UKC

Having climbed around the world, I've been lucky enough to climb on some incredibly beautiful rock formations and whilst aesthetic beauty isn't everything, it certainly plays a big part in inspiring me to climb certain lines. Whilst there is clearly a wealth of fantastic climbing in the uk, much of it has a slightly shabby appearance - which is fine - but I have recently discovered some clear exceptions to this, namely Mousetrap at Gogarth and then, from the cover of the latest BMC Summit magazine, Painted Wall on the Isle of Lewis. Both of these routes made my jaw drop with their beauty and make me wonder what other gems are out there in the UK.

Long story short, I want to compile a tick list of Visually stunning routes in the UK and would love your suggestions. I am looking for dramatic rock features That will inspire, ideally in the HVS to E5 grade range. Bolted routes can be included but again they must be spectacular.

Many Thanks

Tommo

Dream of White Horses might be one, tho only really the final pitch 

A few that spring to mind:

• The Devil's Slide on Lundy (Satan's Slip that goes up the middle is E1)
• The great arch on Pabbay (hmm, I think the Dave Macloed route is a bit harder than your range)
• The Old Man of Hoy?
• Malham Cove
• I also think Chair Ladder looks good with the towers and pinnacles

A these the sort of places you had in mind?

Kilt Rock, Staffin

Spantastic (HVS 4c)

Poseidon Adventure, Bowden Doors Poseidon Adventure (E4 6a)

The Tube, Back Bowden Doors The Tube (E4 5c)

There's a couple on Northumberland's Fell Sandstone

Dave

Two very contrasting lines in surroundings that are more contrasting still:

Diamond Solitaire (VS 4c)

The Knife (E5 6a)

T.

Blue, bubbly, smooth: Lower Sharpnose Point

https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/digital_features/the_finest_crags_in_th...

The Rainbow Slab in Llanberis

Dow Crag

Just got back from Cribba Head near Treen, it's like a Henry Moore sculpture park above a blue sea. Got totally sandbagged but that's by the by.

Blackchurch - Sacre Coeur

Yesnaby Castle - south face

Twll Mawr - Quarryman

Gaping Ghyll - abseil

Mother carey's kitchen

The only truly world class climbing in the uk is in the Hebrides, in my opinion.

Prophecy of Drowning (E2 5c)

U-th (E3 5c)

Sula (E2 5b)

The Painted Wall (E4 5c)

The Screaming Abdabs (E6 6b)

Oxford and Cambridge Direct on Grey Crag, Buttermere.

We climbed it on a beautiful sunny evening under clear blue skies and it easily rates as one of the most beautiful routes that I have ever climbed.

The rainbow slab on rainbow bridge at berry head.

Great thread.

The first thing that came to mind was The Rainbow of Recalcitrance (E6 6b) in the Llanberis slate quarries - a finer looking line you'll rarely encounter.

But then there are plenty of other genuinely aesthetic walls and features too, such as Creeping Lemma (E2 5c), Archangel (E3 5b), Fingerlicker (E4 6a) and The Master's Edge (E7 6c).

I'd love to see what your eventual list looks like.

Moonraker, Berry Head, Devon. Visually pretty amazing. It also has a certain curiosity on the nose too, especially after the bird ban has lifted

Moonraker (HVS 5a)

HVS to E5 = High Tor

[Gosh, those really creepy 'dislikes' are back again tonight. I wonder what that's all about - how someone can be so unhinged as to hate someone else talking about rock climbs that they have found to be beautiful?]

Mousetrap's a bit of a funny one I think. The rock architecture is lovely to look at  from a distance, and very photogenic - but, actually on the route, the rock feels scrappy, and you don' t get much of an impression of the actual rock shapes. I remember being a bit disappointed by that when I eventually climbed the route.

See Aln's comment elsewhere.

Looking at the Dislikes and they are selected on three posts in a row.
Might I suggest, that it is someone inadvertently selecting 'Dislike' by simply swiping in the incorrect place on a mobile?

My thoughts too.  Easily done.  Although one is against the suggestion that the only world class rock is in The Hebrides, which is perhaps worth a dislike.  Poster has obviously never been to Jesmond Dene quarry.

I think some of the suggestions above fall into the 'slightly shabby' category appearance-wise, but each to their own.

For me:

The Devil's Slide (HS 4a)

The Rainbow of Recalcitrance (E6 6b)

The Orange Bow (E5 6a)

Skye Wall (E7 6b)

Angel Face (E2 5c)

Dalriada (E7 6b)

Roaring Forties (E3 5c)

Sugar Cane Country (E4 6a)

Eleutheria (E6 6a)

Sacre Coeur (E2 5c)

Mega Tsunami (E6 6a)

Just a Little Tease (E5 6b)

I could go on...

Not just *slightly* shabby but actually a massive pile of shab.

I think Wonderwall (E3 6a) is pretty stunning. Never got on it yet, looks desperate. 

High Tor is immaculate-looking compared to most Peak limestone! None of which - despite its quality as a climbing medium - is ever going to appear in a list entitled 'Beautiful Rock in the UK.'

I think the qualities which the OP appears to be looking for naturally favour sea cliffs. (And slate - somewhat ironically, since that's a man-made environment.)

The rock in the vicinity of 'Conan The Librarian' at Gogarth is another suggestion. Harder grades than have been requested in the OP, but photographically that area always looks stunning.

Not to be controversial, but I found Moonraker hugely overrated. P1 & 2 were just lumpy piles of (literal) bird poo, with pretty uninteresting climbing. P3 was pretty amazing, but IMO not enough to make up for the other two...

On balance, this may be partially affected by the fact that I forgot to bring the rope when we abbed in (hadn’t been trad climbing in ages!) and the tide was too high to solo back round to get it. Quite the faff to attempt several ideas, when a friendly family with a boat came in close to the cliff, partner hopped on, and they deposited him where he could solo up to get the rope. All credit to him for not smacking me with a hex. 

The Central Slabs of the Shelterstone Slab with the stunningly compelling line of Cupid's Bow (E5 6b) being possibly the finest feature on British rock to the climber's eye.

Two other lines/features which I find utterly compelling and dream-inspiring are Darkinbad the Brightdayler (E5 6a) at Pentire Head and The Cumbrian (E5 6b) on Esk Buttress. AlsoThe Prozac Link (E4 5c) at Mangertsa.

The quality of having no friction and falling to bits?

I like thinking about the rock in less macro terms - when it comes down to the texture, that you can feel with your fingers and toes when climbing, then for me, the best rock in the world is the bubbly rhyolite in the the Lakes. Langdale boulders, the pocketed slab up the hill from Chapel Stile, Golden Slipper, the Leopard's Crawl - Pink Panther bit of Dow.

In similar vein, I remember being very impressed with the photo of 'Naked Ape' at Creag an Dubh Loch on the front cover of the old Cairngorms guide.

Diamond Solitaire (Lundy)

Skeleton Ridge (Isle of Wight)

Perhaps Old Man of Hoy, but I've never been there.

Some of the routes on Beeston Tor. Much of the Peak limestone I've been on has been rubbish but that place is much more stable and no polish.

Can't we get over the UK not being the finest venue to climb? It has many fantastic routes, but for the most part it's short so offers little grandeur,  over complicated by ethics and suffers poor weather or midges out of bird ban dates. 

We do esoteric very well mind. 

In addition to the others I would add

Right Angle (HS 4b)

Especially at sunset on a sunny day when the rock turns orange in the alpen glow

Maybe they weren't so lucky with the weather when they climbed the route

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Cloggy yet, pick your route as you wish but as a crag the rock architecture is magnificient, and a match for almost anything you'll see abroad.

As mentioned above, Malham Cove is a stunning geographical feature, often beaten for size by foreign competition but the amphitheatre like form is near perfect.

In a different vein, the NE face of Ben Nevis is an awe inspiring sight, more so in winter but it has a grandeur bigger than it's actual size.

The line followed by Barrad on Trellwyn Llwyd (St David's Head West) certainly comes to mind, as does the main slab at Caerfai and at Carreg Y Barcud.

The top pitch of Eagle Front (VS 4c) also comes to mind.

Lucky Strike (E1 5b)

Something on Rainbow Slab

The arete of Blowin' in the Wind (E1 5b)

Scale is important. The OP was vague (in a helpful way) about scale, and various people have suggested buttresses, pitches, features and even rock texture as the basis of their suggestions. I like the fact that the same route can be both ugly and beautiful when viewed at different scale - my earlier suggestion of Creeping Lemma (E2 5c) is a good example, with lovely twisting quartz on the first pitch but quite scrappy overall.

The Great Zawn

Nearby Goredale is arguably even more dramatic.

Not beautiful rock on the whole though.

Subjective isn't it?

Bosigran or Ramshaw?!

jcm

Of course. For me though Malham and Gordale are hugely impressive features and I love both but I don't think I'd say it was beautiful rock.

I've always thought Cenotaph Corner to be situated at the heart of a stunning piece of rock. Maybe the clean geometry appeals to me, as an engineer.

Likewise, the Cumbrian on Esk Buttress. Saw it the day Extreme Rock went on sale.  But even harder to look away when you see it in the flesh.

And Shelterstone.  Looks like an armadillo's armour.  I'd just love to do a route there.

And the HVS which goes up the upper funnel of Gaping Ghyll.  I've abbed into it (doing the Dihedral SRT route) and that's got to be one of my top five best-ever memories.  Actually climbing it must be 'to die for'.  Anyone done it?

Edit: just realised that some of these are more 'stunning' than 'beautiful', as requested by the OP.  Got me thinking about what the difference is....

Have you have never seen a picture of Clogwyn Du'r Arddu? I've never been there but it looks stunning and apparently the climbing is excellent . Or Dubh Loch,Cyrn Las, Slime wall, Rannoch wall, Dinas Mot, Etive Slabs, Sheltersone, Aonach Dubh, Carn Dearg Buttress, Cheddar George,Avon Gorge, Malham Cove and all those incredible rock formations made of grit stone and intimidating sea zawns?None of which are "Shabby". There are tons more as we are very spoiled for choice in the UK. Oh and all these places contain loads of 3 and 4 star classic routes. 

Yes! very impressive and by all accounts unmissable!... included!

Very Far Skyline

Small, but absolutely perfectly formed. 

On Cloggy, White Slab (E2 5c)

And another vote for Mousetrap (E2 5a), and for Mousetrap Zawn (it might be a bit scrappy in parts, but the whole thing is magnificent in my opinion)