Privately published rock climbing guide to the Island of Guernsey with access info and photodiagrams for virtually every crag. There are approximately 1400+ routes on Guernsey, mostly single pitch between 8 and 30m with some up to 3 pitches and 65m long. All the routes are either on blue granodiorite and gneiss walls or orange gneiss slabs and grooves.
Bolting is not allowed and therefore there are no sport climbs. Some of the harder climbs (E1+) have fixed knifeblade pitons, the majority of which are 15+ years old and not to be trusted, however they do make route identification easier due to the rust stains, so please don’t remove them!
Grades range from moderate to E5/6 6b with plenty of potential in the E3 6a + range for new routes. Climbs tend to be quite varied from delicate slabs to thuggy overhanging jamcracks.
A normal British trad rack will suffice for protection, but having RPs and Brass offsets would help on many routes irrespective of grade. Local climbers tend to use 50m double ropes mainly to avoid rope drag, but also in case of emergencies. Most crags involve a short scramble down from the cliff top car parks, but some need an abseil approach/prussik escape. Best times of year are autumn and spring, as summer can be a bit too humid and winter can be wet, especially when attempting crack climbs, however it rarely snows, so climbing is possible all year round.
Due to the lack of local climbers you will almost certainly have the cliffs to yourself and it will often feel like you’re new-routing due to lack of chalk and traffic!
Well illustrated with photomaps and photodiagrams and several action shots.
By James Burton.
In English.
Card cover, 21cm x 14.75cm, 335 pages.
First published 2018. Reprinted 2019.
ISBN: Not Known.
A PDF of New Routes done since the guide is available as a free download. Please click the link below.