Ogmor-on-Sea has some impressive sea cliffs in the mouth of the Bristol Channel. Steep, intimidating and with no means of escape bar your chosen route they are as adventurous as climbing gets in this part of Britain. The tidal range is huge in the channel and the window of opportunity to actually get to the base is small, adding to the sense of urgency.
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| Convenient cliff-top parking & camping |
The Popular End has a handful of excellent climbs which get done with regularity. Additionally the esoteric traverse line of Exposure Explosion (HVS 5a 87m) traverses the horizontal strata lines across the Popular End wall. It is supposed to be exposed, committing, and a local classic. We checked it out one windy Saturday in June.
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 | | Low tide in the Channel |
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 | | A team on the route |
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We had visited the cliff two weeks prior however our attempt was aborted due to another party having already arrived to do the climb and as such we settled for three excellent climbs as consultation.
Pilar first led Pluto (VS 4c 30m) which felt just like a corner transplanted straight from Swanage's Boulder Ruckle. Steep but with good rock it was a good warmup.
 | | Pluto. The showing the steepness |
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 | | Pinocchio |
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I then headed for the huge pitch of Pinocchio (HVS 5a, 35m). The tide was on the turn already but we still had a few hours of climbing time. Pinocchio starts out on fingery and crimpy rock that is a bit bold before some committing moves lead to a fun chimney. Some wild traversing with buckets of exposure finish of this brilliant line.
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 | | Me on the headwall of Pinocchio |
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 | | Pila on Mordred |
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We dropped in again as the tide was approaching rapidly. I was already concerned that access to the abseil rope would be cut off leaving no emergency escape options. Pilar erroneously led Mordred (HVS, 22m). She did really well considering she thought she was on Flash Harry - a Hard Severe! In our haste to bag another route before the waves hit we misread the guide.
We returned two weeks later now familiar with the Popular End. Exposure Explosion was there for the taking this time but the weather wasn't as nice as before and we were being buffeted by a howling south westerly stripping the heat and motivation from us both. Pitch breakdowns were as follows.....
Pitch 1. A down climb to a chimney and weird belay in a cave. Which was sheltered at least.
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 | | Pitch 1 |
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 | | The Cave on P1 |
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Pitch 2. Exposed traversing on massive holds. Despite the easy climbing sandy holds and sections of overhanging rock mean it's still possible to get pumped. A very photogenic pitch. Belay on the arete in a wild hanging position.
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 | | The great traverse of Pitch 2 |
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 | | Steep sandy strata climbing |
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Pitch 3. Short but interesting. Heading into the so-called Wetlook cave is more technical and on smooth rock. Luckily it was dry!
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 | | Entering the Wetlook Cave |
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 | | Pilar in the Cave |
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Pitch 4. Coming out of the Wetlook Cave was again dry enough thankfully as an overhanging start leads to airy traversing over the void. Good but short.
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 | | Tiptoeing above the void |
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 | | Pilar in the Wetlook Cave |
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Pitch 5. An easy 20m pitch. Some good, exposed positions. We had a rope snag in a crack. Easy to do as the rock strata has many constrictions. We had our two-way radios which made the incident completely stress free. I coiled the excess route around my body and climbed to Pilar without issue.
 | | Pilar enjoying |
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 | | The tide now out. |
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Pitch 6. Similar to pitch 3 in that it turns an arete heading into a corner and it's very short. It is much easier however some crawling, shuffling and general awkwardness made it memorable.
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 | | Awkward ledge shuffling on Pitch 6 |
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 | | The Tide in already! |
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Pitch 7. Easy to bail here as Siren Direct heads straight up at VS. However continuing along the strata bands for 5 meters in a comfortable but overhanging position you find yourself below a line of weakness. The sun had come out now and the wind dropped and I found myself sweating. Moving up and then swinging right on to easier ground was somewhat urgent and I actually found myself having to dig deep and pull hard. There was no way I was falling off this. A fall would end in an epic for sure and having to prussik up the ropes whilst hanging above the sea! The pitch had lots of sandy cam placements but I couldn't help wonder that perhaps they weren't actually that good! Anyway I push the thought aside and with some some steep urgent pulling on sloping holds I deposit myself on the ledge with nothing left to do now than to top out easily. A highly satisfying end to the route.
 | | Ready to commit to the crux |
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 | | Job done! |
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So was the route any good? Well our day was well worth the effort. And topping out came with a real sense of achievement. We took our time and it turned out to be a 6 hour round trip. Much of the climbing is easy of course but what it lacks in technical difficulty it makes up for in terms of commitment and exposure. Both leader and second should be proficient at HVS standard and falling off would mean some serious problem solving. Not recommended. All that said the route is escapable (upwards) - especially in the second half of the route when the top isn't that far away and the route crosses some easy terrain. Pitches are short but climbing it in 7 seems reasonable to avoid rope trouble and comms issues. Definitely a route to do again in sunny weather. Lots of fun!
