The “Prophet Elias ridge” was established one spring (April) in the late ’90s by A. Spanoudis and others, who started from Agia Kori, because there was no road to Krevatia at that time.
In addition to the summer repetitions that took place in the following years, some winter attempts followed (S. Karampampas, P. Athanasiadis, M. Styllas - M. Giritziotis).
The first winter repetition of the ridge was made on 29-30-31/1/2016 by Th. Thomidis - Chr. Ananiadis, who followed the summer line, avoiding the towers.
On the 1st day in the afternoon, the two climbers started the ascent with quite heavy backpacks from the refuge at Krevatia, through Rema Papa, then to the summit of Mesonisi and after advancing for another hour at an altitude of about 1800m, the first overnight stay took place. The total time of the route was about 5h.
On the 2nd day, they advanced for another 2h, until the start of the route, at 2000m. Then the route moves with a few loose pitches of moderate difficulty, which are climbed with winter equipment and are difficult to be secured due to the looseness, on snowy slopes and on medium-sloping gullies that are climbed without the use of a rope. The overnight stay was on a small ledge on the rocky part of the ridge, with a spectacular view to the right (west) of the Barmpalas ridge and to the east of Skourta and Laimos.
On the 3rd day, they started with a right traverse on a snowy slope with a high gradient and then a gully that leads to a mixed terrain of low difficulty but loose. Continuation on the ridge in relatively easy passages until they came out on the north side of the Plateau of the Muses, just below the north side of the peak of Prophet Elias. The total time was about 5 hours.
In general, the route is characterized by its large length and large slopes even during access. The rocky passages are not very difficult, but they are quite loose and require experience to be secured satisfactorily. The snow, because the sun does not see it, was of poor quality. In some places the route is a bit chaotic and requires some experience in route finding. Compared to “Kopsi Naoum”, it is a longer, more tiring and more serious route.
For the repetition, the gear needed (apart from the individual ones), are a 1/2 rope, a few carabiners, a set of nuts, 3 small and medium friends, slings and cords, 2 - 3 pitons, 1 deadman, 2 technical ice axes and overnight equipment. The weight of the backpack is estimated at over 15 kilos.
The north face of Profitis Ilias.
Climbing one of the rocky parts of the route.
Spending the night on the ridge.
The view from the top.