Build My Own FeedBD athlete Eva Walkner makes first descent on Greece's Mount Olympus
This past winter Black Diamond athlete Eva Walkner traveled from her home in Salzburg, Austria to Greece to nab the first descent on Mount Olympus. Below is her trip report and some amazing photos by Ruedi Flück.
[all images by Ruedi Flück]
With 20kg on our backs, we march for seven hours in the direction of the Christos Kakalos Refuge, which is directly below Zeus‘ Throne. Sure enough, we notice that Mount Olympus has a powerful energy. Not some small hill we’d imagined, but serious high-alpine terrain and steep couloirs.
As we arrive in the hut, we are greeted by concert from Zeus, complete with thunder, lightning, hail and high winds. Our ski descent must wait four days, as we eat and play cards and wait out the storm.
On the fourth day, we pack our axes, crampons and skis and head up to 50° chute of Mt. Stephanie, the Throne of Zeus. At 2907m we get a view of the ocean from the middle of Greece. The clouds came back in as we see the moods of Zeus and await a window of sun.
An hour later, we drop into the first descent of the Stephanie Couloir, which we named ‘You Laugh?’ Zeus gave us a break and we skied the steep line in the sun. We are stoked on our descent and go back to the hut to celebrate with “Greek water” under a starry sky. What a great place!
— Eva Walkner
United States / English 
