Bouldering on Yorkshire Grit at Almscliff

From this distance Almscliff Crag looks easy and inviting – well at least the later. Situated 3 miles outside Pool-In-Wharfedale towards Harrogate follow the signs for North Rigton. This is a fantastic bouldering venue, powerful and tough with some of the best gritstone to be found anywhere. YorkshireGrit.com is  a climbers web site for those who love ‘Bouldering’. Of Almscliff they say ‘Almscliff is a superb bouldering venue. Like the routes, the bouldering tends to be steep and powerful and classic roof problems abound – Demon Roof, The Keel, Matt’s Roof and Stu’s Roof are all fantastic with an average angle approaching the horizontal. There are also plenty of easier classic problems. The crag is frequently very busy (by Yorkshire standards), although the bouldering is sufficiently spread out that this shouldn’t be a problem’.

What is Bouldering
Bouldering is a style of climbing emphasizing power, strength, and dynamics focusing on individual moves unlike traditional climbing which generally demand more endurance.
Bouldering is rock climbing undertaken without a rope and normally limited to very short climbs of 10-15 feet so that a fall should not result in serious injury.

Bouldering is typically practiced on artificial boulders or crops of boulders but can be done on public buildings and larger rock faces.
Boulder routes are referred to as problems with grading schemes Font, British and with V grades
There is a British Bouldering team and this is now a competitive sport growing in popularity with the advent of more access to climbing walls.

Other Classic Yorkshire Bouldering Sites

Ash Head
Baildon Bank
Barden Fell
Great Wolf Stones
Beamsley Beacon
Cat Crags
Clattering Stones
Brunthwaite
Buckstones
Heptonstall
West Chevin
Bridestones
Brimham
Swastika Stones
Panorama Crag
Shipley Glen
Deer Gallows
Earls Crag with overhangs and lips.
At Scugdale the most popular spot is Scot Crag with climbs at every grade but best for the easier grades. Barkers Crags is quieter but has the best selection of quality climbs at every grade. Stoney Wicks is the smallest outcrop with climbs rarely above 3m high but is in a pleasant east facing situation and makes for a great warm up area. Snotterdale is the least popular, hidden away in the woods, it does however have a number of climbs that are worth seeking out especially on a windy day. A recently published venue at the head of Scugdale is White Stone
Crookrise is a good old-fashioned gritstone escarpment, located north of Skipton
For Indoor Climbing walls read

Photo credits

Almscliffe crag by Jim Moran CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 ‘Almscliffe crag is a Millstone Grit Tor that is formed by erosion of the surrounding shale and mudstones. It’s a prominent feature of the landscape of Wharfedale between Leeds and Harrogate in North Yorkshire.
On a clear day, you get a fantastic view up’
Climbers on Almscliffe Crag by Andrew and Annemarie CC BY-SA 2.0