page_title: Fair Head
section_title: Rock climbing
hierarchical_section_title: Fair Head / Rock climbing
caption_attribution_description: Climbers on the second pitch of Jolly Roger (grade E3/6a) at Fair Head
context_page_description: Fair Head or Benmore is a 5 kilometre mountain cliff, close to the sea, at the north-eastern corner of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, whose rock face is formed into distinctive vertical columns like organ pipes. Fair Head is regarded as one of the best outdoor rock-climbing locations in Ireland, and its long cliff, up to 100 metres high in places, is considered one of the biggest expanses of climbable rock in the British Isles.
context_section_description: Fair Head is regarded as one of Ireland's best outdoor rock climbing areas, along with the limestone sea-cliff of Ailladie in County Clare.  It does not attract a high volume of rock climbers due to its relatively remote location, and the physical strength and unfamiliar climbing techniques it requires of climbers. Its cliffs stretch over 5 km around the headland, rising to a maximum height of over 100m. They are not sea-cliffs but have been described as a mountain crag by the sea, since they tower above an extensive boulder field and their isolation and size gives climbing there a big-wall mountaineering feel.
  The cliffs are composed of dolerite, giving a mixture of steep cracked walls, corners, and, in many places, sets of columns reminiscent of organ-pipes. The dolerite sits on top of a bed of chalk which is visible in places.
  The cliffs abound in well-protected steep crack climbing, between one and four pitches long. Many of the cracks involve hand-jamming, so some climbers tape their hands to protect the skin from what they term "Fair Head rash". Other climbs involve off-width or full-width chimneying, which is not often encountered in other Irish crags. As with nearly all Irish crags, only traditional protection ("clean climbing") is used.  The 2014 Fair Head guidebook, its 6th edition, lists over 430 routes from under grade VS 4c up to E6 6b, but more recent climbing includes routes up to E8 6c.
caption: Climbers on the second pitch of Jolly Roger (grade E3/6a) at Fair Head.
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