Climbing

The first Climbing School was held in Prespes in 1995 by the Florina SoH with the participation of skiing athletes.
In 2002, Fani Kousipetkou returned to Florina from her studies at the Thessaloniki Technical University and as a member of the SEO of Florina and Climbing Instructor of the Hellenic Mountaineering Federation (HMF), she organized a Climbing School. The first climbers of the region come out of this school.
With the help of other local climbers, many climbing routes are opened by the same school in three parts of the prefecture. The first climbing routes were opened in the area of the Wings of Victory on Mount Taima and then in Derveni. A climbing area was also opened in Prespes.
It is interesting to note that the rock in the fields of Florina is granite and is one of the oldest rocks found in Greece. In Prespes the rock is limestone.
In 2004, Fani re-organized a school through the SEOF and at the same time the first artificial climbing slope was constructed at the Florina Sports Complex.
At the moment there are more than 50 rock climbing routes in fields next to the city of Florina and two artificial climbing tracks in the city of Florina.
The rock-climbing routes are an attraction for climbers from all over Greece and there are often schools held there by clubs of the Greek Federation.

TEXT: Fani Kousipetkou