UKH

We are currently in kalymnos at the end of a two week trip. Today at odyssey sector  whilst sitting in the Orion cave resting we heard  a noise from above and then it rained tennis ball sized rocks straight onto the walking path. It was a still, warm, dry day with no warning at all. 2 or 3 mins later there was a bit of whistle and a football sized rock came down on the same spot and bounced down the hill. I'm talking bang in the middle of the path! We couldn't tell what caused it. No sign of goats or people.

At the start of our trip one of our party was on DNA and pulled a large well chalked stalactite off the top of the route which then impacted the area below where people regularly lay about having picnics and what not (again it was very lucky to be an abnormally quiet day) 

So just a reminder that even on the most frequented routes and well travelled sectors stuff can and does still fall. 

A useful reminder. In the holiday atmosphere of Kaly it's easy to forget these things.

Having been smashed in the face , just below my eye, last year, it fills me with dread to see so many folk climbing without helmets . The stone just grazed the rim of my helmet......I was very lucky.  I know it is personal choice etc etc! It is of perhaps even greater concern when people picnic at the base of crags as they switch off from what's going on  around. It is also worth remembering that although there is a hospital at Pothia, it is limited in scope.

Also, to add to this I pulled a chunk of tufa off in Ghost Kitchen which fortunately exploded harmlessly onto the ground. Same as above, about 10 mins earlier there were a few people sat around picnicking so it could've been much worse.

Absolutely which is why I get worried when people ask about taking babies to crags and especially worried when I see them in their carriers fast asleep beneath the crag while the parents climb. A not uncommon sight.

And with regard to Pothia hospital, having spent 5 miserable nights there with a broken ankle I would not recommend it. I know they are short of money in Greece but the ward I was in was filthy, the food inedible and the staff not too friendly. I don't think they had been paid for a while so that didn't help.

Al

Sounds grim, bad luck. I had a few hours there some years back just to have a few stitches  in a bad cut - sharp limestone! The doctor who did the work was absolutely delightful and keen to chat. She said there were very few climbing injuries, but quite a few climbers visited for non-climbing injuries, 90% of which involved scooters. So perhaps a warning about those might be timely too, as the risk of those horrid things is also widely discounted.

I think one area with the biggest potential for injury is the overly popular Arginonta Valley crag. The routes are undeniably good but closely squeezed in with a narrow path/belay/sitting area below. Because the routes are mostly easy and in the shade all day huge crowds of climbers, many of limited experience or complete beginners mingle directly below the routes as if it were an indoor climbing wall. The recent development of an 'upper tier' adds considerably to the potential for falling debris. I won't walk along the path there without a helmet.  It amazes me to see climbers wearing helmets on the rock only to see them take them off whilst on the ground.