Sport Climbing in the Lake District

Sport climbing the Lake District is relatively new, but there are hundreds of sport routes dotted around the Lakes and throughout Cumbria. Throw in the different types of rock that includes limestone, sandstone, slate, and mirco-granite there is a great variety of sport climbing to be found in the Lakes.  Plus with a wide range of grades from F4 to F8’s, there is something for everyone.

Bramcrag Quarry is a high quality sport crag with fun climbing, clean sticky rock and a superb outlook with views to the northern and western fells.  Situated near Thirlmere in the northern Lakes, it catches the afternoon sun that enhances its attraction.  There are 190 sport routes at Bramcrag Quarry ranging from F4 to F7b, with the majority of routes in the F6 range, making it superb for mid-grade off-vertical sport climbing.

The Slate quarries that are mainly situated around Coniston provide a good mixture of sport and trad climbing.  Many routes that had minimal bolts have now been re-equipped to provide modern well bolted sport routes, whilst leaving pure trad routes bolt free.  This usually means at most of the crags you will find sport and trad routes side-by-side.  In total there are 13 slate quarries with Hodge Close being the classic trad climbing crag, and Runestone Quarry at the other extreme with many low grade sport routes. Add in modern dry tooling at The Works and Bakestone Quarry, slate climbing in the Lakes is very varied.

St Bees Head, near Whitehaven, offers varied and absorbing sport climbing on good quality red sandstone rock.  These coastal cliffs often have better weather than the nearby mountains that catch any sun going and are a fast drying location.  The routes are up to 25m long with grades ranging from F3 to F7c, though the better routes tend to be in the upper grades from F6b upwards.

Chapel Head Scar is undoubtedly the jewel in the crown for limestone sport climbing in the Lakes, with its perfect, overhanging, compact rock and rough tufa formations. Chapel Head Scar is the place for hard sport climbing with routes ranging from long technical wall climbs through to steep and pumpy tufas.  The grades start from F6b, though the majority of better routes are in the F7’s and above.

Other significant limestone sport crags are Humphrey Head and Scout Scar.  Away from the Lakeland Fells is Humphrey Head that can often be dry and warm, whilst the mountains are wet.  Here there are some lovely sport routes across a wide range of grades from F6a to F8b+, in the beautiful coast setting.  Scout Scar is located just outside of Kendal offering a good mixture of technical and pumpy sport routes across the whole grade range from F5s to F7s.

The Lakes Sport and Slate Guidebook is the most comprehension guidebook covering all of the sport climbing in the Lake District and Cumbria.  The guidebook details over 850 routes (mainly sport) across a wide range of grades from F4 to F8’s  It also covers all the trad and dry tooling routes on the slate.

The Sport Climbing in England and Wales - Volume 1, North Guidebook covers 10 sport climbing areas in Cumbria, including Bramcrag, St Bees, and Chaple Head Scar.

All of the crags described here are between 25m and 35m long, so a 60m or 70m rope is ideal, along with around 12 quickdraws.

It is possible to climb at most of the sport crags in the Lake District throughout the year, as many venues are actually outside of the main mountains, though the best time of the year is from the spring through to the autumn.  It should also be noted that some crags also have bird restrictions, but all the details of this are in the Lakes Sport and Slate Guidebook.