GORGE OF THE DEAD

The gorge starts in upper Zakros and leads all the way down to Kato Zakros. It takes a few hours to walk through. Climbing takes place in the upper part of the canyon, not far away from the side entrance to the gorge. There are 2 climbing sectors: Big Wall and Creek. Big wall is grandiose, about 80 meters high wall, but only the first pitches are done. Routes in the left and center part of the wall are accessible from a big shelf 2-3 meters wide. Access to the shelf is protected with bolts and there are also bolts for belayers. The routes are very well protected with bolts. Rappel stations at the end of every route are made of two anchors connected with chain and with steel biner. Length of routes is 15-30m. The difficulty is between 6c-7b. Limestone in this part of canyon is in good quality and mostly smooth. In the summer, the wall is in shade after 2 p.m. The Creek is a small crag under the Big Wall. It has 3 easy routes 5c-6a. If you’re lucky, you can take a swim in small lakes lying at the bottom of the canyon and then go again to climb in the afternoon. There is one big stone next to the lakes, we created a few short routes there just for fun while resting.