• Mountain
  • Location
  • Peak
  • Township
  • Chelmos mt.
  • Achaia, Peloponnese
  • Psili Korfi 2,355m alt.
  • Zarouchla, Planitero, Kato Lousi and Kalavrita

Above 2,300m alt., with a view to Korinthiakos Gulf

Chelmos the "Snowy Mountain"

The Aroania Mountains or Chelmos are mountains of northern Peloponnese, located mostly in the prefecture of Achaia and less in Corinth prefecture.

In ancient times it was called Aroania, while later named Helmos, attributed to Slavic origin and means "snowy mountain".

This is the third in highest mountain of the Peloponnese after Taygetos and Killini or Ziria. From the highest peak Chelmos, at an altitude of 2355 meters, you can see across the Peloponnese, Rumeli and the Ionian Sea. The Chelmos (or Aroania mountains), are closely associated with Greek mythology and Greek history.

Chelmos mountains have six peaks:

  • Psili Korfi which is the highest of all in Achaian mountains massif with at an altitude of 2,355 meters.
  • Prophitis Elias located south of the highest peak with an altitude of 2,282 meters.
  • Neraidorahi where is installed one of the largest and most advanced telescopes of Europe, "Aristarchus". This is because this peak is one of the darkest parts of Europe at night, at an altitude of 2,238 meters.
  • Southeast Gardiki is the highest peak, with an altitude of 2,182 meters.
  • Avgo in the name of the next peak; name is coming from its shape, which is oval. The peak is located northwest of Neraidorahi, at an altitude of 2,138 meters.
  • Last but not least is the magnificent views of Gaidourorachi, located at the north side of Chelmos, at an altitude of 1,980 meters.

Where Angels Were Dancing Enduro

In an era of uncertainty that we live, an expedition to the nature and Enduro, reminds you that we are -and should remain- human. So in search of another Enduro experience we spent a weekend in the beautiful Zarouchla, thrashing the Chelmos mountain. Arriving Friday evening, we paid a visit to John’s tavern ensuring a proper closing of the day.

Next day we reached out in the forest with our bikes. The narrow forest road was quite good and easy in the beginning, until we reached south, confronted with an magnificent view of Doxa lake. Later on however, in spite of the landscape stained beautifully with all the green color palette, the road track was hiding slippery traps from the previous day rain; so we had a couple of incidents, which totally failed to reduce our appetite for hard endure the next 5 and half hours of the day. The really hard part was when we had to confront a downhill with rolling stones, which was exactly when the rear brake decided to cease offering its services. Eventually technology made it, so we found our way in the forest trails without losing a single turn; even old local shepherd was rubbing his eyes.

That’s all for now, until next Enduro track where new interesting times are ahead of us.