UKC

Afternoon all, I've a quick question for all you wizzened fonts of knowledge regarding a potential trip to the Atlantic Coast. Is it worth the drive for a weekend trip and if so, what are the recommendations for routes to go at/crags to visit/crags to miss?

As a bit of reference, we were down at Sharpnose a few weeks ago and did Wraith/Pacemaker/Fay amongst others and loved them all. I was speaking to a pair who'd just come from Pentire and said it was even better but I'm a bit dubious given the grade ranges. Anyway, any information or advice would be appreciated if it's forthcoming and unrelated to spelling, grammar or punctuation. Ta

In reply to irish paul:

Yes. From N - S, Tintagel, Backways Cove, Kellan Head, Doyden Point, Rumps Point, Pentire and Carn Gowla all have stunning routes at the Wraith/Pacemaker/Fay grades.

A weekend tick list to include Il Duce, Eroica, Black Magic, Darkinbad, America, Mercury Direct, The Tomb won't disappoint.

In reply to irish paul:

Eroica on Pentire is a great route. Belay below the huge flake thing on P1 rather than at the top to avoid near F2 fall onto the belay from the 6a crux move. See my phot gallery for a photo of the gear protecting the crux...

Darkinbad and Black Magic meant to be amazing.

Carn Gowla is the next major crag. It's adventurous! Only done Mercury, a good route but didn't think it was amazing. Worth the trip though just to check out the area and the weird rock type. A few other adventurous routes there as well.

Enjoy!

In reply to Iain Peters:

And all of the above in a weekend would be good going!

In reply to irish paul:

I think the Atlantic Coast is great, but an acquired taste. It's very different to Sharpnose, which is a popular, convenient crag where everything is user-friendly and straightforward and you can tick loads of routes without much worry.

At Pentire, I've only done Darkinbad on second. Amazing route, but we felt that the place had a bit of an atmosphere and although Eroica had been on my ticklist for a while, we weren't rushing back to climb more routes on that wall. Worth a visit? Yes, without a doubt. Another Sharpnose? Absolutely not.

The other crag we visited was Carn Gowla, where we did Mercury and America. I thought both were amazing routes, but I had a bit of an unpleasant shock on Mercury when I discovered that some of the route is a South Stack style chossfest. Footholds breaking off on a slab isn't that much fun IMO. But it isn't quite as bad as it sounds. The top pitch of America is absolutely amazing, but it's pretty hardcore on the adventurousness side of things: questionable rock coated in guano is order of the day. Perverse, but incredible none the less.

So yes I think those crags are definitely worth a visit, but with a mindset to go to do specific 'big' routes. Romping up lovely clean walls covered in jugs, with 2 for 1 on the E-points a la Sharpnose ain't the vibe down there!

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Yes, Pentire is quite an imposing crag! Non-tidal with a walk-in approach, would be pretty intimidating if it was tidal!

In reply to Misha:


It really felt like no one had been climbing there in months too, which made it feel even less friendly. There was actually some chalk on Eroica (looked like 1 recent ascent) but nothing on Darkinbad.