The last part of winter left behind white memories and a sweet taste as late April/early May skiing period brought up very pleasant surprises. In addition to mountaineering and ski touring, the end of the 2014/2015 winter season manifested a new trend that finally arrived on Mount Olympus; splitboarding.
Snowboards vs skis = 8 – 3…for the first time on Mount Olympus
It was the first time that snowboarders well outnumbered skiers, as many boarders over the past years have start seeing the potential of mountain snowboarding on Olympus and on the mountains of Greece in general. A snow park was constructed in the vicinity of the refuge as one of the last stages of the snowboarding movie “A Thing about Greece” were filmed:
https://vimeo.com/102931032,
https://www.facebook.com/thethingaboutgreece
The kicker (photo © Themistocles Lambridis)
Despite the fast snowmelt during May, June proved to be more wintery bringing the spring/summer transition to a temporary halt and giving the chance to few “stubborn snow maniacs” to enjoy the last ski descends.
The last rides of the season among rocks and soft snow…traversing Zonaria in early June (Photo © Mike Styllas)
As June went by, conditions finally became more elusive to other activities like trail running (Olympus Marathon and Olympus Mythical Trail 100km have already taken place, Faethon Marathon is coming next) and climbing, as the first rock climbs on Zeus Throne (Stefani) east face have already been achieved. The gradual melting of snow created fertile ground for other scientific “green” challenges that lay ahead.
Measuring the thickness on the Plateau of Muses by Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), in order to decode the paleoclimatic secrets of the Gods…
Name it a scientific project that aims to study the evolution of Mount Olympus glaciers and paleoclimate changes since Paleolithic (the last 10.000 years) entitled “Did the Greek Ancient Gods ever got cold? Defining the history of Holocene glaciation of Mount Olympus, Greece”.
http://www.latsis-foundation.org/en/14/scientific_projects.html
See You Next Winter (photo © Mike Styllas)
Challenges do not stop there. A series of rock climbing projects including the summation of climbing activity through an upcoming publication of “Mount Olympus Climbing Guide” are also lined up for the season to come.
Stefani west face (left) and Mytikas north face (photo © Mike Styllas)
Best Wishes for a fine summer season,
MS
A Bientiot (photo Themistocles Lambridis)
We have never enough...we want more (photo Themistocles Lambridis).
Entering Gavos couloir (photo Themistocles Lambridis).
Night ridin (photo Themistocles Lambridis).
Splitboarding Plateau of Muses.
Spring perfect conditions.
The other way...carrying the board.
The quarter (the quarter (photo Themistocles Lambridis).
The ride to TSIPOURO!
