Isle of Portland
Climb
28 Aug 2023
Portland is a small island off the south coast of Dorset, roughly six kilometres long and three kilometres wide. The island juts out from the Jurassic Coast, connected to the mainland by a narrow causeway and the pebble strip of Chesil Beach.
The white sea cliffs that surround the island have grown to become the sport climbing mecca of southwest England due to the close access and short approaches, the huge number of routes spread across 18 different crags, plus the mild climate on the south coast meaning reliable year-round conditions. The booming popularity of climbing here has meant bolting of new routes is relaxed, so development is quickly outdating the guidebooks. There are estimated to be over 900 routes with most in the mid-grade and some reaching 30 metres tall.
The rock is limestone, formed with layers of crustation, making some of the holds sharp and harsh on fingers. Depending on the forecast, its possible to switch between the east and west coast of the island throughout the day, with the east coast receiving the morning sun so is cooler in the afternoons, whilst the west coast is shaded in the morning so can take a while to warm up. When it’s very sunny, the west coast is extremely hot, as well as being more exposed to the wind on less calm days.
I’ve climbed on and off in phases over the last ten years or so. I’ve enjoyed the variety of challenges and using my body in a different way, but for various reasons hadn’t committed to regular, consistent climbing or training. Increased climbing over the last few years has been mainly a social activity through the winter at indoor gyms, as well as using it as a way to strengthen my back after a flair-up a couple of years ago. The pandemic also pushed me to reassess and diversify my motivations after spending a huge amount of time cycling. I’ve since pushed through the gears from bouldering to top roping to lead climbing and then transferred this to outdoor lead climbing.
To facilitate this, I headed down for a weekend on Portland in July 2023 for a weekend of sport climbing, with my friend Marco. We spent a day learning on a transitional course designed for bringing indoor climbing outdoors. Marco and I had had a good few months of consistent climbing at The Castle in London and I was keen to see how this measured up outdoors on real rock. The plan was to get comfortable outdoor climbing and get some decent time on the rock in. I also wanted to become comfortable belaying a climber in a coastal/sea cliff environment, which is tricky as you’re not able to move around and dynamically belay like you can indoors. We spent the first day with Eddy, a local guide, learning the sport climbing ropes at the Neddyfield crag, covering safety and learning to climb and clean a route from scratch whilst on top rope. I practiced quickdraw technique and how to clean up on Ocean Boulevard and also top roping the trad route Better Things. Then moved to the Dungecroft Quarry crag and finished with a climb on The Alpha and The Omega. We kept grades low and focused on safety and technique.
The following day was the first time doing the full process myself. We headed along from Neddyfields to Gondor North crag and lined up Kung Fu Panda, a 13 metre wall with the sea waves lapping below. Even seals popped up to check us out.
We then moved on to Nonnie and the Pulp Fiction Tantrum, a 5a route - Marco led it, I seconded it up on top rope and cleaned it up. It was a steep, vertical wall and the longest I’d climbed to date. We lost the sun at the crag at about 2.30 so packed up and started the drive home. We’d achieved what we’d set out for. I’d had a lot of information to take in!
Marco and I had developed a good partnership - we’ve moved from indoor lead at the Castle to outdoor sport climbing, so the required trust and understanding was there. I knew I really needed to practice my clipping and not let that sap energy and force me to lose my focus or get frustrated. It was such an intense experience, being high up on the wall, and this wasn’t even that big of a wall. I found it very quiet when up on the wall, with the loud waves crashing below drowning anything else out. I had utter and complete concentration and focus that I don’t think I’ve experienced before.
We’d had warm sunny weather, and combined with the nerves, my hands were super sweaty so I was getting through my chalk! As this was my first time being up high over the water and also untieing from the rope when cleaning, I was tense and over-gripping. I saw seal heads bobbing, lizards scurrying around on warm rock, and dipped my feet in the water to cool off, which all felt pretty idyllic.
Whilst no particularly hard grades were sent we had good fun, I learnt a lot and developed our trust and I’ve now got a solid safety foundation and understanding of route grade difficulties, which was the aim of the trip. There’s endless climbing here so I left here with a desire to get back soon to continue the learning and confidence building.
July 2023 photos
It took me until the following summer to get back on Portland, so I was eager for some coastal climbing again. Since my last time here I’d been to a sandstone crag in Kent, and I’ve got another year of indoor climbing, strength building and technique refining, so I’m feeling ready to pick up where I left off and challenge myself further. This time I’m with a different climbing partner, Jamie. We’ve climbed together a good amount over the last few years, only indoors though, but Jamie is an experienced outdoor climber, and this would be her first time climbing outdoors on this side of the pond. She recently relocated to London from Austin, Texas, where outdoor climbing in the city is abundant and accessible.
For our first day climbing outdoors together, we headed to a new crag for me here, The Cuttings. The crag here is described as having friendly bolting, a large number of routes across all grades, and sits nicely in the sun, with a pleasant walk in. The crag here is actually man-made, as the rock was cut away to allow a mining train to pass below, hence the name. The rock can therefore be sharp and holds less natural. We stopped at the Mindmeld area of the crag which was empty and had good route options for us. We quickly went through the gears on The Great Hamburger Disaster, The Juggernaut and Little Chef, providing good progression and confidence building through 5a, 5b and 5c grades. Being a popular area and at the beginning of the crag the holds were pretty polished, but being lower grades this wasn’t really an issue for us.
Post lunch we walked along to the Cutting Edge area next door and lined up Chalkie and the Hex 5, a longer route with a large crack down the middle which was in direct sunlight. Considering I haven’t crack climbed before I was pretty relieved to make it up this route, although it wasn’t pretty or smooth. Jamie led the route which was super impressive.
We moved further along to climb Dignity next, which was taller again, at 18 metres. This also had a section of crack, but had some good surrounding holds to rest on either side. We were now out of the direct sunlight which was a relief although the route was pretty chossy. The day had flashed by and the sea was calling, so walked down to the beach and washed off, then went for a pint of Guinness followed by a kebab! Following this very English evening in the pub, Jamie then gave me a new American experience with some toasted smores on the fire back at camp. It was a pretty ideal day!
The following day we woke to some drizzle which wasn’t forecast, so had a slightly slower start to the day than we’d have liked. A short walk to the coast and the Neddyfields crag where I was last year. There was no one here though, despite the rain stopping and cloud lifting. The rock is well sheltered so was dry and the sun is now punching through the cloud. I soon remembered from last year the tricky terrain at the bottom of the route which made belaying challenging.
We started on I Wish I Was in Steve’s Shoes at 11am. It’s a straightforward route and only about 10 metres high, a nice warm-up. We then moved next door to Felix Navidad which was quite a step up difficulty-wise at 6a+! Jamie flew up, with no issues at all. My climb was successful, I needed to rest on the rope a couple of times as some holds were crimpy and sharp, but generally the holds and pockets had a nice grippy texture and weren’t polished. The sharpness of the rock caused a new sensation for me. It’s not the same as your skin being worn down when indoor climbing on plastic holds, my skin was intact but the rock edges penetrated deeper into my fingers and they felt quite tender.
Then next door again was 6a Infelicity. I managed OK on this route and made good, steady progress but got held up on a sharp rock section again and had to pause. I was climbing my best when in a good rhythm and linking moves together, focused and moving confidently and purposefully. After the pause, I finished the route which I felt good about. Post lunch we climbed Damn These Electric Sex Pants. Despite being a 6b, Jamie stormed up.
Having watched Jamie I was feeling less confident about climbing this one as it was pretty technical, so I decided to back-lead it. I made good initial progress then hit the demanding crux section and got pumped out. I paused as some light rain began, then pushed on through to the top. Cleaning the route in the wet wasn’t too fun, and I was glad to get down and into some shelter. That was a real adventure! A long route with varied holds and stages, it was very cool. I’m super glad I got up and down a 6b, albeit not clean, but I still made it. That was a highlight and so we called it a day as the light rain didn’t look like it would clear up and tomorrow’s weather was looking ideal. My fingers were stinging a bit from the sharp rock and my hands felt very dry.
We were off at 7am the next morning, waking to blue skies and a warm breeze. We headed to Godnor North, just along from the crag we were at yesterday. We scouted routes and got on to Wave Warrior at 9am. We’d originally planned to climb Tin Man but set off under the wrong first clip, as it was tricky to distinguish routes here. I think there are more routes on the wall than in the guide, as bolting new routes is quickly filling gaps in.
Next, we lined up Where Silence Has Lease, a 6b+ that was reachy and pumpy so my hands quickly became super moist in the hot sunshine. Afterwards we shuffled over to Future Imperfect 6a+ afterwards, which thankfully just out of the direct sunlight. It was crimpy and had multiple sharp holds.
These were quite challenging routes and took up our morning. We had one last sea dip and began the drive back to London feeling super stoked with how the climbing had gone. Jamie got out on rock in the UK for the first time and picked up where she left off Climbing in Austin. My second visit to Portland was super successful, I upped my grade, got good mileage in and built confidence cleaning. Next time I’d like to check out the west coast crags. They’re more exposed to the wind and elements, and so can be considered more challenging for the grade.
Further info
Useful links: portland-climbing.co.uk, Rockfax Dorset online guide, ukclimbing.com, thecrag.com, thebmc.co.uk, mountainproject.com.
Related reading:
- Rockfax Dorset - Portland, Swanage, Lulworth, Mark Glasiger & Pete Oxley
- Cliffhanger - New Climbing Culture & Adventures, Gestalten
- High Infatuation, A Climber’s Guide to Love and Gravity, Steph Davis
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