The Climbing
The climbing in Shetland is about as varied as you could hope for. Apart from big mountain routes there isn’t much that’s not catered for. In fact the choice can be somewhat overwhelming, as you’ll see from the database, so this page should help you choose the right crag.
Trad
Cragger’s Crags
For a chilled day bagging routes, no abseils.
Scary Stuff
Epics not guaranteed, but easy to come by!
New Routing
Plenty to go at – please record them!
Bouldering
Sport Climbing
Sport climbing hasn’t seen much development yet in Shetland, and like the rest of the UK, it isn’t really the focus of local climbers. Retro-bolting is strictly out and bolting any natural rock is questionable, leaving just quarries – and most of Shetland’s many quarries are seriously loose!
The exceptions to these are Raasmi, a small sea cliff of little interest for trad has been cleaned and bolted as a pleasant evening venue, and The Virdans quarry is in the process of being cleaned and bolted. Donations to the site are welcome to further this development.
Sea Stacks
Its fair to say that Shetland has its share of stacks – more than any other area of the UK! Few have been climbed and we’d really appreciate the effort of writing up your antics if you do climb any.