Not the nasty little buggers wot bite ya legs (which are out in force) but those climbs that have been on your list for a while… in my case nearly 30 years !
When the club has been in Scotland for the last 2 BH weekends I've been at Helyg the historic Climber Club hut in Ogwen valley, first with Pete B and latterly with Mike Shaw. The hut was hosting only a couple of other people both times (in fact the same couple!) which was great.
Pete and I enjoyed four days of wall to wall sunshine and we made the most of it, avoiding the crowds as much as we could and ticking stuff on my list (oml ). Friday was Tryfan – Munich Climb (HVS 5a** oml ) via Gashed Crag (VD***) and a some random lovely bubbly pitch to finish. Enroute to the car we bagged a S 4a route on Tryfan Bach in the evening sun. On Saturday we headed to Craig Lloer on the opposite side of the valley and a pleasant, if busy, hours walk-in brought us solitude (for a while). Catching the sun this south facing crag has only a few worthwhile routes, and a few more dirty ones. Our target was Kirkus Route (VS 5a ***oml ) The interest in this route comes on the second pitch, a 8m off-width crack soloed by Kirkus (nutter). Graded 5a it's not that hard (nowhere near Brimham standards) not really off-width and protectable with a large (Friend 4/5) cams. It is however really intimidating and excellent climbing. We did a pair of routes on the crag, Central Ridge (VS 4b) closer to 5b and The Rib (S 4a), a really lovely route with exposed, steady climbing up a clean rib/nose. Highly recommended, take lots of slings (but don't fall off ).
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P2 Munich Climb -
top of Tryfan -
top of offwidth -
Craig lloer view
Monday we eventually arrived at Cwm Silyn (sat-nag … hmmm) the scene of an inglorious retreat in the pissing rain a few years back. Our target was another Kirkus's Route (VS 5a oml) as it was for the other teams there, so we scampered up ordinary route (D**) instead of waiting in the fall line. It was a good move as the sun was fully on this excellent route that tackles the centre of the Great Slab. After P1 + P2 (Rockfax update has a good topo) the route heads up blank looking slabs in a joyous sequence of hidden incut pockets. Really good and not hard, if you can do P1 you will cruise the rest with a smile on your face.
BH Monday we again avoided the crowds and headed down to Clogwyn y Bustach, home of Lockwood's Chimney a traditional route, (the tradition being get 11 other people, wait for it to rain, all get drunk and leave it till dark to set off). But we had designs on Gallop Step (HVS 5a ** oml) mainly because it starts on the ground (best place) climbs up for a pitch then down for a pitch to finish 70m away on the ground again! You start from a platform (and pete throws your shoes roughly in the direction of the bags and nettles) and traverse under a roof on jugs and copious wire placements cleaning out the grass, dandelions and prickles as you go. P2 carries on and then heads down, making seconding a tad exciting. I thought both pitches worthy of 4c but P1 is a *** experience. Not quite satisfied we had a a spot of lunch in Helyg we ran up a couple of quality Severes at Bochlywd Butress which catches the evening sun. Lovely climbing and only one other team there. That was our lot, more tea at Helyg and we were on our way home.
This May BH we bailed on the camping in Arrochar option (due to snow!) and Mike and I went to play on the Llanberis slate. We figured we could keep out of the cold wind and catch whatever sunshine was available, and so we did. Mike has never climbed on slate before, but it suits his style dynamic moves off tiny but positive holds – mostly.
Starting at Bus Stop we did Solstice (HVS 5a**) and Fools Gold (E1 5c ** oml) (both led and never 5c) and then headed to Australia, a huge quarry with many levels. We wandered to Looning the Tube (E1 5a *** oml) and there was a team just finishing, fun climbing with minimal kit needed and not very hard. Mike took a fancy to the route next door, one of Andy Swann's, Goose Creature E3 6a. The E3 bits is odd, it has 2 bolts but the first is high. The 6a (UK not Fr) is cos it's fecking hard. Mike on-sighted it on lead, I took a few goes at the crux on 2nd. Mikes 4th route on slate and his hardest ever lead! We wandered up past the crowds at the siding to Zippy level, where I led a reasonable HVS 5a that brought us to the Skyline buttress, a new one for me. Its huge and great and I am definitely going back. Mike led the VS 4b, which he didn't rate, i thought it was quite good. Back at the car we nipped ino Bus Stop again this time to catch the evening sun and did Gnat Attack (E1 5c ** oml). More than a tad run out but the hard moves are safe, we both led it in wonderful weather.
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Solstice -
Fools Gold -
Goose Creature -
Gnat Attack
Sunday was colder an we headed down into the quarries above the power station to the Rainbow Slab area – somewhere I'd never been- WOW. My target was Bela Lugosi is Dead E1 5b ** oml, a long crack line with lots of gear (mostly). After both leading that we did the excellent sport route next to it Horse Latitudes 6a+ oml, which is quite sustained but never desperate. Mike now fancied a look at Pull My Daisy E2 5c ***, a wonderful route to second. Technically hard climbing (good gear plus a skyhook!) up a crack leads to a pipe sticking out the wall. Place all your gear and now quest off for the top the crag (20m away) without worrying about runners. Luckily the climbing is much easier but not trivial. Great lead by Mike, quite a good intro to slate!
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BL Slab -
Bella Lugosi .. -
Skyhook – eek -
lonley lead PMD
So that was the end for us, forecast was poor for BH Monday so we came back to York and went to work and ticked off all those routes on UKC. Of course Snowdonia is so well endowed with high quality routes that I've filled up my Wishlist again – roll on some more good weather.