Havukallio

Havukallio is one of the oldest and best rock climbing sites in Finland for a trad climber. Havukallio has many stellar crack lines especially in the middle grades. Havukallio is also very high by Finnish standards with many routes about 20-25 meters of height on it's 200 meters of width.

Havukallio is know for it's vertical cracks which range from 4 to 8a. The most known and distinct of the crack routes is most probably Ee-mäntä (6c+). It is an overhanging challenge with a wide crack in the middle. There are also many other high class routes in the 6a/6b range. The easier routes near Keväthuuma are also of high quality and very popular.

Havukallio faces south and dries quite fast. Some routes such as Snellman tend to drip longer, though. The big trees in front of the cliff make climbing possible also on those hot days.

Havukallio was found already in the 1960's by Matti A. Jokinen et al and they climbed something with aid but there are no records. The modern development of Havukallio started in 1989 with Kanto, which was first done free by Kari Poti. The early 1990's were very active and most of the obvious cracks were climbed free within the first years.

In the 1990's Havukallio was the second most important crag of Finland right after Olhava. Both Havukallio and Olhava used to have distinct guidebooks printed in the same A5 format as Alppikiipeily yearly magazine and which was sold in Mountainshop Finland. Havukallio guidebook was printed by Kiipeilyseura Kitka in 1995.