FKT: Greg Olesiak - 55 Peaks on Olympus (Greece) - 2021-06-06

55 Peaks Project.
55 Peaks on Olymus is a route connecting all 55 peaks higher than 2000 m that are located in the Olympus massif (Greece). 55 Peaks Project was developed and first performed by Dutch climber and mountaineer Michiel Panhuysen on August 17-18, 2018. Later, Michiel repeated the tour twice in a two-person team: With Jakub Hajek and Neequaye Dsane – both attempts in July 2019. Each time it was the same route from Kokkinopilos to Litochoro. I decided to slightly modify this route, or rather propose a different version. It is still 55 of the highest Olympic peaks, but in my version the start and finish are located in Litochoro. It is a solo climb, without support, I only used water and food that I took with me and three deposits of water and Coca-Cola that I left in the mountains a few days earlier.

Beginning of Adventure
I took off a few minutes after four in the morning, in complete darkness, from the town of Litochoro at an altitude of 300 m above sea level. Through Zilnia, Hadolia, Gkortsia, which I knew exactly, I headed towards the Plateau of Muses. I chose the extremely steep variant along the Anathema path because I like this road, and in its upper part, the thousand-year-old Robolo trees – the flagship of Olympus – make an amazing impression. You can of course go the easier route next to the Petrostruga hut, although in the early morning everyone is still sleeping there. Only a little higher is the first of the 55 peaks – Mandres. The first and somehow emblematic at once. With some difficulty it is possible to recognize it as a peak, because it rises above the surrounding slopes up to… 2 meters! The same is true for 1/3 of the summits in this set, which causes some navigation problems along the route. For most of the peaks, however, there are no difficulties with locating them, especially when they rise above the nearest mountain pass to a height of … 600 m! I must also explain immediately that, apart from two exceptions, all the other peaks are located on the Alpine zone above the upper edge of the forest, so you do not need to look for them in the thickets or in the bushes. They are all easily visible (as there is no fog). 

Climbing Stefani and Mytikas
Immediately after the Muses Plateau, the ascent to Stefani begins – one of the greatest attractions on the route. Extremely steep rock climbing, in the upper part there is a narrow edge over the cliffs, and at the very end, a few peaks over a very narrow ridge (only slightly wider than Kopsi Naum). Exposure on both sides, the feeling of floating among the clouds guaranteed. For this complete emptiness – no one goes there, because the opinion is that it is difficult, and it is not as tall as Mytikas, so why to go there?  There is also plenty of excitement on the neighboring, slightly twin road to Mytikas. There, however, you can often meet groups led by a guide, as it was also this time. For those unfamiliar with the tourist conditions on Olympus, it may be valuable to know that, apart from this one group on Mytikas, I met only one (!) hiker during the entire 100 km route – for 40 hours! It was really a solo challenge.

Overnight in Migkotzidis Hut
The weather on Olympus in early June is not very stable. I managed to hit the two-day weather window, but it was not ideal conditions. The temperature on the peaks was about 5-6 degrees Celsius, the wind was blowing all the time, not too strong but noticeable. As long as the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, there was no problem, because the real feel temperature was much higher. It was rather cool when it was cloudy. I felt it especially at the end of the first day after sunset. I was hoping to reach the Migkotzidis Hut around 10 p.m. but finally I was there after midnight. I planned a longer rest in this place, and even a short (2h) sleep. All the time, however, I had a dilemma in my mind: if I walked longer at night, I wouldn’t see anything, and yet one of the motives of my trip was to admire the wonderful views around. So maybe not to fight for the record and stay longer in the shelter? The night chill resolved this dilemma. When I finally got to Migkotzidis, I buried myself under six blankets, decided that I definitely rest until sunrise, in the dark I do not go further.
 

Second Day - Pure Fun
The Migkotzidis Hut is located in the middle of the route (about 50 km), but it can give you a very deceptive impression. Firstly, the gains on the first half of the course are more than twice as high as on the second half (5160 to 2350m), and secondly, the last 17 km of the entire route is almost continuous downhill. The endurance loads are distributed definitely unevenly.
It can therefore be said that the journey on the second day is just a pleasure. The more so because it is then that an amazing accumulation of what is most characteristic for this whole adventure takes place. Feeling of freedom. The terrain is not very steep in many places, the whole area between the Ag. Antonios, Metamorfosi and Frgou Aloni is an almost flat green meadow. There are no paths, so you go wherever you want, it doesn’t really matter whether a little more to the right or to the left. Rather, you look around where there is another herd of wild horses and you come closer to see them gallop or stare curiously.
I am still very impressed by the approach to one of the last peaks – Kalogeros. From the side of Fragou Aloni and Rachi Achrani, you approach almost the very top through gentle grassy grasslands (interwoven with moving stones, of course) to see that from the other, northern side Kalogeros breaks down to the Enipeas Gorge with an almost vertical 1500-meter wall . It is 17 km from the summit to Litochoro, from Livadaki there is even a comfortable path (thanks Lazaros). It turned out that I had enough strength at the end to be able to run the entire distance. A wonderful feeling. 

I completed my challenge after 40 hours and 19 minutes, including 5 hours of sleep, of course.

A detailed description of my challenge and many more photos can be found on my website RunninGreece.

More information about Michiel Panhuysen's route variant 55 Peaks on Olympus (as well as many other routes on Olympus) can be found on the Forgotten Olympus website.