News New steel stakes were placed at the top of Red Slab, Little Zawn, Fox Craig and Deep Zawn by local climbers between May 2008 and May 2010. These are all buried at least one metre deep and are in pairs.
Read this first :- Good routes for your first visit to The Ross
Introduction Meikle Ross is a big area of sea cliffs near the town of Kirkcudbright, on the Solway Coast. There is a short 15 minute approach over farmland from a parking area at the end of the road on the south side of Ross Bay.
This page was compiled by John Biggar, a professional Mountaineering Instructor and member of the AMI, who lives in SW Scotland. Contact me if you want to know more about climbing in Galloway or want to learn how to climb or abseil. This page was compiled with care, but it is not guaranteed error free.
Access To get to the Ross follow the Borgue road out of Kirkcudbright (A755 then B727). Turn off left onto a minor road (signposted Brighouse Bay) about 1km after you pass the picnic area at the Doon beach. A short way down this road turn left again for Ross Bay, and follow this road to the end, past a farm and onto a farm track then past a few caravans to a small parking area by a gate on the south side of Ross Bay. Follow the path across fields from here round to the top of the cliffs. In order, from the east, you'll reach the small area of Fox Craig opposite the lighthouse island, then the wee outcrop of Crab Slab low down by the sea under the huge and extremely scary Osfrontalis Wall. Next comes the biggest cliff of Limehouse Blues, with a large arch/scoop low down, then the small and well hidden, but excellent, crag of Little Zawn. Further west across the wide, stony Slack Heugh Bay are the obvious Red Slab (it's a red slab!) followed by the fully tidal Deep Zawn Beyond this to the west are only a few minor climbing areas. Also of interest is the full sea level traverse of the Ross.
Climbing at Fox Craig, Meikle Ross.
Included on this page are a few of the best routes at the cliffs that I have personal knowledge of. For a definitive list of all the climbs here see the SMC published Lowland Outcrops guidebook.
For some routes an extra length of rope is required to set up a belay from the stakes or the few remaining fence posts.
Dangers This is a big serious crag and in general you will be mountaineering rather than cragging. The rock is slightly suspect everywhere, holds can break and runners can fail, for this reason it's a good idea to drop at least one grade when you first lead at Meikle Ross and place more runners than usual. The biggest hazard is probably the nasty top-outs on some routes, where slabby rock sometimes gives way to steep slippery vegetation with no runners. Particularly bad on the Red Slab are the top sections of Cairns Cream and Grand Central Couloir - either don't lead them at all, or use another rope to safeguard your exit from these routes. Most routes on Deep Zawn, Little Zawn, Crab Slab and Fox Craig are OK at the top, as are other routes on the Red Slab such as Mental Block and Demolition Tango, though there is till some loose rock on all these routes. There are seabirds on many of the crags through the spring and early summer, although the east end of Fox Craig, Little Zawn and Red Slab (usually) are not affected much. With the obvious exception of Deep Zawn the crags are either non-tidal, or only partially tidal. Big seas, throwing salt spray onto the routes, can be a problem for 24-48 hours after windy weather. Dangers
Good routes for your first visit to The Ross.
Climbing at Meikle Ross at its best is brilliant and idyllic, but it can be something of an acquired taste. Poor route choice on your first visit could easily put you off for life, so here are some recommendations for a first visit. Remember that it's advised to climb a grade or two below your normal level until you get the feel of the place. Try climbs like -- Promontory Wall, S or Twin Cracks, S on Fox Craig -- Any of the routes on Crab Slab (from D to HVS) -- Clockwork Orange, VD, Mellow Yellow, VS and Pinking Sheer HVS at Little Zawn -- Mental Block & Demolition Tango, both VS (and hard to start) or Wizard of Oz, HS on Red Slab -- or if you want something more adventurous but still enjoyable, abseil in and climb out Rift Route or Eminence Grise (both S) on Deep Zawn.
Gearing up beneath Limehouse Blues cliff for routes on the beginner friendly Crab Slab.
Fox Craig
The most eastern crag, almost facing the Little Ross island, is the small Fox Craig. This is a good introductory crag to learn all about Meikle Ross..... in particular the cracked right hand Alligator Wall has a number of fine routes that are only slightly scary...! Descents are possible at either end, on grass and some very straightforward scrambling, traversing along the base between the east and west ends is about Moderate at high tide, easier at low tide.
Pictured above is an overview of Fox Craig, showing the descent routes and one or two of the more isolated lines on the left. Some scary sounding E-routes have been done up the overhanging grooves, not detailed here for obvious reasons. Pictured below is a more detailed shot showing the routes on the 15m high Alligator Wall.
Crab Slab
A pleasant wee area just east of Limehouse Blues and somewhat dwarfed by that huge cliff, though the routes here are still 12-15m long..! The best access is down the grassy ramp at the west end of Fox Craig. This area has a nice base, good solid boulder belays at the top, very little loose rock, generally reasonable protection and has routes from Mod. to HVS. Routes were first recorded and named in summer 2007, by myself, Ian and Kate Brown, Linda Biggar and David McNicol, though they had all probably been climbed earlier.
Ian Brown on the first ascent of Mutant Slater, HS, September 2007. The slater, at least 5cm long, emerged from the crack into the sunlight and raced towards the top of the route ahead of Ian.
The routes are 12-15m long, the crag is generally non-tidal although at very high tides or in very high seas the base might not be accessible. Descend the shallow gully (Easy) at the back of the slab or abseil from the blocks. Protection is from lots of small gear, nothing bigger than a Camlot 1 / Friend 2.
The slab was named after the numerous crab body parts lying around at the top on our first day here. Arthropomorphic is particularly recommended, micro cams (Camalot C3 - 0 or 00) in a horizontal break at 5m provide the only runners though. Start at the small triangular niche (like an Up Elevator symbol). Runners on other routes are generally OK, mostly small to medium cams and wires.
Limehouse Blues
The next crag west is the massive Limehouse Blues cliff, with routes up to 60m long. Access is by walking along the beach westwards from Fox Craig at low tide, or by scrambling in from Little Zawn to the west at other tide states. There are many more routes on this crag than those described here... I just don't know them personally. All routes on this crag are likely to need some cleaning now, they have seen very little traffic for many years..
Little Zawn
The next crag is the small hidden area of Little Zawn, with some excellent routes. Access is by a short scramble from the west end above the high tide level. As of September 2009 there is a new belay stake near the old fence at the top of the grassy scoop and two more stakes (one new, one old) about ten metres down and slightly left. Some extra rope may be useful to link these, but is not essential if you are climbing on 50m ropes. This area is well recommended for a first time visit to the Ross. There are good routes at all grades, protection is generally good and loose rock is not common.
Red Slab
Further west, on the far side of the broad shingle beach of Slack Heugh Bay is the Red Slab with some nice routes, all about 30m long. To reach all of the routes on the Red Slab descend the steep and sometimes slippery grass on the left (looking out). There are two new belay stakes at the top of the routes (2008). The routes on the left are generally on OK rock, but take care higher up. Those in the centre, particularly BMW, Cairns Cream and Grand Central Couloir, have some very poor rock/grass at the top and you might do well to leave a fixed safety line to protect the top 10m if leading. GCC is in fact so bad it's not described here. The classic Mental Block and neighbouring Demolition Tango have a (shared) pretty sound finish. Climb Mental Bock by heading up right of the block, traversing left onto it, and then traversing left again off it to join Demolition Tango and avoid an area of poor rock directly above the block.
Deep Zawn
The next crag west is the 50m high Deep Zawn. This is the only fully tidal cliff at the Ross, marked on its right hand end by the distinctive gash of The Rift. To reach all of the routes on the Deep Zawn descend the steep rock and grass ramp on the right (looking out). There is some scrambling on this descent, and the traverse along the foot of the cliff above the sea to reach the routes is about Diff.
There are two new belay stakes at the top of the crag, near the top of Rift Route (2008).
Full Sea Level Traverse
The full sea level traverse of the Ross seems to be best done east to west when the tide is about three-quarters in. At this state of the tide the 2m downhill jump across The Rift will be safest, with a merely wet (rather than painful) landing if you blow it! This jump is definitely the psychological crux, the technical crux is about 4b or 4c and is on a small slab further west.
Fox Craig to Limehouse Blues -- Walking and some
Moderate scrambling.
Limehouse Blues to Little Zawn and beyond -- Moderate
scrambling.
Slack Heugh Bay and around the base of Red Slab -- Walk.
Red Slab to the Rift -- Moderate scrambling.
Jump The Rift -- Landing on a barnacle ledge about
1m
below the barnacle line. A pendulum abseil may be possible, but good anchors
have so far proved
hard to find. Or you can traverse up and over the rift at about 4b!
Traverse of Deep Zawn -- Diff climbing, the most
enjoyable and exposed section.
Further west - a lot more walking and scrambling with occasional
moves to 4b/4c completes the traverse.
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