Hastings

HASTINGS

Unlike the rest of the south east coast, here the cliffs are not steep, soft chalk. But sandstone, which due to the presence of the sea has not had time to weather. Thus there is not a hard shell, just the soft insides. This makes climbing not just difficult but dangerous. As the rock is so fragile cams and small nuts tend to tear apart the rock. Large nuts can sometimes hold, but it is not a nice experience watching the placement deteriorate under your own weight. So the only, remotely reliable protection is ice screws, and rock pegs. Ice axes are not needed, as the rock is not as soft as the chalk at Dover.

At the eastern end of Hastings, in the railway cutting, is the best rock. As this rock hasn't been battered by the sea, it has hardened a bit. The only route is "Railway Crack HVS 5a". (top, bottom) It follows the obvious crack. It was climbed by the rather mad Mick Fowler, and Mark Morrison in 1983, so it is a lot harder than it looks. Getting to it can be a problem, especially if the trains are running, as the belayer is belayed to the tracks. The best access we found was to go round behind the top station, and step over the small fence. Follow the fence towards the station, then scramble down to the stairs by the track. Then simply walk to the crack, this avoids abseiling down from either side. Due to the open nature of the wall, a discreet approach is apparently necessary. But we tried it at around 5pm on a sunny Wednesday afternoon and we were hardly noticed. The problem with the crack is getting to it. This is caused by the sandy earth in the breaks, which will not support anything. It is also overgrown with brambles. So having failed on that we chose to try a new route at the one place where the rock reaches the tracks, just right of a small tree. But we had to retreat off this as there was no protection and the holds kept snapping, it was probably about E3 5b/c.

East of the cutting, up on the hillside is lots of small caves and buttresses. Which could provide some small routes, although the protection looks very bad, as it is too hard for ice protection, and too soft for small nuts and cams. But large nuts should hold.

(map) If you walk for 15mins, east of the carpark, at the end of the sea wall. You come to a small wall of between 3 - 5 meters. As it is so close to the sea, all the loose rock has been washed off, leaving the most solid southern sandstone I have ever encountered. Also the landing is just shingle beach, which is extremely good at taking impacts. The problems range from the easiest to the very hardest. The outcrop is around 200m long, and ends at a small waterfall. The top of the cliffs can be accesses to the right of the waterfall. Although the track is loose, and thus must be used at your own risk. There are a few routes above the outcrop, that look so precarious I wouldn't go anywhere near them.

6a problem, best wall, 5c arete, 6a arete

Beyond the waterfall the rock becomes weaker, so pure ice techniques can be utilised. The longest climb is "Reasons to be Fearful IV", it is 4100 ft long and comprises of 33 pitches. It was climbed by P. Thornhill and A. Saunders, in 6 parts over Christmas '83.