Cape Enniberg

Interesting facts

The first climbing route up the cliff was only established in 2017, when James Pearson, Yuji Hirayama and Cedar Wright spent about 15 hours on a line they named Faroenough.

The face is far from solid basalt: bands of lava alternate with crumbly layers of volcanic ash and steep grass, which made the first ascent notoriously loose and dangerous.

Its ledges hold a large colony of northern fulmars, seabirds that defend their nests by spitting a jet of oily, half-digested fish at intruders.

BirdLife International lists the north and east coasts of Viðoy as an Important Bird Area, with about 25,000 breeding pairs of Atlantic puffins.

The same seabird area supports roughly 5,300 pairs of black-legged kittiwakes, 6,700 common guillemots and about 500 pairs of tiny European storm petrels.

Enniberg is often ranked as the second-highest sea cliff in Europe, surpassed only by Hornelen on the coast of western Norway.

For centuries Faroe islanders have climbed sea cliffs like this to reach nesting seabirds and their eggs.

Viðoy means wood island, a curious name for a treeless place that is thought to refer to driftwood carried here by currents from Siberia and North America.

On clear days the cliff can be seen from neighbouring islands, including the northern tip of Kalsoy and the island of Fugloy.

Why it is worth it

At the northern tip of the Faroe Islands, the land ends in a single colossal wall of rock. Cape Enniberg rises 754 metres straight out of the North Atlantic, making it one of the highest promontories in the world. Seen from the sea, the cliff looks almost vertical, its upper ledges often wrapped in cloud while the swell breaks white at its foot. It is the northernmost point of the archipelago, with nothing beyond it but open ocean.

Enniberg belongs to the island of Viðoy, the most northeasterly of the Faroes, a long ridge of mountains that drops abruptly on almost every side. Just to the south rises Villingadalsfjall, at 844 metres the highest summit on the island, and at its southern foot lies the village of Viðareiði, the northernmost settlement in the Faroes. The scenery is typical of the islands' north: dark basalt layered like the pages of a book, green grass running up to the edges of the drops, and narrow sounds separating island from island.

The cliffs are an important bird colony. In the breeding season its ledges are occupied by seabirds that nest on the sheer rock and fish in the surrounding sea. The scale of the cliff becomes clear only from a boat below or from the grassy slopes above, where the ground ends suddenly in hundreds of metres of air.

Getting there

Enniberg lies on Viðoy in the northern Faroe Islands, beyond the village of Viðareiði. Viðoy is joined to the neighbouring island of Borðoy by a causeway, and Klaksvík on Borðoy is linked by a subsea road tunnel to Eysturoy and the rest of the road network. The capital, Tórshavn, is about 43 km away in a straight line. The nearest airport is Vágar Airport (FAE), about 51 km away.

Cape Enniberg

Interesting facts

Why it is worth it

Getting there

Plan your visit

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