Foula

The Nebbifield

Definitely the remotest inhabited place in the British Isles.

Sure there might be isolated farmsteads further from a Tescos and without a post office but all in all Foula seems quite remote. The ferry to Lerwick takes 14 hours and the ferry/small boat from Walls to Foula takes a further two.

The Diving Board above the Nebbifield

Once your there the island holds thirty locals, some ponies, some sheep, some birds and some enormous cliffs.

The Climbing is Epic

The Approach is Epic

We climbed The Nose on the Nebbifield. This is an amazing 300 m 12 pitch spectacular, climbing the soaring arete of the Nebbifield. The Nebbifield is the second highest cliff on Foula but is probably the most interesting from a climbers point of view. It runs up from the small (200m high) cliffs of the Waster Hoevada in a huge inverted amphitheatre overhanging by 60 m at its steepest point to reach a height of 300 m where it forms an amazing arete.

This arete forms roughly the line of The Nose

Pitch 9 on The Nose

We rigged the abseil the day before and had an early start. It took three hours to walk in and descend the cliff and about 11 hours to climb the route. The climbing was a complete range from conventional E4 to XS on disposable holds! We commented that climbing at Crag Doris was good training for this route.

We left most of the important holds in place and despite some minor moments of excitement nothing came off with either of us attached.

Topping out whilst looking west at the sun dropping towards the horizon, was a powerful feeling. We were not equipped for bivies and the birds coming in to roost focused the mind somewhat!