From Sron Ulladale in Harris to the sea cliffs of Uist and Lewis the variety of climbing varies from scrambling to the some of the hardest routes in the country. There is a vast amount still to be discovered. The west coast of the Island of Lewis boasts wonderful sea cliffs of Lewisian gneiss. The geology of the islands are a study in themselves.
Andy Cunningham based in Ullapool provides a guiding and teaching service throughout the Highlands and Islands, Andy's phone number is +44 (1854) 612 429. Andy is also in the process of writing a new guide book.
There are sea cliffs and sea stacks around the Outer Hebrides many of which have yet to be climbed, some are only accessible by boat. Murray Macleod from
Sea Trek can put you onto them and other outlying islands.
For those wet days there is a climbing wall in the Sports Centre in Stornoway.
For further information on climbing in the Hebrides there is a climbing guide published by the Scottish Mountaineering Trust:
Skye and the Hebrides: Rock and Ice Climbs. There are different grading systems used to classify climbs, the US use one system, Europe use another and the British yet another, the following link will take you to an explanation of how the grades relate to each other:
Grading system.
In order to navigate around the islands the Ordinance Survey produce their landranger series of 1:50000 maps of the islands. These can be bought locally or from the
Ordinance Survey. The other guide book which is useful for the whole of Scotland is the
Rock Climbing Guide to Scotland by Kevin Howett published by Constable.
Climbing
"In the Hebrides there is some of the best climbing in Scotland! The islands of Scotland are a magical place brimming with interest for all types of visitor. For the climber they offer uncrowded and adventurous climbing on both sea-cliffs and mountain crag ... including arguably one of the finest, Sron Ulladale."
