Borland Valley Arrampicata su roccia 74 vie in area

Paul King and Bill McLeod are the first known climbers to climb in Borland, establishing the first routes on the Borland Roadside crag in 1988. In the 1990’s Andy Macfarlane explored the area with numerous partners including Murry Judge, John McCartney and Paula Macfarlane. Details of those visits is vague, but Murry recalls they established Roaring Forties on the Upper Bluffs. Other routes which were likely climbed in those days include The Bishop, ‘several of the crags visible where the road leaves the bush and climbs up to the saddle’, ‘one across the valley where the north branch comes in’, and ‘one line on the good looking granite crag at the top of the sidestream mentioned above, I (Murray) think the right skyline looking up the stream’ which suggests the Eagle Rock area and The Beak. The area sat in obscurity for years being used predominantly for school climbing and abseiling on the Roadside Crags. Steve Skelton began visiting the area in 2006 and, with Reese Doyle and Keith Brown established several lines on the Upper Bluffs areas over the early 2010’s. Other local climbers, including Peter O’Neill and Jimmy Finlayson opened several new routes. The Watchtower area saw significant development in 2014 and 2015 by Tony Burnell, Owen Davis, Adam Herbstritt and Joe Ward. Visiting canterbury climbers Zac Orme, Troy Mattingley and James Morris visited in 2015, opening The Den and equipping routes on Eagle Rock. As of writing in April 2023, development continues on the lower crags, including The Perch by Skelton and Dusk Wall by Troy Kendall.