Description

Impressive and slightly overhanging 30 meter high wall where some of Stockholms absolutely best routes in the grade range 6c to 7c are located.

The climbing is generally sustained and pumpy, technical and with mostly quite good crimps in different sizes. Most of the routes are fully bolted these days but occasionally some bolts can be a bit spread. The most popular wall is the Right Wall where there are a couple of classics that are among the very best in Stockholm. The Left Wall is more varied and some parts of it is divided by ledges, but there are some really cool routes on that wall as well.

The crag is situated in a little forest at Gustavsberg 20 km east of Stockholm and is surrounded by huge boulders giving the place an enclosed and cave-like character. You dont se the wall until you have walked into this "catedral" and have the big wall in front of you. In the middle of the "cave" there is a large fireplace with benches where many people can sit.

The wall is west facing and in summer when sun is high most of the wall catches the sun. In spring and autumn the big boulders can block the sun on the lower parts of the wall.

The quality of the rock is generally ok but some parts can be a little loose.

The wall dries quite quick but because of its location the soil can stay moist for quite a long time after heavy rainfall or snow melting in spring. It can be a lot of mosquitoes here.

The walk from parking is easy and take only 8 minutes. The base of the cliff is mostly flat and children friendly. The site has been protected as a natural monument since 1960 and is also a popular excursion destination by other than just climbers.

History

The first documented route was made in 1967 by Bengt Hansson. Exactly what was done before that is not documented, but a number of old rusty pitons seen in the seventies testified that the activity was quite extensive. When Centralpelaren was made by Anders Lundahl in 1978 it was considered as a great achievement and mental testpiece. Eva Selins ascent of "Den ofullbordade" in 1981 was a great female achievement at that time especially considered the sandbag grade it has. Huvudleden was made in 1981 by Jan Liliemark. A steep and physically demanding crack which probably suited the skilful crack climber quite good.

A couple of other demanding trad/mix routes like Luftslottet, Spöksonaten etc where made in the early 80s. Quite impressive climbs but these often poorly protected routes were not climbed very often.

It was when Eva and Anders started to put up bolted routes like Icones, Tabu, Non-Stop etc that the crag gradually gained in popularity and also became more accessible to climbers who did not fully mastered traditionally protected climbing. Of Course John Luhr spotted the crag and made many great and difficult sport routes which increased Skeviks popularity even further.

Over the years many of the routes that where partly bolted have been fully equipped with bolts and anchors and today these excellents routes are very popular. All this together have made Skevik to one of the most popular crags in Stockholm.