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DESTINATION GUIDE: Malta and Gozo

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 UKC Articles 17 Mar 2015
Handy Andy gets Wet, Fomm ir Rih, Malta, 4 kbSurrounded by the deep blue Mediterranean sea, halfway between Sicily and the North African coast, Malta and sister island Gozo are steeped in rich and turbulent history, breathtaking landscapes and, most importantly, limestone crags and sea cliffs with hundreds of routes full of character and charm.

Stephen Farrugia and Inigo Taylor give us an insight into climbing on both islands.



Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=7200
Charlie Boscoe 17 Mar 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:

Went to Gozo last year and loved it. Super quiet and a really nice feel to the place. Highly recommended.
 trouserburp 17 Mar 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:

Is Malta officially turning it's back on trad then?
 Martin Bennett 17 Mar 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:

I Climbed quite a bit on Gozo and a very little on Malta in the eighties - my local club had a tradition of going to Malta after being instrumental, along with local climbers, in the production of the first climbing guide book as well as many of the climbs of the period (pre bolts). It was then, as now, a backwater but the thing I liked about it was it had plenty for the "ordinary joe" like me. This article makes it look like a place for grade 7 and 8 climbers alone. I can't help feeling the authors would sell the islands better and therefore attract more visitors, presumably the aim of the publicity, if they had a photo or two and a word to say about the plethora of routes in the S, VS, HVS, E1/2 and/or sport equivalents. As it is I'd guess they're limiting their audience to a small minority.
Doug Kerr 17 Mar 2015
In reply to Martin Bennett:

Agree with your penultimate sentence Martin although as I understand it some of the classic trad routes have now been retro bolted. Motorpsycho being one sad example.

I really enjoyed climbing there in the 1980's although having said that the sports route do look good....


 deepstar 17 Mar 2015
Inigo 18 Mar 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:

In response to comments, as a photographer i decided upon the images chosen to show the beautiful locations that Malta has on offer, Amenable grades were mentioned in the article in fact if the article is read in full lower grades are mentioned several times. Trad climbing is still a part of Maltese climbing but with a large amount of sport climbers visiting the island myself and Stephen decided to cater the article for the sports climber, You clearly have not read the article if you claim we are aiming at climbers above a certain standard, that is not the case. To be quite honest i personally felt to give a balanced view (we did) to show more advanced climbers that Malta is more than worth a visit is very important to development of routes here, yes we made it clear there are lots of easier routes but we have also explained that the potential for hard climbing and new harder lines is possible, isn't that what climbing is about sharing, enjoying and pushing the sport forward regardless of grades etc. Thanks for reading the article, hope to see you at the crag be it on a 5+ or 8b
2
 Simon Caldwell 18 Mar 2015
In reply to Inigo:

I read the article and came away with the impression that there wouldn't be much for me there (6a on a good day). It does mention grade 3s in passing a couple of times but with no more information given I didn't realise any of these were classics. And in my experience, when people climbing 7s and 8s talk about "amenable grades" they usually mean grades way above anything I can hope to climb!

Anyway, I'm glad the following discussion has put that right, and it's now on my list of places to go
 DWS gibraltar 31 Mar 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:

HI, What is the dws like in Gozo? Looking at the pic's there must be some amazing places!
 Simon Alden 12 Apr 2015
In reply to DWS gibraltar:

Yes its not bad. One of the more popular locations is Mgarr ix-Xini inlet but there's plenty to explore still too. Check out the adventure guidebook to the Maltese Islands which is a bit dated now but still available.
 DWS gibraltar 13 Apr 2015
In reply to Simon Alden: thanks I will.
 Trangia 13 Apr 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:
I was in Gozo 2 years ago. I was with my ex who isn't a climber, so didn't do any climbing but soloed around a bit, although not a lot.

I got the impression that the limestone was a bit on the soft and crumbly side, and not the quality of places like say, Majorca or Costa Blanca.

Maybe I am being unfair because I hardly touched the majority of the rock, but what is the general quality of the rock like for the climbs?

Lovely islands with friendly people, but attrocious road surfaces and terrible road signposting! Great walking for non climbing partners, although I was shocked at the indescriminate way birds are shot everywhere by the locals.....
Post edited at 18:20
 deepstar 13 Apr 2015
In reply to Trangia:

>

> Lovely islands with friendly people, but attrocious road surfaces and terrible road signposting! Great walking for non climbing partners, although I was shocked at the indescriminate way birds are shot everywhere by the locals.....

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/28/chris-packham-malta-is-a... Chris Packham is doing a great job here, it is truly horrendous the carnage caused by these Maltese "sportsmen".
Bogwalloper 13 Apr 2015
In reply to Inigo:

Have to agree with the other two. Too many photos of horizontal rock for me

Boggy

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