31st July 2026

The Rumps

Bulls on Parade – Severe 4a – Lead
Goofy – Severe 4b – T/R

First time for Rauf who joined Mike and me on one of our climbing outings. I needed somewhere reasonably close and with acceptable routes and The Rumps did it. You do need to lead to get up to the large ledge, but once there it’s possible to set up a bottom rope for all the climbs. Coming down does involve some back and fronting down a narrow v gulley, but it’s not too bad

The climbs here are all a bit harder than they look. From below they look like a waltz, but you need to treat them with respect. For Rauf it was an eye opener back to his youth which I think was the last time he climbed. He did really well and more importantly loved it, so I can see a few more little ventures out coming our way in the near future.

I think the thing that most amazed him is that feeling of remoteness you get when you get on the sea cliffs here. Once you move down to the crag you rarely see anybody. This is one of the elements of climbing in Cornwall I love. I fell out of love with surfing to a certain extent because I lost the solitude of being able to surf with just your mate. This was when you could find a peak to yourselves if you timed the tide and venue right. Now it is next to impossible to do, especially with surfline feeding everyone with hourly forecasts and pointing people to the best spots.

Climbing fortunately still hasnt reached that point (I hope it never does). I realise it’s getting more popular, but for the most part there are enough crags to give you lots of space. Otherwise I’m going to have to find another f~*king sport haha.

My favorite bit of the evening was when Rauf suddenly announced we had cake. Cant beat cake to finish of a great outing.