Nova Scotia Bouldering: Bouldering Newfoundland

I first explored the west coast of Newfoundland with my wife and kids in August of 2005. It was supposed to be a family vacation but i just could not avoid looking for climbing potential. On our last day of vacation we drove along the south coast from Port Aux Basque to Rose Blanche. It's the end of the road, from Rose Blanche you can go no further without a boat. The entire trip was incredible but it was this little outport surrounded by clean granite that convinced me that i had to return.

Fast forward to August this year. I returned with Chris Richardson and Ben Smith on a short climbing trip. The day we landed in Port Aux Basque was rainy and miserable so we used the time have a quick look around before we moved up to Corner Brook. I had some pictures that i showed the guys but they really did not show the full potential of this unknown climbing destination. After a few sidetracks i finally take them to the historic stone light house that seems to be the only draw to this tinny community. We park the jeep and strike out down the coast. It's not long before we are running around like crazed junkies on the high of our life. There's steep, clean granite walls everywhere and we almost abandon our plans of heading north. This place would be the benchmark for the trip. If the other areas don't compare we would just spend the rest of the trip here.

We head up the coast and climb at the Pasadena boulders, the Asylum, Gull Pond and then returned with only two days left on the trip. Feeling rushed we got right to the business at hand. Here's a few of the gems we found.