Granite
From ScottishClimbs
Climbing on granite often requires a mix of skills, from full-on jamming to tip-toeing up bold crimpy slabs. The quality of granite for climbing varies from excellent to awful, usually depending on how much chemical weathering it has been exposed to. In Scotland, much of the granite has subjected to glacial action, followed by a few thousand years of scottish weather which means that what is left is solid and clean - excellent for climbing!
Geology
Granite is an intrusive igneous rock. In other words, it is volcanic in origin and was forced up towards the Earth's surface as molten magma, but cooled underneath the rock it was intruded into. Typically it is relatively coarse-grained, with medium to large crystals. Outcrops of granite generally occur where the overlying rock has been eroded away, often leaving tors like those on Dartmoor or the Cairngorms. Granite often has a pinkish hue, but its colour can vary wildly from white to almost black, depending on its exact chemical composition.
Where to Climb on Granite in Scotland
- Arran
- Fionnphort, on Mull
- Erraid, also on Mull
- Cairngorms
- Clifton Crag, Dumfries
- Etive Slabs
