Oct 26, 2020
Archeologists say that many of Nova Scotia’s best climbing spots were established back in the 90s. Mobeta has done a great job documenting most of those sites, but one never quite made its way in: Duncan’s Cove. My brother, Teth Cleveland, wrote a guide for Chebucto Head that included Duncan’s Cove back in 2002, with the help of Jonathan Graham and a few other climbers. Recently, we went with a crew of climbers to dust off the area and see which climbs remain.
Turns out there have been some big changes. Take the Jazzberry Ram Wall, which had a massive crack traverse — until half the wall fell off.
Every problem from #5 leftward no longer exists. The remaining crack traverse is a tiny fraction of its former glory (and too full of silverfish for me to re-do). There may be some new problems here, but you probably want a top rope. The wall is very tall. It may be worth further investigation for the intrepid.
Then there’s the Robar boulder, which had a V7 on it called Robar Direct. It has since split directly in two, and Robar is now lying face-down on the ground.
But, when you break a rock, it turns out there’s more rock under it. Ben Rose established a new problem in its place named Rebar V4 in honour of Robar (and in honour of the rebar sticking out of the WWII machine gun boxes around the corner). It’s a scary problem because if you’re not careful, you’ll fall onto Robar’s corpse and break an ankle. But if you have a few spotters, it’s a good one.
However, some of the problems are still in mint condition.
The Scoop (problem #3) was listed as a classic in the guidebook. It’s a beautiful, aesthetically-unique rock, and a great V2. My personal favourite on the block is Little Crack, #4, which is a tricky V3 that lends itself to a variety of beta. It was listed as V2 in the original guide, but I climbed it with half-a-dozen people and it felt like a solid V3.
Strangely, there was an amazing little climb right next to The Scoop that wasn’t in the original guide. I can only assume that rocks must have blocked it back then, because it stands out as an obvious climb.
Ben Rose also did the first ascent on this as well, and christened it The Book of Mobeta V3 (a reference to The Book of Mormon). This is a certain kind of climbing problem boiled to its essence: flat wall, tight crimps, go up. It’s not quite as hard as I hoped, mostly because the feet are so good. Although, looking at the photo, there may be some harder options to the left.
Also, there is another enticing section of flat wall, a bit further down the coast, which we haven’t climbed yet. The old guide lists everything here as V0 to V2, but I suspect there is harder stuff. I couldn’t get off the ground on a supposed V2, so it’s possible things have changed. (The photo shows only a small section of the wall.)
The only trouble is, it’s a pain in the neck to get here from Chebucto Head, so anyone curious may need to explore other access options. (Please don’t trek through people’s backyards). Might be worth a go some sunny day. Here’s a diagram showing how to get to the Duncan’s Cove Problems without trespassing.
The area has other old problems waiting to be re-established, and I think, new problems to send. I didn’t spot any harder problems, though they may be there. All in all, the area seems like a good destination if you climb in the V2-to-V4 range, or if you feel like warming up on some old-school problems before hitting Tsunami. If you climb here and add anything, let me know: tristancleveland@gmail.com.