even then the air temperature could prove too much.

We've been several times in early May and always enjoyed   good weather - certainly warm enough to swim post-climb. Late April's good too                  

Thanks for your feedback, I'm now convinced that early May is worth a try and should be ok    

Been in end April / Early May a few times.

Days are a lot longer than in October and the Sun orientation is different, so the normal morning crags are all OK.  Though it does get hot when the sun comes around. Early starts and early finishes are in order, unless you go to the Summertime crags.

Think someone on here told me this cool trick for destinations, but if you go on 8a.nu you can look at areas and they have a graph that shows when most ascents happen in the year. 

https://www.8a.nu/areas/greece/kalymnos/

October is definitely the most popular, but April-May comes second. It might just be there's not many good European climbing destinations that have good conditions in October, so everyone flocks to Kalymnos. But there's plenty in April-May, so less people go. 

Maybe everyone is in Font doing some bouldering, ha:

https://www.8a.nu/crags/bouldering/france/fontainbleau/

Thanks Ian, I think you are right, early starts are going to be essential - will have to curb the beer drinking of an evening  

Yeah, the 8a.nu site is really cool, not seen it before. I do love a graph and the one showing climbing activity per month says it all, once again early May looks like a popular period and very do'able - thanks for sharing. 

You just drink the beer earlier!