If Leonidio is “The New Kalymnos”, then Manikia can lay a decent claim to being “The New Leonidio”. Although the earliest route dates back to 1995, and a couple of sectors were bolted by locals between 2005 and 2010, the “gold rush” of development was only really kick-started by a visiting French team in 2015. They convinced the local community of the recreational and economic opportunity they had on their doorstep, with a wave of new routing from 2019 onwards, and thus was born the Manikia Project. https://manikia.com/

Manikia is on the island of Evia, about two hours north east of Athens. There are now over 450 routes scattered along an impressive valley between the villages of Vrysi and Manikia, and in a side-canyon, and the guidebook is into its second edition. A visit was one of the main motivations for our 2024 RockAroundTheWorld Greece trip, and we’d been keeping an eye on the long-term forecast to try to catch a decent window. After a month of waiting, and with the clock ticking, we settled for the promise of an arrow slit (rather than a whole window), crossed our fingers and set the sat nav.

Arriving in Vrysi, we checked into the campsite under grey skies but already psyched by the huge amount of rock in evidence.

Before getting on to the climbing it’s worth pausing to give a huge shout out for Camping Dragonera Cliffs. It’s a simple, spacious area near the village of Vrysi, within walking distance of Dragonera and the rest of the Mpougazi crags (see the next post). There are toilets, showers, a communal kitchen area and hook-up; a view to die for, and THE MOST WELCOMING host we’ve ever had the privilege to meet! Maria drops into the campsite each morning with a cheery “Kalimera!” and often bearing home-baked cake or freshly-laid eggs, and is a font of information on all things local.

All this for not much more than a tenner for two people and a van. The local community are trying to discourage wild-camping and with a marvellous resource like this there really isn’t much of an excuse. Why not use it?!

On to the climbing… The “Lower Valley Right Side” crags comprise about a dozen mostly south-facing sectors spread out above the Vrysi-Manikia road, with approaches of 1 to 25mins.

All The Universe looked to be a good option to open our account on a chilly, blowy day

Double duvets and beanie…

The centre of of this sector is a 40m off-vertical wall of prickly / juggy limestone with a great selection of routes from 5a to 6b+. Here’s Aldebaran, 6a, in full double duvet and beanie mode…

Around to the left is a handy cave, ideal for sitting out a squally shower, and also providing a natural umbrella with a few steeper routes staying dry in the drizzle. I managed Signe de Vie, 7a, albeit via a bit of a sideways shuffle. We shared our cave with Franco and Africa, a couple originally from Madrid but now resident in Leonidio and also on the first day of their first visit to Manikia. You can just about make out Franco in the top of the first shot above. Climbing in the rain, Franco concluded “We’re Spartans!”

No such shelter for Helen on the main wall, but this didn’t stop her from leading Soleil, 6b, with the rain still spitting. Good effort!

A few days later we made a return visit in much more clement weather.

I did Terra, 6b+, while Helen explored some of the routes on the right of the crag, Io, 5b, Big Bang, 5c, and Titan, 6a+ – a bit shorter (but still 25m) and making up for it by throwing a roof into the equation.

Back in the cave, here’s Africa on Draconis, 6b+

Sector Rainbow is accessed from the same parking, and is another sunny spot ideal for a dull day, with the added benefit of some SE and SW aspects for shelter from any wind.

Contrasting photo a few days later, with a large contingent of locals and some visiting Italians…

Views across to teams on All The Universe

There’s a nice mix of rock and climbing styles, from grey and flakey to orange and prickly (La Chouette, 6a)

… and Six Gognes, 6a

… to roofy! (Geai 6a+)

I did a couple of routes on the left of the sector, Con d’Or, 6b, and Paon Dans Ta J…, 7a, which Fernando had kindly put the clips in (took me a few goes to figure out the tricky first 20ft).

Between these “wings” there’s a fantastical tufa wall with just a couple of outrageous looking routes, and I found myself drawn to having a play on Demokrassi, 7c+ (I know – who am I kidding?!). Setting off with a clipstick on my harness and zero expectations, I was pretty pleased to make it to around half height before grinding to a halt. The upper reaches are still settling down and a bit damp and friable in places, but it’s a “king line” in the making. It’d be nice to imagine I might one day be strong enough to give it a proper go – we can all dream!

The “orphan” sector of Lower Valley is Archaía Kai Montérna, which is the first bit of rock you reach driving up towards Manikia, and indeed was the scene of the very first route in the area. It’s literally roadside, with a one minute approach, with a handful of long 6b+ to 7a+ routes on vertical and very prickly rock plus a few stumpy 5s. We’d passed it by in favour of more attractive sectors, also with half an idea that it might make for a good spot to bag a route on an iffy day. After a repeat trip to Rainbow in chilly, grey conditions we bailed to the truck for lunch, and with a couple of hours to kill we stopped by for me to have a go at Dream Thym.

This is a bit confusing in the guidebook:

L1: 6c/7a 40m

L1+L2: 6a+/b 25m

I assumed maybe the grades were the wrong way round, though having barely velcroed my way up the first 10m I climbed the remainder worrying that the 6c/7a bit was about to arrive. Sure enough I reached a loweroff at 40m and there was more climbing above – despite wet tufa and no sign of chalk, and even more prickly rock, I quested upwards and it turned out to be way easier than it looked. The description should have read L2: 6a+/6b. Anyway, doing the full 60m trip in one go, with oozing tufa and drizzling rain, definitely felt worth the 7a tick, even though all the hard climbing was over in the first 10m. A fun adventure, even if the extension was type 2 fun!