Crag features

The crag at Stav is probably one of the most obvious walls seen when driving from Trondheim on the E6 to Stjørdal and has almost certainly captured the attention of many passing climbers. Set on the mountainside above Stavsjøfjelltunnelen, this esoteric north-west facing crag actually features several steep and hard bolted sports routes, with the potential for many more along the neaby cliffs. Two distinct walls are present at the Stav crag; Trekantveggen and Main Wall, both of these are nearly 40 m in height.

Stav sets itself apart from the low-key hard sport climbing at Hell by being much bigger, with longer routes and more massive formations. Oldschool bolt spacing and the overall atmosphere of the crag is definitely more "adult" and it is a logical next step for those bored of running laps on the same tired old projects at other local crags - here you will have to work hard.

Cleaning and route development started in the early to mid 1990's (summer and autumn of 1993), however the crag was essentially abandoned when Hell was discovered and development there took over in 1994. This crag also never made it properly into the 2010 Trønder Rock in guidebook and is only briefly described in the introduction. This is alledgedly due to the perception that the crag is largely loose and dangerous, with too few and mostly very hard routes. The reality being, that where it has been cleaned properly, the rock is actually quite sound and the routes simply require more traffic.

Most of the routes were put up by Alf Borge in 1993 after Terje Valentinsen dissmissed the crag as worthwile. Torkel Røisli and Pål Næsje also put up routes around the same time. Trekantveggen saw the most effort and development, with 9 routes being bolted. Two of these were described in the 2002 guide as projects and they likely still are (tentaive grading suggests ~n9- / 8a). The main wall, only had one route put up by Alf Borge, likely still a project and probably coming in at ~n9- / 8a. Further development of Main Wall requires significant cleaning for it to be worthwhile and it is unliklely anyone will be inspired or motivated to ever develop this part of the crag further.

All the routes at Stav are bolted and equipped with anchors - although given their age and lack of regular attention they should still be treated with caution, tested and tightened if needed. However, the bolts themselves are acid-proof stainless-steel expansion bolts and hangers and upon inspection largely appear to still be sound, though some may have loosened over time. Most of the anchors appear to be simple chains and should really be replaced. In addition, the project on Main Wall has the remains of a rope and several carabiners hanging from it which ideally should be removed.

The rock is in some ways similar to that at Hell, Storvika and New Wave. It has been mapped by NGU as a metamorphosed grey-wacke sandstone. Some patches of conglomerate are found on the wall but this is not to the same extent as at Hell or Storvika. Interestingly, much of the wall is coated with a thin calcium carbonate precipiate, and one could be forgiven for thinking it as a limestone crag at first glance. NB. This calcium carbonate coating can also form tiny spikes on some of the holds, so be careful as these can be incredibly sharp.