Deep Zawn Rock Climbing

The zawn is easy to identify, lying at the centre of Jenny's Cove and 100 metres south of Halfway Wall. Above the zawn stands the most southerly of a series of crystalline outcrops known as the Cheeses, the Cheesemite, from where a small, boggy stream runs down the slopes below into the north-east corner of the zawn. The zawn itself is very narrow and, not surprisingly, deep. Its high sidewalls (north and south) are steep and smooth, and plunge vertically into the sea. The back (east) wall forms a long, tapering slab undercut by a huge sea cave that disappears deep into the bowels of the island.

Approach The North Wall is relatively quick and straightforward of access: scramble down the grassy slope on the north side of the zawn to a point where it steepens into an earthy ridge. From here a 45-metre abseil from good thread belays leads down to a series of ledges extending into the zawn; these are non tidal but take care in heavy seas. Serpent, Supernova, Quatermass, and Antiworlds all start from the ledges, while The Fifth Ace requires a separate abseil further right. To access Creation, the first pitch of The Stone Tape, and the routes on the South Wall, a further short abseil, from below the groove-line of Antiworlds, is necessary to reach the zawn bed at low tide.