June 4 2022
21 one years ago, Greg Campbell published Bouldering in Halifax, Nova Scotia, providing some of the first documentation for many of our classic climbing areas. One of the guide’s biggest chapters, Herring Cove, was never added to Mobeta. The place has nonetheless remained a popular destination, especially since it’s within such a short drive of Halifax (about 20 minutes) and is even accessible by bus. I’m really grateful to have had the opportunity to finally post a guide to this site. It’s a great climbing area and I think people will enjoy it. There is some great stuff here. Widowmaker V4 will test your problem-solving. All that Glitters V5 will test your willingness to match on a tiny freakin’ crimp. Dyno Flatulator V2 is just a perfect little dyno. Dyno Flatulator Traverse V5 asks: can you make that dyno after climbing a V4 wall? This guide is not a comprehensive list of every problem in Herring Cove: there is a lot there. Instead, it’s a guide for the ‘Select’ section of Mobeta, meaning it’s a curated list of stuff that makes for a good climbing trip. The task of writing a ‘comprehensive’ section remains to be done, but in any case, you can find most of the missing problems on The Crag or the original guide. I left out one very good section, Cemetery Wall, because the ground here slopes down to a huge cliff, and I didn’t want to send anyone to the actual cemetery. If you’re less yellow bellied than me, please do check it out on The Crag. In general, I tried to stick with the original names and set-ups for problems, but I did make a few adjustments. Some of the names in the original guide were a bit spicy. Nice Jugs, Rim Job, Give ‘er Stink, etc. By strategically forgetting to write a few words, we can make this family-friendly: The Rim, Give ‘Er. (Nice Jugs didn’t make the cut). In some cases, adjustments were unavoidable: nature moved huge rocks around at UFO and The Mole. I tried to get rid of any unnecessary rules (like ‘don’t use this crimp’) to bring it more in line with the current climbing culture. (It was hard to avoid rules on some problems, like Dyno Flatulator). In two cases, there was a more obvious way to do a problem, and I added the original as a variation. But in one case I went a bit further. I added a traverse to the beginning of Give ‘Er because the original only had two moves. With this natural extension, it’s a beautiful V3. There are a few harder problems I hope will soon be added to round out the range of difficulty. Otherwise, I really appreciate any feedback on grades and ratings (i.e., what deserves a star, a heart, or a poop). Adding or subtracting problems is more difficult, and I can’t promise I’ll be available to do that work (since I’m becoming a father), but I’m happy to know if something wonderful got unlocked. For all such feedback, you can message me on Instagram. Thank you Greg Campbell and all you other OG climbers that put this stuff together. And thanks to everyone who came out and helped me try problems, or who gave feedback on my original draft. -TristanFootnote:The topo has been broken down into 2 parts to better group problems by proxmity: Parking Lot AreaThe Reef Area