Fionnphort

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The Climbing

For a few miles around Fionnphort, perfect rounded domes of pinkish granite emerge from the bog and peat. There are some awesome aretes, cracks and slabs waiting for those who can put up with generally boggy landings and sharp, tip-ripping crystals. Although there are a few choice trad lines, Fionnphort is mostly a bouldering area. Erraid is nearby and Fionnphort is the ferry terminal for Iona, which has some nice trad climbing.

As the climbing is scatterd and on hard to identify little outcrops, information is pretty sparse. There is loads to do though, so it's nice to just wander about and climb stuff.

Note: I do have a few pages of hand drawn guide that Mike Tweedley and I put together many years ago, but finding it could be a mission... Mark Somerville

Definitely take a mat of some sort - if not for saving your ankles, then for keeping your feet dry.

Getting there

Get yourself onto Mull, then drive or hitch south as far as you can.

Slab and Crack

From Fionnphort ferry terminal: head onto the beach with a obvious cracked boulder. Head up to the cottage and follow vague path towards the top of the hill, which gains access to the wee quarry. Crag is on the left just before quarry and the main feature is a slab with a crack running half way up it.

Akira 8m E6 6b ***
Michael Tweedley - 08-2001
One of the best lines in the area. Climb easily up crack then make moves left to obvious wee grey blobby hold. Then follow not so obvious sequence of tiny holds back right to above the crack, then make a lurch for the final holds. The crux is 6b and the final smeary moves around 6a. The gear is good and the falls quite long, time should be spent trying to get gear in the crack as high as possible. The grade is for an on-sight.

Go east across the track from the slab and crack and you'll see a prominent blank arete. Downhill from this is an undercut block. The arete has a short crack on its left and a flake on its right.

Cuckoo 5m Font 6C ***
Tom Charles-Edwards - 07-2000
Layback up the crack, reach round to the flake (crux, quite a bit harder if you can't reach it from the crack) and scamper to victory. A perfect problem.