UKC

Hey all, this is not a UK climbing topic, but I'm posting to UK climbers because I found some other very old topics about climbing at Bohuslan on this forum.

Anyway, I'm going to be visiting Sweden for a vacation this July from the USA, and would love to take a few days and check out Bohuslan. My girlfriend and I would probably be renting a car in Stockholm, and have climbing gear but not camping gear. She is a beginning climber (can get up most 5.8, or French grade 5b?), while I like cracks up to 5.12+ (7c), so single pitch areas with a wide variety would be ideal.

Does anyone have beta on how easy it is to find partners, areas, lodging, any of that? Are there any guide services in the area?

Forgive the vague, open-ended nature of this post, I'm just trying to get an idea of how it would be to take a climbing trip here.

Oh, and if anyone reading this will be in Bohuslan in late July, I'd love to partner up! I live at the New River Gorge in the US, and would be happy to reciprocate with a place to stay.

In reply to camhead:

There's some information here that should answer a few of those questions: https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=663360

As regards finding partners, there's a couple of Facebook groups that work quite well: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bohusstugan/ and https://www.facebook.com/groups/391522367557471/ Everyone else posts in Swedish, but plenty of non-Swedes seem to manage to find partners on there - if you stick up the classic 'Hi, my name's X and I'm planning on visiting between Y and Z dates', you should find people, and if not you'll likely meet people around! Plus, a lot of crags have bolted lower offs or trees, so you might be able to get by with your girlfriend belaying you but not necessarily seconding if she'd be alright with that.

A few other thoughts: Definitely rent a car, as the public transport there is a bit crap and the crags are quite far from the BKK club hut (which I heartily recommend, particularly as there are mattresses inside). Your girlfriend might well struggle in terms of grades - I believe 6-, which is where Bohuslän really gets going, is roughly equivalent to 5.10 (but might well feel a little soft if you're already proficient at granite jamming), but there are a few crags that offer decent easier routes ( Nordens Ark is the main one, and Jungfrun (n4) is a wonderful two-pitch route that is very close to the hut, but there are others). If you're climbing 5.12 (roughly Swedish 7/8) you'll have a lot to go at, much of it very spectacular - Hallinden and Häller alone should be enough for a short trip!

If you need any offer info, feel free to email me.

In reply to camhead:

My trip report from a few years back http://lightfromthenorth.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/bohuslan-climbing-trip-repo... I was climbing with newbies to trad, and although I know what I'm doing I'm not very strong, so there is loads of easier and mid grade stuff to go at along with the much harder trad. For easier stuff and quite near a town I would recommend Brappersberget, but Nordens Arkis good as well - although from what I remember most the routes there start with a slightly harder pull through some steeper ground to get out onto the big slab, although my wife managed fine and she doesn't climb that regularly.

In reply to camhead:

Häller and Hallinden have little in the lower grades, so not great choices if you're looking for places with routes at both ends of the grade spectrum. Great for harder routes.

Galgeberget would be a definite option. There's some decent easy routes and some classic harder routes. The easier routes are South facing and the harder are West facing so you might need to plan your day carefully if it's hot. Välseröd is another option with a similar spread of grades. If it's hot then Skälefjäll is a good option as it's North facing. There's a few easier routes but some of them can be green and wet.

Some of the crags are quite small but close to one another so it's sometimes easy just to visit two crags in the same day in order to get the spread of grades.

In reply to camhead:

Bohuslan is mainly single pitch, so climbing with someone who is operating at a different grade should not be a problem. You can buy a copy of the guide at the local supermarket http://brodalen.nu/ . The guide is in Swedish but has English crag introductions and good topos. The climbing club http://www.bohuskk.se/ENGLISH has a good hut which is a very friendly place to meet up with other climbers. The climbing itself is excellent, particularly if you like cracks.

In reply to camhead:

Think you might find Brappersberget and Nordens Ark a bit too slabby if you are after crack climbing. They're typically best in the Nordic 5s as well, so really the grade spread. The guidebook has a list of the best routes at each grade so I reckon with a bit of cross referencing you should be able to find some suitable places. You might potentially need to stick to shady faces in July, or places with shade at the base of the cliff.