By Inigo Taylor

The primordial landscape of the boulders underneath Sopu tower is my escape. A strange and mysterious landscape that feels about as wild as you can get on an island the size of Gozo. Full of gullies and caverns, endless bramble bushes and carob trees and dilapidated boundaries of farmed terraces long abandoned.  Within these boulders are some fantastic and really unique routes, sometimes on loose but exhilarating rock. A variety of different route styles – slabs, vertical pocketed lines on caramel like cliffs and two wide layback cracks coming out of the chasm known as the trench!

Steerpike Crack, bolted by my Gozo climbing buddy Stevie Haston is a really great line, stepping over the void of the chasm before you clip the first bolt you take a layback crack through an initial positive overhang and a sloper layback finish. Yesterday I talked some pals of mine into trying this route so I could get a few photographs – Stephen (who had previous experience of the route), Kyle and James. I found an angle from which I could get a great view of the end section, all in all I think they really enjoyed the route, I really enjoyed the fear etched upon their faces when they felt just how the sloper felt at the top, what’s worse is I was waiting like an excited punter at the coliseum. Anyway, enough of my pontificating, next time you’re on Gozo find this crack, climb it and enjoy your cheap wine in the mahrag (bar in Nadur) after.