An Introduction to Climbing on Cayman Brac
From TradgirlWiki
It's hard to describe what's so different about a climbing vacation to Cayman Brac; it's not just great climbing. The tropical island setting, the snorkeling and diving, the people, and the relief of not having 'civilization' pressing on you all combine with the great rock climbing into a unique and wonderful experience.
Cayman Brac (rhymes with 'crack') is at the same latitude as Hawaii. The best season is winter, December through April, when the temperatures are lower and rain and storms are few. Winter temperatures are usually in the low 80's (28C), which many people think is too warm, but you always climb in the shade and the trade winds are steady and cool off the water. Beats the hell outta miserable, leaden winter days.
When many people think of a tropical island, they think of place like Hawaii, Grand Cayman, or places in Mexico that are crawling with tourists in flowered shirts and funny hats walking between high-rise hotels and merchant stalls filled with tacky, overpriced merchandise.
Cayman Brac isn't like that. There's only 1200 people on the island (smaller than my high school!) and at most 150 of them are tourists. There's no traffic, not even a traffic light, no lines, no problems. The tallest building is two stories. It's very unusual to find other climbers on the island. There's no crowds or waiting for routes and the rock isn't polished. When climbing at the Point, the only people you see are fishermen waving from their boats.
Okay, let's get to the climbing already. There's 7 distinct climbing areas on the island. In the winter three areas are in the shade in the mornings, and the other four go into the shade about 2pm. Two of the areas (The Point) are right over the ocean and require rappell access; these areas will intimidate even experienced climbers. (See Adventure Climbing on the Brac) The other 5 areas are normal sport areas in that you walk to the base, climb and then lower off.
The rock is white limestone, with lots of pockets, edges, crystaline caves, flowstone and other features. It's kinda like Wild Iris, but with more pockets and about three times higher. There's a couple of 5.8s and .9s, but most of the routes are 10s, 11s and 12s. With the exception of two 5.8s, all the routes overhang. See All Overhanging, All the Time or the climbing guide The Bluff View Guide to Cayman Brac Climbing
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