UKC

Hello, I was thinking of going North for the summer holidays and apparently Sweden has loads of good bouldering in scenic areas. I came across Vastervik and a few other areas but couldn't find guidebooks for these. Is there a hard copy guidebook available at all?
Btw, I'm looking for family friendly venues, so if you have any recommendations let me know.

F

In reply to francois:

I can't help with Västervik and other areas around Stockholm, but if you're driving from the UK or otherwise find yourself in the south, Kjugekull is around an hour's drive from Malmö and quite worthwhile. There's plenty of easier stuff right up to eights, a guidebook came out last year (available here - http://kjugebeta.blogspot.co.uk/p/forare.html - or possible to buy in shops such as Naturkompaniet, which can be found in most major cities/shopping centres), and the setting is pretty great, being mostly within a beautiful forest.

The bouldering itself is quite varied, with a reasonable number of strong lines and nationally-known classics - there's a reasonable amount of info floating around on the net, and plenty of videos of the better known easier routes, such as this: vimeo.com/18880731. There's at least one good campsite nearby, as well as the option to wildcamp legally, and the locals are all very friendly and happy to give advice/recommendations.

On the downside, however, the area has a reputation for being unbearably midge-ridden in the summer - I can't confirm it as I never bothered visiting outside of the winter months, but there are quite a few lakes in the area and so it seems pretty likely that it could be fairly unpleasant, not to mention crap conditions for serious bouldering. Could be worth a visit nonetheless if you're passing by (most likely if you're driving the E6 having come through Denmark), but I wouldn't plan to spend too long there in case it is unbearable!
Further to the north, Bohuslän (well-known within Sweden for trad) supposedly has quite good bouldering, and the crags at which the boulders are to be found are usually a lot more open than Kjuge. No idea about a guidebook, however, but you may well be able to dig up some information by rooting around.

In reply to francois:

I believe a bouldering guidebook exists called something like 'boulder uppsala', but I just use 27 crags which has topos etc of most of the popular venues.

In reply to Droyd:


I've been to Kjugekull, with little kids (we stayed on nice campsite on the island in the lake). Didn't get much chance to boulder, but there seems huge amounts of stuff there. It was being described as the Font of the north back in the mid naughties. It seems now 27 crags is the place to look https://27crags.com/crags/kjugekull

27 crags has huge amounts in Sweden, probably deciding where to visit out of all the option will be the hardest thing!

In reply to francois:

If you want scenic, check out Åland: https://27crags.com/areas/aland . Technically, it's in Finland, but hey. The bouldering on the north shore is spectacular.

In reply to HakanT:

Yes, Geta and surroundings are indeed beautiful and par the hike in (long for a boulderer), rather kid friendly.

Just beware, that there's a rather good change of gettin' a tick. Do a proper search every evening (on every one). That said, Bohuslan and other regions in (southern) Sweden most likely ain't any better.

In reply to francois:

I often look for the local clubs website, then follow their links. Just use klätterklubb and insert the name of the nearest large town, don't bother with special characters as google will usually work it out for you anyway.

http://www.vastervikclimbing.se/bouldering/?lang=en

they are very tourist orientated around there, you can hire mats etc... A car is essential though, as most venues are relatively small, so you might want to visit a few in a day.