A few months ago, I walked around the small crag of Little Almscliff. I’d climbed a lot at Almscliff and wanted to see what bouldering on its diminutive namesake offered. It was clear that Little Almscliff has a lot of interesting and easier climbing, as well as great views and a short walk-in. However, I’d not been back because I had been focused on my walking project, and a rainy summer had limited my opportunities to get out. Last Sunday, my wife, son and I wanted some quiet climbing and time in the countryside, and so decided to head to Little Almscliff.

Almscliff is one of the most famous and popular climbing locations in Yorkshire. It’s a broken rocky crown of gritstone crags and boulders sitting atop a small hill with wide and glorious views across Lower Wharfedale. Little Almscliff shares its name and miniature versions of several of its features. It’s a gritstone outcrop on a rise on Stainburn Moor, a few miles to the North-West of its big brother. There are two main sections of rock named High Man and Low Man (the same names as the two sectors of Almscliff) as well as a scattering of small boulders. From the top of High Man there is a great view across the moors and fields to Scargill Reservoir, the Knabs Ridge wind farm, Menwith Hill military base, and the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. In the other direction there are Forestry England woods and plantations.

It’s only a few minutes’ walk to Little Almscliff from Broad Dubb Road. The parking is in a gravel lay-by with some monstrous potholes. I underestimated one of these and smacked the bottom of my car on the gravel as I pulled up. Little Almscliff is visible but unassuming from here. It’s only when you walk onto the top of High Man that you see the rock dropping away and realise the extent of the crag. 

I started my climbing on the 1968 EM CM Boulder. This is a roughly cut pyramid of rock cleaved into two unequal parts that sits a little bit away from High Man and Low Man. The boulder takes its name from the text of the nearly 80-year graffiti carved into its flank. 

It was a great boulder to warm-up on. Four of the five recorded problems on the 1968 EM CM Boulder are in the low grades, and the three I climbed were fun. I particularly enjoyed One Kite (graded 4). I got that delicious feeling of satisfaction you get from cracking a boulder problem when I realised that an undercut would give me the purchase I needed to reach for the top of the boulder. The only downside to climbing on the 1968 EM CM Boulder was the thick lichen that crowns it and follows the course of water runnels down the rock. I had to be careful not to put my feet on this lichen to avoid damaging it, and because lichen provides little grip for rock shoes.

I then moved on to High Man. This has the appearance of two steps pushed out of a slope. The bigger of the two steps has highballs and even problems with a trad grade on its front face. I decided that this was a bit too much for me and headed for front face of the other step.

I enjoyed going straight up the face by the sloping pockets of Echo Wall (3+) and climbing the rounded edge of Echo Edge (3). I then headed around the corner to try some of the shorter problems. It was here that I got puzzled trying to work out the final moves on Higher Runnel (4), a brilliant, slanting crack with some initially good handholds followed by an awkward finish. 

I finished up on some of the micro-problems far back on High Man. These were interesting, but over so quickly that they felt a bit contrived.

Visiting Little Almscliff was a relaxing and quiet way to spend a Sunday morning. I could climb on some easier problems, my son could clamber about on the rocks, and my wife could sit and read (as well as take climbing photos – thank you). It was a warm and humid day, but at Little Almscliff a gentle breeze made it feel pleasant. We also had Little Almscliff to ourselves, apart from a couple of people passing by as they walked their dogs.

The only real downside to Little Almscliff is its popularity with sheep. There was quite a large amount of poo that I tried to avoid putting my bouldering mats in.

With its good location, great views, and variety of interesting boulder problems, Little Almscliff deserves some of the fame of its big brother.

Further information

Yorkshire Gritstone, Volume 1, Almscliff to Slipstones (pp.538-539) has topos and descriptions of problems, as well as the usual information on conditions, access, and approach. However, the website 27Crags describes more problems than the Yorkshire Gritstone guidebook and the topo photos are better. 

Little Almscliff also features on UKClimbing.

Although it’s known as Little Almscliff in the climbing guides, on the OS map it is marked as Little Alms Cliff or Almais Cliff.