The unknown Greece - mini travel guides
(it was found 14 years later and was sent to Switzerland
but today it is exhibited in the Hellenic Federation of
Mountaineering and Climbing Museum (E.O.O.AHFMC)
in Athens).
However, when the sky cleared up for a while they saw
another more impressive peak above the place they were
and it was only then that they realised they had made a
mistake. But, as Boissonnas wrote later, “in the heart of
every mortal there is a spark of Prometheus' fire”.
Christos Kakalos with his head lowered, was silently
climbing down the steep ridge. Then he stopped. Before
him lay the "vertical couloir" leading to the highest peak.
''Shall we go up?'', he asked. The two Swiss climbers
nodded affirmatively. It was the secret decision the three
of them had taken earlier, each one for himself, without
exchanging a word. All of them had the same thoughts,
the same feelings. Without uttering a word Kakalos left
the photography equipment at the base of the couloir and
scrambled up in the most decisive way through smooth
and dangerous rocks, followed by the two Swiss. They
had soon reached the top, the top of Mount Olympus.
So on August 2, 1913 (the Swiss already used the same
calendar), at 10 hours and 25' am the group conquered
the highest peak in Greece, the untrodden, up to then,
summit of Mount Olympus. The summit was conquered
by Christos Kakalos, Frederic Boissonnas and Daniel
Baud Bovy. Christos kakkalos later became the first
official guide of Mt Olympus and he last climbed the
highest peak, Mytikas in 1972.
[This description was taken from the website:
www.olympusskimountaineering.com/mtolympusfirstascent
centenary.html]
"We're here, the first people after the Olympian gods abandoned the place”.
Christos Kakalos the first Greek who climbed on mount Olympus.
“In Greece, all the others were visiting in search of ruins but we were
discovering the natural and social environment. And our actual plan was not
only to to deal with the splendor of ancient monuments, but to revive the
landscapes that surround them and the people that are still living around”.
(Daniel BaudBovy)
Frédéric Boissonnas (18581946)
“No nation has got an area that can be compared with that of Olympus, so
rich in legends, historical memori