Karitane Rock

Almost a good little crag, Karitane rock features crack lines on well featured, good quality, idiosyncratic basalt (Marcus calls it ‘volcanic limestone?!’), and a fine 15m pinnacle with hard face and crack climbing on its front face, and chimney climbs rising from within the bowels of the cliff behind it. The downside? Facing south to southeast, and exposed to moisture-laden winds off the sea, the outcrop sports luxuriant growths of moss and lichen. The climbs are mostly short and many are broken up by large ledges. A great place to visit on a hot summer’s day.
Marcus Thomas ‘discovered’ the outcrop during a risk management course in 1996, and returned with Kevin Donoghue and Joe Arts to climb many of the cracks, buttresses and aretes. Surprisingly they left alone the choice front face of the pinnacle except for the fine arete (Perfect Sound Forever) and it was left to Dave Brash and Mike Simpson to put up climbs on this great piece of rock.
There is potential for further routes here but it would be a shame to lose the beautiful hanging fern and moss gardens on the cliffs – this is why some areas have been left alone.