Top 5 VS climbs at Symonds Yat

Whitt VS 4c
Pam’s Pride VS 4c
The Druid VS 4c
Tiger Cub Special VS 5a
Offspring VS 4c

Symonds Yat is situated in the heart of the Forest of Dean, and overlooks the river Wye. It is a village in the Wye Valley, and straddles Gloucestershire and Herefordshire. And is only a few miles from Monmouthshire and the Welsh border.

Symonds Yat is a very popular climbing venue. Most of the climbs are single pitch, and easily accessible from above and below. It is renowned for its weathered juggier limestone. So, if you are a strong climber, that prefers bigger moves, with the occasional questionable protection, this would be your playground.

Symonds Yat is home to some incredible lines. You do need a good eye for gear placements at times, and sometimes a head for pushing on when fear tries to prevent you from progressing.

Here are my top 5 VS climbs at Symonds Yat, in no particular order.

Whitt is an awesome VS 4c climb, on the infamous pinnacle. A free standing piece of rock at Symonds Yat. The first pitch leads to a recess ¾ of the way up, where you belay from to bring your second up. Then the second pitch makes for secure, but exposed and exhilarating climbing.

Pam’s Pride is a beautiful and sustained climb, with a cheeky finish at the top, on big holds.

The Druid is a sustained and exciting climb, situated in the Golden Fleece Sector of Symonds Yat. Just make sure you do not avoid the climb by moving out onto the arete.

Tiger Cub Special comes in at a VS 5a. It is hard for the grade, and may leave your palms sweaty, and your mind exhausted. The crux is short lived, and well protected. Just suck in some air, hold it, switch your mind off and make the moves.

Offspring is lovely climb up twin grooves. It is very easy to protect, slightly polished in places.

Here are my top 5 VS routes at Symonds Yat. If you would like some advice on any of the above routes, or others at Symonds Yat, please feel free to get in contact. We would be happy to help.

Or contact us if you want to go climbing at Symonds Yat.

If you feel you need help with your head game in climbing

If you feel your head game is preventing you from progressing in climbing, whether it is the fear of falling, the fear of failure or a negative mindset, we have a book available which can help you.

Climbing Psychology Book

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What can I say but this experience was amazing. Kevin was an amazing instructor very knowledgeable and professional. Cannot recommend Rise and Summit enough. He fully understands the mountains and his clients needs. Even with weather issues he was able to come up with routes for each day pushing me to achieve things I didn't think I would be able to do.

We had a great time this weekend! I took my son Jack for a surprise night away & he had no idea what was coming and he certainly never expected to be sleeping on a cliff face in a Hammock 🤣🤣 Kev was brilliant very helpful with great communication from start to finish, we felt we were in very safe hands. Highly recommend Rise & Summit for a new experience you will never forget. Thanks so much Kev you get five stars from us.

Absolutely top instructor. Communication before, during and after the course was excellent. Friendly, patient and relaxed style, and really good at pitching the challenge at the right level for the individual. I did the multipitch trad climbing course with Kevin at Avon Gorge and it was a really inspiring experience.

We had a great trad climbing course with Eddy organised by Rise & Summit - two days of intense learning and a lot of fun. The course was well organized and Eddy adopted to our experience and expectations - we learned so much in two days AND climbed two multipitch routes as well.

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We did the SPORT CLIMBING COURSE, with Kevin from Rise and Summit. And we can assure you that the course exceeds our expectations, we not only learned about safety techniques for rock climbing outdoors but also learned some techniques and different ways of dealing with fear while climbing. We felt so lucky to book a course with someone who got a lot of knowledge and passion about climbing and the psychology of climbers.

I recently did the Climbing Psychology Workshop with Rise and Summit, which focuses on fear of falling and how to reprogram your mental habits when lead climbing. I thoroughly recommend the course! It was very informative, tailored on the day to the needs of our small group, and gave me the tools I need to help me keep a clear head when leading harder routes in my projecting grades and to really enjoy doing it. It has really helped me grow as a climber. Our instructor Kevin was extremely professional, personable and is great at his job!

Top 5 VS climbs at Symonds Yat