UKC

I've got next week off and was wondering about a trip to the Caithness sea cliffs as alternative to the west coast.  There seems to be surprisingly little information on them however (I've only got the Garry Latter guide). Are these worth a trip? Is there anything I need to be aware of, I.e hideous seepage, icy winds, colonies of rare and aggressive birds etc...

I'm looking for accessible cragging in the low extremes mainly

Cheers 

I visited for the first time last year in June. It was so good we went back the following weekend (even with the 4 hr drive). 

We camped at the community camping sport at the old old harbour at Latherwheel.

Climbed at Sarclet and Latheronwheel, the latter is more accessible (less of need to ab). However in terms of quality, I felt Sarclet was superior. (Latheronwheel still good)

Birds wasn't an issue really (climbed in June).

Main issue was the Haar on our first weekend. The rock still remained dryish, however the chill and misty conditions put a drain on the psyche, (and enjoyment) especially when abbing in - although it was still that good we went back the following weekend. But definitely worth checking the conditions. It can be blazing sunshine 1 mile in land, but have 10 degree drop and 10 metre visibility on the coast.

We didn't climb there, but Ellens Geo looks pretty good. Will porobably go there this year.

Hope that's helpful.

Very much worth a trip. Latter guide should be fine and if in doubt Northern Highlands North will fill the gaps.

Dont think the birds will be an issue yet (mostly fulmars)

Take an ab rope for Sarclet and check the tides.

Thanks both, that's helpful, I've just got to work out what the bloomin weather is doing now, it seems to change on an hourly basis at the moment.

Thought I'd give this a little bump incase any other Caithness aficionados were out there. Allthough the forcast seems to be slowly getting worse🙁

Sarclet is a fantastic cliff, really good rock. Latheron is good too, you should definitely go. It might be cold, but you’ve as good a chance as anywhere of getting dry weather.

Mid Clyth is also very good at your grades and is non tidal and protected by an islet from biggish seas if the sea stops you getting on to Sarclet (very much worth a visit anyway).

Cheers, I was looking at mid clyth on the ukc database, it does look very good on paper. The overview made me laugh, poor old Garry, the thankless task of a guidebook writer!

Mid Clyth and Sarclet are both excellent, as is south Wick if I remember right.
 

There is potentially oodles of new routing to do up there too if you are fine with a bit of adventure.

Have a look at the topos of Ellen's Geo on here. It isn't in any guidebook yet but it is a superb crag if you're leading E2-E4 with a few decent easier options too.

That looks a great crag, do you abb in for access? Is there a ledge at the bottom at low tide to get about?

You need low tides and a small swell. There is a ledge at some points but not all of it. 

Latheronwheel is accessible, majestic and excellent! I've been there twice and had two absolute four-star days! No bird problems either (I was there in summer both times). The most memorable route there for me was the marvellous Laphroaig! Enjoy!

There is loads of great climbing in Caithness and this is the perfect time to be considering going because it's before the bird nesting becomes more of a problem. There has been a lot of development by Simon Nadin et al in the last number of years and some of the new crags are amazing, I'd say at your level the one not-to-be-missed would be Ellen's Geo (get a copy of Guy Roberton's The Great Sea Cliffs Of Scotland btw). There is loads to go at in that general caithness coast area in the low e-numbers.

I climbed a couple of great routes at Sgaps too but you want a bit of a breeze there because it's a little more boxed-in and moisture is more likely to be an issue. Also I think most of the routes started at E3 there so it might be lacking in suitable warm-ups for you.

Sarclet obviously has lots of nice stuff to go at too. I did think it was tricky to figure out exactly which route you were above there so had a bit more faff moving the abseil a couple of times there.

It might not be a bad idea to put a couple of stakes in the boot when you go, most places have good natural anchors but I do remember a couple of crags I visited where we used stakes... don't remember which ones though.

Obviously you want to get a reasonably early start because the whole coast is SE-facing but my memory of climbing at several Caithness crags was that shade/cold in the late afternoon was not really a problem for me.

Also, all the crags are a really short walk-in, which is nice for the lazy

You need a fairly long ab rope (I think 80m works but don't quote me). The belays at the bottom are mostly on nice ledges but it isn't easy to just walk along the bottom of the wall and my memory of it was that I definitely wanted to stay on the abb rope while moving to the side and/or arranging the belay.

My 60ish m one worked.

Cheers, i just packed my 50m ab rope, I might switch it or chuck in some extra rigging now.

The reason I asking about accessibility is I'm I'm climbing with my wife who generally doesn't stray much beyond VS. I may try to sandbag her on this crag though as it looks ace.

I'm not sure that would be wise, it can feel like a pretty full on place.

Cool, it certainly wouldn't be the first place I would take her! Either way there looks to be plenty to go at for both of us at the more accessible crags. If nothing else I may check it out on a top rope if time, tides and rain allow.

Definitely get the NHN guide for Mid Clyth. Although the comment on UKC is a bit harsh it's a major omission from the Latter guide. It's easy to do multiple routes from the same ab there as there is a partly non-tidal platform below it. Good mix of routes between VS and E3. Although some of the best seep others are relatively quick drying.

Latheron, Sarclet and Mid Clyth are pretty well covered in current guides but look at the SMC new routes PDFs for more recent routes.

Once all the new developments make it into a guide it's going to become a much more popular destination rather than just the place people go when it's wet in the west.  

Totally agree with the recommendations for Sarclet, it's brilliant.  If your wife isn't that confident on sea cliffs I'd recommend Tilted Ledge as a good starting place as it's fairly unintimidating with an easy scramble to a big platform, and some reasonable VSs.

The crag classic, Sarclet Pimpernel, is awesome, and technically not hard for the grade, but the situation is quite intimidating.  Silver Surfer is also excellent, but less daunting to follow as it goes straight up from a reasonable ledge.

I don't think anyone has mentioned Auckengill - an unusual but memorable little venue which is great for for VSs and has a walk-in approach.  It's a quarry - but like no other!  The base is at sea level, the walls face out to sea, and you'll likely be visited by seals and puffins.

I agree with DaveHK that Ellen's Geo might not be a great idea.  We went to recce last June but there were too many nesting birds to climb - however, the abs did look quite committing and there is nothing easier than about E2.

Amazing, thanks. Accommodation is now booked and plans made! Hopefully the guidebook is also currently sitting on my doorstep.

I think I may give scarlett pimpernell a go, I've certainly made my wife climb worse but on reflection some of the harder venues might be a bit much and I'm currently in the sandbagging bad books after a productive winter trip a few weeks ago. They do look totally awesome though (and I've printed the topos just in case). 

Just a shame I live some 10 hours drive away.

By warming up on the superb VS Groove Armada (same abseil and belay), you can get a good look at it and see what you think of the slightly bold start before committing to doing it. It can all be well  seen from the next promontory south. It is a fabulous E1.

Excellent beta, this may also mean i can get up to my usual shenanigans of abbing to strip the route then escaping up an easier one with my wife.  

I've no idea why she puts up with all this.

Possibly though I think your ropes would probably end up in the sea when you pull them.

If you do decide to go to Ellon's (and I'd add my voice to the chorus saying it's not a good idea with a VS partner), please come back to UKC afterwards and tell us a) whether you are still married and b) a blow by blow account of how the epic went

I once offered to buy here a set of jumars for her birthday, it did not go down well!

I've also planned some non climbing activities so hopefully should be in the good books. Sea cliffs also often work as I can distract her with exciting wildlife.

To add a bit of context and some photos for psyche, here are blog posts from some of the areas mentioned above:

Sarclet https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/2021/06/15/sarclet-pudding-by-the-seaside/

Elens Geo https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/2021/06/13/ellens-geo/

Auckengill https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/2021/06/12/auckengill-a-quarried-crag-with...

Magical coast! I'd also recommend getting hold of a copy of The Great Sea Cliffs of Scotland. 

Enjoy! Cheers, Dom 

There are a couple of very good E1s and HVSs so it's not all E2 and above. Definitely enough at those grades to warrant a visit.

Oops sorry, my mistake!  Revisiting Dom's blog post above has reminded me that the easier routes were inaccessible due to huge numbers of nesting birds so the only ones left were E2 and above.  (Unfortunately too late to edit my previous post.)

Definitely hoping to go back and actually climb there this year! 🤞

Hope the haar hasn’t spoilt your week? 

Yes and no thanks - I've been seduced by sunny NW gniess, the chilly wind and fog scared me off abbing into mid clyth today, which looked incredibly intimidating in the mist and sent me scurrying to the fleshpots of Golispie (the seals were definitely eyeballing me). Had a great half day at Latheronwheel earlier in the week. Nesting birds, seepage and tired arms prevented anything hard but who cares, the lower grade classics are amazing, what a spectacular crag dispite its diminutive size. I will be back.

Definitely, get to Ellen's Geo...info on UKC