Milos, Cyclades

Milos, Cyclades

Milos is a beautiful island in the south west Cyclades. Two characteristics of the island are its volcanic geology and the living many of the islanders make from mining. Beyond the main port the island has not been heavily developed as a tourist resort, so, in the main, the eyes of the locals do not light up like cash registers when they see you coming. However, the landscape of much of the island has not remained unravaged - the mining has given large parts of it a lunar quality. Fortunately this does not include most of the beaches. This is the island where the statue of Aphrodite that now stands in the Louvre, Paris, was found. That famous figure, dating from 320 BC was discovered by a farmer on the island in 1820, who later sold it to the French. The mystery that remains is what happened to the arms. When it was found the statue had arms, one of which held an apple, but by the time it was sold and transferred they had disappeared.

The climbing area that has already been developed on Milo is on the south west coast at Vani, where there are two distinctive towers, one named Aphrodite (100-120m) and a second named Poseidon (60-70m). The rock is of very good quality - volcanic rock resembling granite with excellent friction - and there are relatively easy ascents of both towers (3+, 4). Some more difficult routes (up to grade 8) have also been set up, but many challenging lines remain unclimbed. This area could easily become a paradise for the experienced climber.

Glaronisia on Milos. Strange volcanic rock. No routes there but nice for bouldering up the sea.	On the second pitch of "Afrodite's Hands"
The central diedre on "Posidon" named "Nireas" 60m. 6a. (frieds & nuts).	Left is the tower Afroditi & right is the tower "Posidon". "Gerodaimon" is the diedre on the left.

To get there you need to find transport in a boat from the main port of Adamanda - a journey that takes about an hour. Alternatively an enduro motorbike could negotiate the very bad quality dirt road which ends amongst abandoned mines, and from there follows a difficult hour’s walk down to the rocks.