South Shore Bouldering
Posted by anne1942 on August 15, 2008
Nova Scotia has an extremely unique landscape with a vast variety of terrain, all within a short drive. The land has been scraped and molded by the migration of massive glaciers thousands of years ago, tearing away large rocks and virtually all vegetation and topsoil. Left behind were enormous boulders, called glacier erratics and granite shores.
WARNING: Please explore and climb with extreme caution. Injury and death have resulted from bouldering.
The world famous Peggy’s Cove offers some of the best bouldering in Nova Scotia. Boulders, some weighing tones are scattered all along the coast as if they were conveniently placed on top of one another. Approximately 750, 000 people visit Peggy’s Cove each year, however there are miles to explore and solitary climbing is not hard to come by. Of the thousands that visit, few venture to the geological paradise of the Peggy’s Cove Preservation Area. Everywhere you travel there will be areas to climb, please chose your climbing difficulty according to your physical abilities.
Dover Island is home to the annual “Boulderfest” held every June, visit http://www.climbnovascotia.ca/about.html for more information on the Boulderfest. East and West Dover are separated by the McGrath Cove, and accessible from Highway 333 – The Lighthouse Route. There is a wide range of terrain from beginner to expert, depending on where you travel. Here is a great blog showcasing some of the terrain offered in Dover : http://boulderingnovascotia.blogspot.com/search/label/dover%20island
Terrance Bay is home to more advanced bouldering, mostly V4 and above, however intermediate terrain is also available in the area. Terrance Bay is located off Highway 333, between Peggy’s Cove and Halifax. Terrance Bay is home to the SS. Atlantic tragedy and has one of the most spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean in all of Nova Scotia, making this site certainly worth the drive.
F
or a list of detailed directions and descriptions of specific boulders refer to the following website: http://members.tripod.com/novascotiaclimb/crag_info.html
The following are links that may be of interest:
http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=EZp_3FMeHXo - Dover bouldering
http://www.oceanstone.ns.ca/preservationarea/
