Climbing on the Cornish Coast- Trewavas Head

I was certain that whilst in Cornwall I had to fit in some climbing. I have heard so many people rave about the Cornish climbing so really wanted to sink my teeth into some great climbs. I did struggle to find areas that I could top rope. A significant amount of the climbing I could find was either bouldering or trad. I cannot do trad so that was a no, and although I do love bouldering, I much prefer top rope and had my heart set on doing some of that.

After copious amounts of research, I found a couple of climbing videos of some guy’s top roping climbs at Trewavas head, so I thought we’d take a punt and head down there.

We got out relatively early and headed down to the Trewavas head. If you are using a satnav to find the carpark it will probably stop halfway down a random road. If it does this just keep driving down the lane for a couple more minutes and you’ll end up with the car park on your left.

The approach to the crag is long so I would pack light if you can! The costal path has lots of different routes, but they all lead in pretty much the same direction so whatever route you take you should end up at Trewavas head. The approach is actually really pretty- so many pretty building ruins, a light house and beautiful paths. Even if you don’t go down to climb, I would recommend going to the coastal path for a walk. There were ways that you could get down to the sea as well so would be great for a paddle or a swim!

Here's where the problem hit. We realised as soon as we got down to the climbing there wasn’t any anchors, we could use how to set up the rope. Not only this but there weren’t any tree routes that we could use as a natural anchor either. This crag was definitely only for trad which was kind of disappointing. In the end we got pretty creative and used a rock to set up as an anchor. I don’t think I’d recommend this set up- but it means we could have a little climb so was okay.

We managed to set the top rope up on Avalanche (5A). The climb itself was relatively easy. Very nice easy, flowy start with lots of jugs however I struggled with the top out. There was a couple of sketchy moves towards the very top which could have led to a bit of a swing if I fell. This meant sadly I didn’t get the flash but the second attempt. The route wad 14 meters  high so I little bit taller than what I am used to on Sothern sandstone but nothing crazy. It was a run route that I loved to work.

Unfortunately, that was the only climb that we could set up on. I also had some fun soloing the first half of Mouse proof (4A) for a bit of fun but didn’t feel confident enough to go any higher but then I have had very little experiencing soloing and wasn’t willing to push it on a route I didn’t know.

It was a great adventure for the day. I would 1000% recommend giving this route a go if you have a trad set up but I wouldn’t go if you’re looking to top rope. A beautiful spot to spend the morning nevertheless!