UKC

Hi

I'm heading to Sark for a summer holiday with the family. In the off chance I get some free time I was wondering if anyone had been and I guess more importantly, climbed there. is there any and where abouts?

Cheers for any help you can give.

Sark is a lovely little island , but unfortunately the rock quality is nowhere near as good as the lovely granite on Jersey and Guernsey.

The Guernsey climbing club are the people to speak to regarding whats been done on Sark.

Two places that are worth checking out would be Derrible Bay and the Venus Pool on little Sark.

Derrible Bay on a low tide / nice day would offer some nice bouldering with sandy landings. The snorkeling is also very good there , and makes a lovely family day exploring the caves etc. Just be aware of the tides! as they are huge in the Channel islands and its all too easy to be caught out exploring "just around the corner"

The Venus pool is a natural rock pool on little Sark the size of a small swimming pool , i seem to remember it having good rock surrounding it... its worth spending the time to seek it out.

There are also some small sea stacks dotted around the island , not sure if they have ever been climbed on?... would be interesting to know.

Everything Chris has said is pretty much correct.  The guidebook you need is the Alan Hill / Ian Smith one, but it's difficult to find. Luckily there aren't too many routes in Sark so I can scan it for you. Off the top of my head there's the following areas:-

Harve Gosselin - some long (200ft+) lines up to VS there. I've never looked at them so don't know if they're still doable.

Adonis pool area - we looked at these in the late 90s - some will still be OK for sure, but I don't know if the path down to them is still passable.

Venus pool area - these all appear to be still doable. There's an impressive overhang.

Les Autelets - these are a couple of stacks just north of 'the window in the rock' and had new routes done on them in the past couple of years. There's still space for more new routes I believe.

Victor Hugo cave - definitely some doable stuff here, possibly best DWSed.

If you're well-experienced with sea cliffs then give it a go, although I'm not aware of any climbers residing in Sark so I don't know who would partner you. It's possible that you might be able to rustle up a party from Guernsey to go over and have epics with you. (check out Guernsey Mountaineering Club on FB or message me) One of the problems is that although the island is all cliffs the topouts are bad - straight from steep rock onto steep gorse/hawthorn/brambles. Only parts of Little Sark near the venus pool and silver mine or L'Eperquerie common topout onto grass. 

Bouldering - there'll be some on the beaches - Greve De La Ville, Grand Greve, Dixcart, Derrible. Landings are likely to be pebbly.

What would definitely be worth you doing is getting hold of a copy of the 'Guide to the caves and bays of Sark' which tells you how to do the sea-level scrambles and cave explorations. That's what I'd do if I was going there.  http://www.sark.co.uk/the-la-trobe-guide-is-back-7636/

Be aware that if you do get yourself into trouble it's highly likely that it will end very badly unless you're the worlds best swimmer, and even then you're pushing your luck. Happy to give you any more info you require as best I can

OK, I've added some crags to the database on here for you. Will try to populate them over the next week or two.

Cheers for the info guys. 

I will definitely look into the La trobe guide. 

As I am going with the family, I don't think routes are going to be a goer as I'm not sure I will be able to get that much time away. That and no one else is a climber (problems of going away with the In Laws and not my family). 

Seth

I think you'd be best to take a headtorch and some clothes you don't mind trashing for exploring caves, and boots and a chalkbag for a bit of beach bouldering. I can get hold of a La Trobe guide for you too if you like? Going off on your own exploring caves isn't the most sensible thing to do, but there's stuff you can do whilst the out-laws are relaxing on the beach next door. Obviously tides are the biggest consideration, what dates do you plan to be there?

I have picked up a copy of the le Trobe guide. I think its the first week or so in August that I am there. was thinking of taking boots and chalk bag any way.

Thanks for your help 

No worries, if you need anything else just ask

Update for you - a mate posted a pic of Dixcart bay at the weekend - it looks like there's an overhanging stacklet on the lefthand side of the bay (looking out to sea) that could be boulderable.