The ascent of the Kornos Ridge to the summit of Korno Tepesi (Kornos) - elevation 946m (3104 ft)
Kornos summit is in the clouds, with the Kornos Ridge rising steeply at 30 degrees.
Two views from the approach to Karsiyaka (Vasilia) village from the main Kyrenia coast road. The ascent
of the Ridge essentially follows the skyline up from the right of the photographs, but starts just out of
sight over the Ridge on the mountain road which climbs up to Kozan (Lapithou).
Kornos Ridge seen from the south near Camlibel (Myrtou). To the right is Selvili Dag (Kyparissovouno)
- at an elevation of 1024m (3360 ft) it is the highest point in the Besparmak (Pendadhaktylos or Five
Fingers) Range. Unfortunately access to the summit is restricted because it lies inside a military zone,
which is home to several tall communications aerials and TV transmitters.
The start of the Kornos Ridge walk is from the parking place where the minibus is, heading up to the
left. The very steep descent from the summit into the side valley, via Kornos Gully, can be seen to the
right. The whole of the circular tour is in view, and to complete this difficult rock scramble will take
7 to 8 hours.
Clients begin the ascent of the Kornos Ridge in February.
Above and below are views to the north-east over the Mediterranean Sea, with the ruined
16th-century monastery of Sinai Vasilia sitting on a prominent shoulder overlooking Karsiyaka.
Clients begin the scramble up to the knife-edged sections of the Ridge, their starting point still in view
far below them. In the distance the hills of the Five Fingers Range dwindle down to the flat
promontory of Korucam Burnu (Cape Kormakitis), the north-western tip of Cyprus.
Barry Hurst looking up the Kornos Ridge to the summit. To complete an ascent true to the knife-edge of
the ridge would involve many pitches of hard rock climbing, directly above the hundreds of feet of cliffs
dropping away to the right. Fortunately, these can be avoided by scrambling up the gullies and less
steep rocks on the left of the ridge, shown below.
The east side of the ridge (shown above and below) is less aggressive, with interesting scrambling on
rock and steep vegetated slopes. The view is back down to Karsiyaka and the coast road.
The route wisely ascends safer ground, a few yards east of the rock pinnacles of the true knife-edged
Kornos Ridge.
Barry Hurst on top of Korno Tepesi (Kornos) - elevation 946m (3104 ft). Just a triangulation pillar and
Turkish flag mark the summit. To locate the start of the descent is not easy and the steep cliffs dropping
away to the west are to be avoided. To the south-west, some abandoned once-cultivated terraces lead
to the top of the Kornos Gully, a narrow, slippery route which provides the safest direct descent to the
forested valley to the west, which runs then in parallel to the Ridge.
Looking back up at the Ridge and summit after descent of the Kornos Gully, showing the huge cliffs
which would block any attempt at a direct drop into the valley.
A continuation photograph of the above one, showing the beginning of the Ridge in the fading evening
sun. The descent carries on down through the trees, picking up the trail of a water pipeline and water
storage tank, and dropping down a Water Company access track, before returning to the car parking
space on the Kozan road.