The Granite Playground: Bouldering in Northern Sardinia
Sardinia is a renowned destination for limestone sport climbing, and rightly so. The last week of our trip was spent exploring the vast array of beautiful routes. We never returned to the same crag twice, barely scratching the surface of what the east coast has to offer.
However, the majority of the island’s landscape is dominated by granite boulders scattered from the coast right up into the mountains most of which remain unclimbed.
Bouldering in Sardinia first started in the nineties but in recent years the island's untapped potential has become increasingly talked about and the rocks have seen development from the global climbing community.
My initial attraction to bouldering has always been the line—ideally following the obvious path to the top. This ‘line snob’ mindset is what first drew me to the proud, tall rocks of Northern Sardinia. The granite, reminiscent of gritstone, was particularly appealing as I continue to protect my finger injuries, the lack of crimps was extremely appealing.
But where to start? The information in the guidebooks and online was minimal as bouldering in Sardinia has only started to be documented in the past few years. And yet, the development is rapid thanks to the Primitive Bouldering crew. Social media came to the rescue: a quick message to the crew and we were part of the islands’ small climbing community.
We arrived at the start of the season and the crew had a buzz of excitement fuelled by the anticipation of discovering new boulders.
While most photos from Sardinia feature large boulders by the beach, on warmer days we headed into the forest (with bug spray) to escape the heat. Here, the boulders are different again, reminiscent of Fontainebleau. On our day there, we spent hours cleaning boulders and attempting first ascents.
The rock was beautiful but sharp. The granite is tough on the skin, more pebbled than gritstone, posing a constant struggle between one last attempt or saving your skin for another day. The rock quality and characteristics varied depending on the location and exposure to external factors. Having been slightly eroded by the sea, those boulders on the coastline provided a smoother texture for the sore skin.
The development in Sardinia is stunted primarily by the ownership of land, almost all the land in northern Sardinia being privately owned making the discovery of new areas challenging. One of the most developed areas is Lu Branu, an area where the owner of the land is a climber. Here you can find the beautiful Mincammino (6C) and the harder exit, Variante Delta (f7C).
Top tips for bouldering in Sardinia:
1. Look up @PrimitiveBouldering on Instagram.
2. The best time to visit is December to February.
3. Bring good pads, the moon Saturn pad was perfect for the highballs and the Cirrus pad was perfect for smoothing out the slightly uneven landings.
4. Try windsurfing on your rest day.
5. Bring lots of tape, chalk and a decent brush.
6. There are knee bars to be had everywhere so a knee pad is also recommended to avoid holes in your knees!
7. I would highly recommend the orange gelato from ‘Gelateria Tradizionale C’era Una Volta’ in Arzachena!
