How to get there:
Catch a train to the Settle or Giggleswick stations from Leeds Station, doesn’t matter which one as they’re about 10 minutes walk apart. Using the Yorkshire Limestone guidebook, download a map from Multimap or similar to work out how to walk there, you just need to follow the main road, it’s not very hard. You’ll pass the working quarry on your right, don’t go there or to the small edge behind the golf clubhouse like I did on my first visit! There’s an obvious car park and lay-by just by the track up the scree to the crag. About 20-25 minutes walk from Settle, or about an hour’s drive from Leeds.
Crag Character:
Giggleswick South is a Limstone crag, which makes it about as similar to our local gritstone crags as chalk and cheese (or chalk and sand, whatever). It was a crappy trad-only crag for a good few decades before being revitalised by the introduction of bolts; once the bolts had successfully integrated into the local ecostructure and several generations of bolt had bred to form a healthy colony, a large number of easier grade sport routes were formed, resulting in a massive overnight increase in the popularity of the crag. The nature of sport climbing is generally less committing than trad climbing as the protection (the bolts) is assumed to be bombproof (that is, there’s no way they’ll pull out when fallen on) and there are lower-offs to facilitate quick and easy retreat. However, whilst it is true that nearly all the bolts here are very new and shiny and pretty trustworthy, the rock can be loose in several places. Therefore, I cannot stress strongly enough to WEAR A HELMET when at the crag, whether you’re climbing, belaying or just sitting about. If you come across a loose bit of rock, then hang on a bolt and make those around you aware of the loose rock. If you can, pull it out and drop it in a safe manner on some clear ground so it doesn’t try and kill someone else. Despite these images of towering piles of death choss that I have just painted, the sport routes are generally on good rock and are well bolted. Just be careful out there! On a cheerier note, the crag gets a good amount of sun, and as it is near-vertical it doesn’t get very wet when it rains, and is sheltered from the wind. It doesn’t seem to seep to badly either, for a lime crag.
Good Routes:
Whilst there are some trad lines still at the crag, they all look pretty crap so I’ve never bothered trying them. Sport climbing is what you’ve come here for! One of the best places to start your sport climbing career is Sector Swans, which is the first sector you come to as you walk up the slope. This sector has 20-odd routes from F5+ to F6c, some might be a bit loose so watch out. The best routes here are the three routes on the far right buttress, which is about 18m high, and there’s a lot of good 6a/6a+ routes here too. To its right is Sector Swallow’s Nest, which has about 9 routes from F5 to F6a+. Further along to the left are three or four more sectors with routes mainly in the F6a – F7a range. The best sector has to be Sector Laughter, a 16m wall of perfect quality limestone; no loose choss here! Grades range from F6c-F7b on the main sweep of wall, home to the hardest and best routes on the crag. Silent Laughter (F7b) is particularly awesome. Once you’ve sent most of the routes on this wall then you’ll be more than ready to get your ass over to Malham and go crazy!
