Taking Izzy & Finn to See Zeus – Climbing the Tallest Peak in Greece with Two Kids
- lakeldmtnguides
- Aug 13
- 18 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
Mount Olympus hosts 55 peaks, and the tallest of these is the rugged pinnacle of Mytikas. This most prominent summit sits at 2,918m above sea level and, as such, holds the title of the tallest peak in Greece. Back in 2025, my wife came with me on our first company expedition to Greece, and we instantly both had the same thought: ‘This would be a brilliant expedition to bring the kids.’ It wasn’t long after touching back down in the UK after that trip that I was booking our flights and accommodation for this trip.
By the time the holiday came around, Izzy would be 9 and Finn would have just turned 7. There was, of course, a bit of trepidation as the hundreds of pounds left the bank account in order to pay for various elements of the trip. Maybe we were being a bit too ambitious? What if the kids absolutely hated the idea and we then became ‘those forceful parents’? Only time would tell, I guess.
Of course, our idea of taking the kids to the highest point in Greece was not completely crazy. Given the fact we live in the Lake District, the kids have hiked, run and climbed up many mountains. More to the point, the more rugged and technical the challenge, the more they’ll enjoy it. With the approach to Mytikas demanding some scrambling, we felt they were well matched – of course, we had to get them through the first day and a half to get them to the scrambling!
In the months leading up to jumping on the plane, we got them out into our local mountains and tried to replicate the distances, duration and technicality where possible. Some of these hikes saw the kids complete Cam Crag Ridge, Swirral Edge, Jack’s Rake and the always-epic Sphinx Ridge on Great Gable. On most of these scrambles, the kids were roped up to me, so they got some good practice in moving together and, most importantly, communicating whilst on a rope.
Izzy is, by nature, a bit more of an anxious soul. In the lead-up to the trip, she had quite a few moments where she simply didn’t want to climb Olympus. Cue feeling like a forceful parent… But we’ve now learnt that Izzy is best managed by arming her with as much information as possible. The questions soon started flowing, and as soon as she properly understood the three-day challenge of getting up and down, where we were sleeping, eating, pooping, etc., she was much happier and up for it.
With over 20 expeditions under my belt, I’m well versed in packing my kit, and until now the kids have been mere bystanders. It was a surprisingly special moment about a week before the trip when I sat on the landing floor outside their bedrooms, instructing them on the next item to bring me. ‘Right, one pair of spare pants.’ ‘One? But it’s three days.’ ‘Yep, well, this is an expedition!’ They’d soon constructed their small piles of hiking clothing for the trip.
Day 1 – Prionia to Spilios Agapitos Refuge (A.K.A. Refuge A)
Fast-forward to the trip, and after having a day and a half filled with pool and beach time in Leptokarya, the ‘expedition’ element of our holiday was upon us. We got picked up by our friendly taxi driver at 10:30am and driven 45 minutes up to the trailhead at Prionia. Prionia sits at just over 1,000m ASL, so it’s a healthy jump-start to the hike. The biggest bonus is that we’d left the searing heat of Leptokarya behind, but, with that said, it was still easily in the mid-twenties. Fortunately, shortly before the trip, the UK had experienced its fair share of toasty weather, so we had been exposed to at least some warm temperatures leading into the trip. The preceding two days of being in the country had no doubt helped with this heat acclimatisation too.
Marko, the Greek Shepherd dog, who has so far featured in both my previous trips to Olympus, was relaxing in the shade by the café at Prionia, and after a few strokes on his massive head, we were off on the hike.
Our task for the day was to hike just shy of 7.5km, with 1,100m of ascent, up to Refuge ‘A’. We set off very steadily as I was keen for us not to overheat in the soon-to-be midday heat. Fortunately, much of this hike is within the forest, so there is plenty of shade on offer, but it was still pretty humid.
The kids were clearly excited and anxious in equal measure. Admittedly, I, too, was anxious about what lay ahead for them, but I tried my best not to show this. We got 26 minutes in and Izzy had her first ‘micro paddy’. I gave Naomi the knowing look. I think at this point we knew we were both in for it for a couple of hours. (In hindsight, this paddy was fuelled by being hot and bothered, and a bit hungry.)
We broke the walk into 1-kilometre sections, promising the kids a ‘snack stop’ at the end of every one. Due to the steepness at times, we didn’t make it that far before we were again plying them with fuel. We’ve learnt from our training hikes that if you keep them fuelled, they’re generally pretty happy. More importantly, it is about getting the fuel inside them before they ask for it.
As a result of this, Naomi and I were now hauling a pretty healthy number of Oreos, Jammie Dodgers, Mini Cheddars, banana chips, dried mango and much more up the side of Olympus. As well as enough snacks to stock a mini-market, Naomi and I were carrying the spare clothes for ourselves and the kids (albeit, this wasn’t much stuff), 2L of water, toiletries and a helmet each. Nestled in the bottom of my bag was a 20m confidence rope (way too long, but I wasn’t prepared to chop it!), three harnesses, a 240cm sling, leather gloves and a couple of karabiners.
The kids were to only carry their own water (1.5L), their jumper and their own helmet. Oh, I also shouldn’t forget their handheld fans and a bottle of cooling water to spray on their faces, which turned out to be a bit of a lifesaver at times.
Admittedly, on most walks back home, neither kid has carried their own bag for the whole duration. We’ve usually, at some point, taken pity on them and carried it for a little while. This trip, there was no option: they were to carry their own bags (which they did with no complaint).
The kilometres slowly started to rack up. The kids must have asked a hundred times each, ‘How long / far to go?’, and I did my best to field the answer sensitively. To some clients, I will give the tongue-in-cheek answer of ‘Don’t ask questions you may not like the answer to’, but I had to be far more delicate with the kids, as they’d likely give me a barrage of whinging back… unlike most of my clients, thankfully.
The hiking on this first day is pretty steep, and the trail zig-zags almost endlessly. We got to the point where we could just about see the roof of the refuge sitting on the balcony above a large cliff. This served well to motivate the kids, as they could finally see their end goal. Sadly, the refuge did not get much closer as quickly as the kids liked at times. We distracted them with games of ‘Eye Spy’ and the Word Association game.
After four hours, we reached the terrace of the refuge, and Day 1 was complete. I could visibly see both kids were really pleased, and I think the anxiety was finally beginning to wash away. I’ve experienced overwhelm on expeditions myself before. Sometimes the idea of not knowing what lies ahead, how hard it’ll be, what you’re going to have to go through, is all a bit too much. Of course, they’d be experiencing all this and more. Even with our best efforts to tell them as much as we could before we got there, they’d still want to validate it all with their own eyes.
Our first port of call was to check in and grab some well-earned cans of pop. We were shown to our room, but, for safety reasons, the kids were asked to stay on the bottom bunks as the top bed had no guard rails. We were in a room with six bed spaces, but we got incredibly lucky as no one else joined us that evening.
One of the highlights of staying in the refuges on Olympus is the spaghetti! As a family, we LOVE pasta. Dinner was two mountains of spaghetti (one Bolognese, one with a red sauce) for us to get through. The kids were not only ravenous, but in spaghetti heaven. The bowls were soon empty, and there were even calls for a round two! Thankfully, we managed to suppress this request with a sweet treat.
Once back in the room, post-introduction to ‘drop toilets’, it was lights out. Day 1 was complete, with the rather exciting prospect of reaching the summit just a small number of hours away on Day 2.
Day 2 – Refuge A to Mytikas Summit, then on to Refuge Apostolidis on the Muses Plateau
The alarms went off at 6am, but I think we were all pretty much awake anyway due to the usual movements that happen in a refuge from about 5am onwards. We tidied our things away and popped through for breakfast. We’d brought the kids crepes and brioche from home, and I grabbed a refuge offering of a boiled egg, bread, soft cheese, jam and honey.
The impressive summit cliffs of Mytikas can be seen from the refuge, so I pointed out to the kids where we were aiming for. Our plan was to continue to ascend the ‘E4’ path to about 2,500m, at which point we’d break off onto an amazing, narrow path which traverses under the crags to where our final approach to the summit would happen via the Louki Couloir.
The temperatures of the morning were much kinder than the day before, and there was also a kind breeze blowing through too. We were all much more comfortable, so this, mixed with the fact it was summit day, meant there was a good energy. Apart from Izzy wanting a snack within the first 15 minutes (to be fair, she didn’t have much breakfast), we made excellent progress tackling yet more zig-zags up the broad ridge.
By the time we reached the traversing path, the cloud was now well and truly in, and the visibility was reduced to about 40m or so. This only made this amazing path feel that much more awesome.
After just 2.5 hours, we were at our gearing-up point. In a bid to go lightweight, we left all our kit apart from a few essentials here at the bottom of the Louki Couloir. We loaded up on some fuel and got our helmets, harnesses and rope on. There must have been about 25 or so other rucksacks left at this same spot, which, I must admit, had me a little worried I was doing the right thing…
When we climbed Mytikas in 2025, we ascended it from the neighbouring Skala peak and then reversed this route. This route is also a fun scramble. When I climbed it in July 2026 with a group, our guides took us up the Louki Couloir, and I instantly knew the steep walls, soaring pinnacles and fun scrambling would blow their little minds.
The fact that it’d provide us with more scrambling and less walking than the other route via Skala, and we could drop some kit whilst we did it, made it all very appealing. My friends and guides, Akis and Alex, helped me sense-check my plans.
So why was I feeling a bit rattled? Well, whilst down at Refuge A, I was showing Finn on a map our plans for the summit push. Two of the hut wardens were in earshot, and one said, ‘Oh, so you’re going via the Louki Couloir?’ I responded, ‘Yeah, the kids will love it.’
The other warden was a little stronger in her views and said, ‘I wouldn’t take my children that way. You could be the best mountaineer in the world, but it’s the other idiots out there that can cause you harm.’ She did then go on to say, ‘But you are their father, you know best.’
I didn’t blame her for saying what she said. They must get a massive range of people heading through, and I know from my own experience, sometimes it is best to be brutally honest with your thoughts in the hope that someone may make what you deem to be a safer decision.
The comment went round and round my head as I struggled to sleep that night, but I rationalised to myself that it would genuinely be OK. If my extremely experienced Greek Mountain Guides are happy to take my groups up the Couloir, then there should be no hesitation in taking my children.
Alex, one of my guiding friends, had, however, mentioned that as our summit day was not at the weekend, it should be quieter. So, when I see a heap of rucksacks at the bottom of the Couloir, I’m now thinking there could be any manner of ‘idiots’ above us.
And for those still wondering why lots of other people (or any other people, for that matter) may be a problem, it’s with reference to the chance of having loose rocks knocked down on you. When you’re in a gully, you’re potentially in the firing line.
Finally, I will also add that on my previous two ascents, the only time a rock has been knocked down and hit a client’s helmet was on the arguably busier route up from Skala – it wasn’t exactly risk-free either.
Anyway, we were here. The decision had been made. The mountain gods were either going to grant us fair passage, or they weren’t. Really, this is the game we play every time we go out into the mountains.
I had the kids on a ‘short rope’, as they’d practised at home on the scrambles. This meant they were tied to the same line of rope just a couple of metres apart. This technique requires the leader (me) to be very confident on the terrain, as really you are just providing protection for the people on the other end should they have a slip (and in this instance not attached to the mountain).
Could the kids have done it without the rope? If push came to shove, yes on the ascent. No on the descent. But would I have wanted them in there without one? No way!
Everyone was much happier knowing they were attached. Naomi, however, scrambled unattached, able to move around and ‘spot’ the kids as and when they needed a bit of extra direction.
The scrambling starts almost immediately. The hand and foot holds are plentiful. The wind was, however, forcing its way up the gully along with the mist, and something happened on Olympus which we really didn’t anticipate – Finn got cold hands! We took to warming them up, and realistically, the best course of action was to keep moving.
Up we scrambled, the kids moving very well together. The communication between them, letting each other know when to move, was brilliant. About a third of the way up, a group of five blokes were coming down. They stopped and we moved to the side of the gully before they continued on. It turned out they were from Hertfordshire. They were in great admiration of the kids and gave them a couple of rounds of applause.
The scrambling really is pretty steady, and the kids continued cruising. The mist was still blocking our view up the gully, but I couldn’t hear or see anyone else around.
And then the outline of the top of the crags could be seen, and I knew we were just minutes from the top. This spurred the kids on and we gunned it for the top.
And then, with smiles on all our faces, we reached the summit of Mytikas. High fives, pictures and signing the summit book all followed. We pretty much had the summit to ourselves as a large party had just left.
Rather excitingly, our research shows that Finn was now the youngest British person to have climbed to Mytikas summit. On the date of the summit (10th August 2026), Finn (Le Voi) was 7 years, 0 months and 7 days old.
Further to this, there is currently no record of the youngest British female to have climbed Mytikas, so at the time of writing, we hope to get Izzy (Le Voi - at the age of 9 years, 2 months and 20 days old) recorded as that person.
Naomi and I were immensely proud, but now to get down.
The plan was to descend to the Louki Couloir. Naomi would go at the front, and then the kids would go in front of me. I would be at the back of the group, keeping the kids on a tight ‘leash’, so they felt supported as they shuffled down the rocks.
There was plenty of bum shuffling, the odd slip (and a few tears when Finn hit his hand on a rock), but we edged our way down. On our way, we met a father and son duo from Norway. The son was just 8 years old, which was ace to see.
With just 10 minutes to go before we got back to our bags, the mist cleared out of the gully and the kids got to see the full scale of what they’d achieved, all backdropped by a bright blue sky.
At this same time, the owners of the 25 or so rucksacks appeared along the traverse path. They’d obviously traversed from the summit across to Skala and then walked back around. I was so very happy they’d not come back down the couloir as we were going up, and one chap on the summit had said he was held up for about 40 minutes on his way up from Skala as there were so many people on the route.
And so, today we got very lucky with the traffic – thank you, mountain gods!
The kids got plenty of attention from this group when we got back to the bags. In truth, this was to be the theme of the rest of the hike.
‘The kids, to the top?’ ‘The top of Mytikas? Wow!’
I hope they realise from all this admiration how rare they really are. I certainly feel blessed to have them as my children.
With the kit packed away, it was now a matter of a short walk around to the Muses Plateau to the refuge. The kids had, of course, already asked how long it would be to get to the refuge, and I gave them the rather open answer of ‘Not long, it’s just around the corner.’ (Classic guiding technique, ha.)
I wasn’t wrong, though, and as we rounded the bend, the refuge was sat there between the summits of Profitis Illias and Touba. The kids were elated, and Izzy in particular got a burst of energy.
The idea that the day was nearly over, combined with the fact we’d come to do what we’d planned, meant she was really happy right now. She even said, ‘I kinda want to climb those two peaks too… but let’s not.’
Naomi and I had already planned to take them up the nearest of the two for sunrise, but we were going to choose our moment wisely to let them know of our plans.
We arrived at the refuge at about 1pm, and refuge warden Lazarus, who I’ve of course met a few times before, greeted us with great energy. As others had been, he was overjoyed to hear the kids had been to the summit of Mytikas, and he gave them both a sticker as a well done.
Izzy and Finn were really pleased with the room. Despite the fact we’d be sharing it with up to 10 other people, they loved the double-bunk-bed setup. Finn assigned Izzy and Naomi to the bottom bunk, meaning I was up the ladder with him.
The afternoon was spent playing a card game called Skyjo, munching snacks and then, at about 5pm, eating another huge bowl of spaghetti. These hours relaxing together on the Muses Plateau were very wholesome, and exactly what I hoped we’d get out of staying here rather than pushing back down to Refuge A.
We were all in bed pretty early, and the kids fell into a deep sleep really fast. No wonder. Finn adopted his usual perpendicular sleeping position, and no matter how many times I twisted him back, he just kept returning to this position. I accepted it, and apart from a few kicks to the ribs in the night, we made it work.
Day 3 – Refuge Apostolidis to Prionia via Refuge A
The alarm on my watch went off at 5:45am, and I quietly hopped out of bed to check if it was clear outside. There was some cloud on the horizon, but it looked good enough to make it worth heading for a wander to see the sunrise.
Izzy and Finn were roused from their sleep and, without any complaints, got all their clothes on (literally) really quietly in order not to wake anyone else up.
With headtorches on, we wandered out of the refuge and up the steep but short slopes of Touba. The sky behind us was already going orange, and after a further 10 minutes of snapping some pictures from the top, the sun broke the horizon.
We soaked up the moment, and again, I found the moment really special. We got a little chilly, so we took a slow plod back to the refuge, by which point Olympus had gone golden, but the cloud was also coming in to spoil the party.
We packed our bags, had a bite to eat, and it was then out the door for our final descent.
Outside the refuge was a big white Greek Shepherd dog. We, of course, showed it some attention, and it must have thought we’d be good company, as for the next hour and a half he gently plodded along with us. After much debate, we ended up calling him Polo (which just beat the suggestion of Marko 2.0).
I’m unsure of the name of the path we took down, but it’s denoted on the map as a path with yellow triangles. I’d done it in ascent to the Muses Plateau the month before, and it too was a fantastic traversing path.
In places, it requires care, as there is a very immediate drop down the very steep slopes below, but the kids were thankfully sensible, or we minded them where we felt it necessary.
Not long before the refuge, we had to cross a broad gully choked with snow. The month before, this had been a fairly easy task as there were a series of large footholds across. All it required was careful stepping and the use of a walking pole for balance.
As we appeared next to the gully, I noticed no visible path across. I checked about to ensure I wasn’t in the wrong place and couldn’t see another option. I’d already told Izzy there were footsteps across, and when she noticed there weren’t any, she had a minor panic at the situation.
Meanwhile, Polo was charging up and down the snow like a puppy, clearly enjoying the cooler temperatures it offered him.
To be totally honest, I was a little anxious myself at the situation. Almost immediately below us, there was a healthy gap between the snow and the wall of the gully, which, if you slipped into, would certainly hurt. Further on, a slide would provide a bumpy and painful ride down for 70m or so.
The situation certainly wasn’t ideal, but I had to exude confidence for the kids. I whipped out my sling and Finn stepped up to go first. I wrapped it around the middle of his torso and held it tight. I asked him to walk below me (so I could secure him better), but he much preferred copying my footsteps.
He tested the system a couple of times as we slowly went across by having little slips, but he took it all in his stride. Instead of heading across (and slightly downward) to where our path exited the snow slope, I opted to take a rising line which felt more secure.
I safely deposited Finn on the other side and hopped my way back across for Izzy. Her first few steps were cautious, but she soon gained confidence. She had one minor slip which resulted in a kiss from the icy snow on her knee.
Later in the walk, Izzy actually commented, saying the snow was her favourite bit!
I crossed back across the snow for the fourth time to get my bag and then rejoined the children. Naomi followed on unaided.
After just 90 minutes, we’d made it down to the refuge. I grabbed a sandwich and had a lovely chat with the hut warden. I didn’t bring up our route choice, but they were very happy for us to have succeeded in our mission.
After 15 minutes or so, we saddled our bags for the final descent. It had taken us four hours to climb up to the refuge, so I guessed we had three hours ahead of us.
To be honest, I thought it would be a bit more of a chore than it was. I thought the kids would burn out and want the end to be immediate. Finn took a bit of a slip at one point about an hour into the descent and cut his hand. It only really required a small plaster, but much to his joy, I wrapped his hand up like it had been cut in half by a sword.
There was, of course, an element of ‘How much further?’ and I did my best again to keep the kids motivated. Heading down, I was reminded of how amazing the kids had done that first day. It really is quite steep!
They continued to move well, and thankfully I’d miscalculated the distance remaining. My ‘2km left’ was only 1km, and before we knew it, we could see the car park.
Finn saw the cars and, after his immediate ‘Ohhhh!’, he turned to us and said, ‘So that means I’ve climbed Mount Olympus.’
I welled up a little and just grabbed him for a hug. I turned to Izzy and gave her the same.
They’d done it. Their first expedition complete.
It had only taken us 2 hours 45 minutes to descend to Prionia, and with half an hour to burn before our collection, we grabbed another can of pop and toasted the moment.
On our way back to the hotel, I asked our driver to drop us in Litochoro for a couple of hours so we could not only show the kids this lovely town, but also grab some food.
I also wanted to head in to see Monika at the fabulous outdoor shop called 55 Peaks. I’d had some great chats with her on my previous trips, and when I told her in July that I’d be back with the kids, she insisted I bring them in.
Monika not only gave the kids some chocolate to congratulate them, but she also pulled down a blind at the front of the store which serves as a Mytikas summiteer signing board. We all signed away.
Watch our Day 1 Reel Here: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1361078072274934
Watch our Day 2 Reel Here: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1565901115330132
Watch our Day 3 Reel Here: facebook.com/reel/1796919468706020/?s=single_unit
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