Climbing Report by Mr Ryan, Head of Adventurous Activities.  

At the end of this year’s summer holidays, four lead climbers from our climbing club set off for a climbing adventure in Cornwall, under the watchful tuition of Mr Ryan.

The first two days were spent revising and practicing skills relative to Lead Climbing on Sea Cliffs, including; placing and removing traditional protection, building belays, moving on multipitch routes and practicing stacked, retrievable abseils. On the third day the staff decided the group had the ability and mind-set to make an attempt on Commando Ridge (Also known as Bosigran Ridge). This area was famously used by the Commando Cliff Assault Wing for specialist training in preparation for Commando raiding parties in World War II. 

This route is considered one of the finest climbs of its grade in the country. It has all the ingredients to get the heart pumping even before the climbing starts. The approach path is more than 300 feet above the relentlessly turning and foaming Atlantic Ocean with multiple precarious vertical drops. 

The rock is exquisite, Cornish granite, hard as steel and amazingly grippy… A climber’s dream. Add the heady smell of wild coastal flora, sea spray, and acrobatic choughs swooping and screeching, and the scene is set for an epic, exhilarating, climbing adventure. The boys did brilliantly and led the route with very little intervention from the two mountaineering instructors that monitored from the side. 

Following this, there was another day of climbing and a day coasteering, just to keep the boys busy, however moving over Commando Ridge with no other climbing parties enroute was a “Once in a lifetime experience”.  

The photographs speak for themselves but needless to say the boys will have memories that they will refer back to for the rest of their lives. 

What the boys had to say: 

“This trip was packed full of adventure, learning and fun” 

“A highlight for me was climbing Bosigran Ridge, aka Commando Ridge which was surrounded by a beautiful environment of sea cliffs and hills”. 

“Being with my friends, doing something together, made it not just an experience but a life-long memory”. 

“The journey up is hard, but nothing compares to the sense of achievement at the top”. 

“The best view comes after the hardest climb”. 

"This has been the trip of a lifetime, nothing can compare to the sheer amazement and awe I was in for every moment climbing in Cornwall. There is truly nothing like it."