Vancouver Island Climbing - Rock

Climbing flawless granite on Mt Tom Taylor, Strathcona Park

Island Rock Climbing

Vancouver Island is a rugged island with a geography dominated by high mountains and craggy hills. For climbers it is a gold mine of potential adventure from one end to the other.

Naturally most of the crag climbing development has taken place close to the major communities, with a few exceptions where the rock resource is of high enough quality and /or concentration to make travel to more outlying areas worthwhile.

The main rock type found on the island is volcanic basalts and crags of this composition are the common red-brown outcrops seen all over the Vancouver Island hillsides. Most of the developed sport climbing areas are on basalt.

But there is a good variety of rock types and limestone, sandstone, granite, andesite and conglomerates can all be found on Vancouver Island and the neighbouring Gulf & Discovery Islands.

For a list of developed climbing areas and links to current guidebooks click here>