Cornwall has got to be the best place to climb in the UK. The granite is impeccable with routes and crags to suite everyone's taste. This is a guide to climbing in Cornwall (Bosigran, Chair Ladder, Gurnard Head, Lands End, Sennen, Roche, Pordenack Point, Carn Barra). Lots of pictures (click for larger view). I've split the page into two so it loads faster. Just click on the relevant hyper link.
Pellitras Point (picture only)
Chair Ladder
You park at Porthgwarra and then walk for about 10 minutes to the coast guard lookout at Gwennap Head. There's a little caff at Porthgwarra which does the most excellent pasties you'll ever taste.
Unfortunately the crag is tidal, but it is possible to abb in instead of scrambling down and walking round the base. The best way down at low tide is via Zawn Rinney. This isn't too hard at all and there's a clear path to follow to get there, where you gear up before scrambling down. Don't go along this path, stay higher up and walk around the rocks at the top as there's nothing under the path except a couple of feet of earth and a lot of air. The aerial photos below were taken at high tide.
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| Pegasus
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HS 4b, 4a, 4a, 4a, 4b
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Cracking Route, the first pitch is pushing VS territory (vertical crack). 2nd and 3rd or 3rd and 4th pitches can be run together. However, the two best pitches are 1 and 4 so if you run any together, the same person gets to lead the best pitches. Move at the start of pitch 5 is hard and difficult to protect, easier option is to carry on straight up and to the right rather than go left as the guide book says. Can ab in to top of 2nd pitch at high tide. | |
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| Western Arete
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HS -, -, 4c, 4a
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I personally haven't done this route but I was watching my mate Paul do it while I was on Pegasus. Route finding is hard (believe it or not) and there is an "interesting" beaching manoeuvre where you pull up via a hand jam into a belly flop position. Very entertaining to watch. | |
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| South Face direct
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VS 4a, 4c, 4c, 4a
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Outstanding line up the seaward face of the pinnacle. Can do it quite easily as two pitches. 2nd pitch is the hardest, it's pretty much sustained 4c. 3rd pitch is a thugish overhanging crack. Gear is OK | |
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| Seal Slab
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VS 4c, 4b
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First pitch is excellent and well protected. 2nd pitch is pretty much a one move wonder (lay back crack) in the middle of a scramble. Well worth doing, especially the first pitch (tidal). | |
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| Terriers Tooth | HS 4b, -, - | 1st pitch is the best. Despite what the guide book says there is gear, not a lot, but its good and enough to stop you killing yourself. If you like gear above your head at all times, do another route. Short abseil of a big spike at end. | |
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| Diocese | VS 4c, 5a, 4a, 4b | Brilliant route. Guide book pitch grades are wrong. It's top of grade VS, 5a, 4c, 4a, 4b. The hardest bit is getting up into the cave, 5a off-width crack, unprotected. You can body jam and thrutch up like me, or (with a rope above you) elegantly lay back. Traverse is excellent, not too hard and well protected. If you're shorter than 5'8", getting cam out of roof at start of 2nd pitch might prove trying. Grade drops to severe for final two pitches. Best route on the crag. | |
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| SE face direct | HVS 5a | Short but sustained. Top of grade. | |
Pellitras Point
Sennen
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| Demo Route
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HS 4b, 4b
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Popular, very, very popular. The First pitch is harder than the second. The second is the famous one, under clings round the bulge then pull up and climb up the blank head wall which is in fact a row of jugs. If you're using half ropes then do it in one pitch, only need to belay if you're on a single rope as there'll be too much rope drag otherwise. | |
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| Overhanging Wall | VS 4c | Hard - I lobbed three times - but the gear's good. | |
| Donna | HS 4b, 4b | South facing so gets more sun than Demo area. Good. | |
| Hayloft Cracks variation start | HVS 5a, 4c, 4c | Nice route, the 1st pitch straight up the wall makes it HVS. Gear on the 1st pitch is a bit ropey. Rest of route is good but 2nd pitch is easier than 4c. | |
Roche
We climbed at a place called Roche,
just off the A30. It’s a 70’ high tor with a disused chapel built on it. Its
not quite a roadside crag, you have to walk about 150 yards. As well as the
main crag there’s loads of bouldering and a beginners top rope slab. And
don’t forget those cameras, load ‘em up with black and white film and get
some early morning arty shots of shadows on the wind scoops on the boulders.
But if you do this, remember you’re in Cornwall and take note of the guide
book: if you’re out after dark carry a clove of garlic and a cross.
There’s 16 climbs in the guide book (Cheesewring) but we were talking to one
of the locals on his way home from work and he said there’s loads of other
routes there that have never been written up. I digress slightly but we were
talking about climbing in Cornwall generally. The best climbing is
undoubtedly down near Land’s End. At Pentire, there’s some first class
routes but you need a little local knowledge as there’s an awful lot of crap
there to catch out the unknowing. Be warned, ask first.
Any way, back to Roche. We based ourselves on the South side, which was out
of the wind and 10º warmer than the North side. There’s routes there in all
grades from diff to E5, everyone will find at least a couple of routes and
you can always top rope something a bit harder than you’re prepared to lead.
As you’d expect from Cornwall, the granite is impeccable and the local guy
was right, holds just materialise when you want them. Protection is fine
too. Unlike Land’s End, the granite here is grey and its got loads of little
(and not so little) holes in it, obviously some softer rock pockets that
have eroded. Its not as sharp as Land’s End either so your little pinkeys
don’t take such a hammering, but it still gives just as much grip for your
feet – great stuff, “like grit stone with holds.”
The two best routes have got to be Moping Owl and Porky, both VS 4c. Moping
Owl is slightly harder and involves some Tarzan like swings on a juggy hand
traverse, Porky takes the direct line up the S face. The guide book takes
some deciphering but after you figure out they got “left” and “right”
the wrong way round for the middle half of the routes it all makes sense. I
backed off Shorty’s Folly on the N face and went up the N face direct
instead, only to find that belay opportunities on the top were more limited
than the S face. In total, 20 m of rope were used constructing said belay,
linking together two poor friends, a crap nut and a rather solid lintel on
the chapel. I can safely say that it’s the first time I’ve belayed off a
church. Perhaps I should have just used this and relied on faith, better not
in my case though.
Grades in the guide book are sound with the exception of "Lord Falmouth" which is an extremely soft touch E1.
Watch out for nesting Jackdaws on Moping Owl.
