Cneifion Arete

Ive been out today on my own in the Glyders. Mooched up to Cwm Cneifion and decided on a scramble up the Cneifion Arete into the clouds, followed by Y Gribin Ridge onto Glyder Fawr, then after some searching in the clouds, a descent of Senior's Ridge.
It was nice to be back in the mountains again after a couple of weeks away.

Top pic: The route up the Cneifion Arete.
Bottom pic: Cneifion Arete profile from Y Gribin.

Soloing on the East Face of Tryfan & Tryfan Fach

Bit of a late start today as I had a hospital appointment in Wrexham to attend first, but after a quick blast down the A5 I was at Ogwen by midday. The dark clouds over Snowdonia in general seemed to be disapperaring fast & the sun was blazing once again.
I headed up to Heather Terrace on Tryfan's east face, and opted for a route I have not done before, South Gully. Ashton's guide book classes this as a grade 2 or 3 scramble, depending on wether you tackle the harder sections or not. I tried to make the route as hard as possible, but to be honest it still didn't feel like a grade 3 to me. Once I reached the last obstacle (a 10m dividing rib) I decided to spice things up a little, & headed out right up the front face on central buttress. This made things more interesting and went at about Vdiff maximum.
On my way back to the car I decided on a quick blast up Crack 2 (Diff) on Tryfan Fach with the continuation up the 'upper nose' of Tryfan Fach.

Top pic: South Gully & my buttress diversion. East Face of Tryfan.
Middle Pic: My Vdiff diversion up the face of Central Buttress. Pic taken from the South Summit.
Bottom: Tryfan Fach.

A wild & windy Carneddau

I took a drive down that A55 again today despite the decidedly ominous weather forecast from the Met Office. Parked up in Gerlan and did the walk into Cwm Llafar alongside the Afon Llafar ('Black Ladders' approach). I wasn't exactly sure quite what I was planning today due to the constant sideways rain, howling gale & poor visibility across the summits, but fancied a couple of hours solitude. On reaching the impressive crag of Llech Du, I hung a right and headed high into the upper cwm. I ended up exploring some of the gullies & ledges which make up the higher ground over to the right of the Llech Du (Crib Lem) spur. It was an altogether grim day on the tops, with a wind which several times threatened to blow me back down from where I had come. Descended the Mynydd Du ridge back towards Gerlan.

Top pic: The impressive Llech Du
Bottom pic: Looking across to the Llech Du spur from the Mynydd Du descent

Amphitheatre Buttress, Craig yr Isfa, Carneddau

Today Colin & I went to do a climb I have wanted to do, but never got around to for a long time. The classic mountaineering route which is Amphitheatre Buttress. A long 293m (960ft) mountain adventure with stunning views and varied climbing including pleasant slabs, interesting corners, easy scrambling & an alpine-esque ridge.
Whichever way you approach the crag from, you will have a sizeable walk in. We opted for the 3.5 mile hike from Llyn Eigiau. In this lake you will find the extremely rare Arctic Char which is a fish only found in cold glaciel lakes, usually in Scotland. It is also one of the few lakes in Wales to have its own natural Brown Trout. In 1925 the dam at Llyn Eigiau burst causing millions of gallons of water to pour down the valley into Coedty reservoir, which in turn burst its banks. The huge volume of water consumed the village of Dolgarrog, killing 17 people and destroying the community.

Top pic: Amphitheatre Buttress route
Bottom pic: The break in the dam

Christmas Curry at Tremadog with Col

Today Colin & I headed down to climb on the excellent dolerite cliffs at Tremadog. South facing and at low altitude Tremadog provided excellent all year round climbing & plenty of classic three star routes.
We started with Hail Bebe (V Diff**), which provides great top pitches with good exposure.
Next was Oberon (S 4b*). Colin led the first 4b pitch on the initial slab which proved to be the toughest part of the route.
For our last climb we did Christmas Curry (HS 4a***), which is a deserved three star route. We seemed to do a combination of the Micah Finish & Original Finish, so our own hybrid. I led the final pitch which provided big exposure.
We had an all round great day out in fantastic weather.

Top pic: View of Christmas Curry area from Eric's Cafe, with compulsary VW Transporter van!
Bottom Pic: Colin about to belay me on the final pitch of Christmas Curry.

Twilight Tower Buttress

Today I met up with Woodsy from the UKC forum at Twilight Tower Buttress nr Llangollen on the Upper Tier . It had just stopped drizzling, and the rock was good & dry. There are some outstanding routes on this crag, and unlike other Clwyd Limestone climbing venues is not at all polished.
We managed 6 climbs which were: Sloth (V-Diff*), Pride (V-Diff), Helme's Highway (S 4a), Funeral Corner (HS 4a**), Loran (S 4a*) & Skullion (VS 4b).
The pick of the bunch was definetly Funeral Corner (HS 4a**) which to quote the Rockfax guidebook is 'A little gem situated high above the valley, at the top of Twilight Tower Buttress. A perfect corner which is a delight to climb. Just a shame it is so short'

Top pic: From the car looking up at the whole Twilight area.
Bottom Pic: Twilight Tower Buttress.

Grooved Arete, Tryfan East Face

Today I mey Colin at Ogwen, and we decided on having a crack at the classic Grooved Arete (HVD***) on Tryfan's east face. It was very hot today, so not really the day to forget your drink (but Colin did!).
Grooved Arete climbs up the right hand side of North Buttress, and is easily spotted by the letters GA scratched into the rock.
It is an 810ft/244m HVDiff (Hard Very Difficult) 8 pitch big mountain route. One of the finest mountain routes anywhere in Wales.
We alternated leads and enjoyed every pitch. Topped out after four and a three quarter hours climbing.
A thoroughly enjoyable climb.

Top pic: Colin topping out after 810ft & four and three quarter hours climbing.
Bottom pic: Taken on descent, looking up at the middle couple of pitches of Grooved Arete.

The Roaches, Western Grit

Today was my first experience of climbing on grit at The Roaches in the Peak District. Greg who I met via the MLTA forum, knows the area well, and arranged to show me a few classic routes.
We headed to Roaches-Upper in blazing sunshine. Firstly I lead Right Route (V-Diff) which is listed as 2 pitches in the guidebook, but we opted to do in one pitch.
Next on our list was the classic Black & Tans (S 4a), where Greg lead the first pitch & I lead the second.
We next moved over to the Wombat Area where Greg led the slabby Rooster (V-Diff) & then I lead Chicken Run (HVD)
It was a good afternoons climbing, and I will definetly be back there soon!

Pic 1: Black & Tans area on Roaches-Upper. Unknown climbers on Saul's Crack
Pic 2: Looking down on Greg from the top of Right Route
Pic 3: Greg pulling up at the top of Rooster
Pic 3: Unknown climber on Central Route

Slanting Buttress, Lliwedd

Today Sean Mercer & I met up to climb Slanting Buttress Ridge Route on Lliwedd. It is a 700 foot Diff mountain route with some quality climbing and a real feeling of exposure. We soloed the first 3 pitches or so, then roped up and pitched the rest, alternating leads. The crux moves seem to be at around the halfway mark, when you take a bold step out left, overlooking Slanting Gully then move up a fairly featureless slab. However we managed to go slightly astray from the guidebook route on the second to last pitch, and I ended up leading an approx Severe grade pitch which felt hard.
An all round good mountain day.

Top pic: Lliwedd. Slanting Buttress Ridge Route starts between the distinct white quartz slashes on the bottom right of the photo.
Bottom pic: Sean on the ridge.

Soloing at World's End today

Had a couple of hours free this afternoon, so I headed back to World's End for a bit of soloing. It was another perfect climbing day down there, about 18 deg c, and a light breeze.
I soloed Squirm (Diff) & A'cheval (V-diff) which are both on the Open Book Area ,Wither (Diff) which is on the Taerg Wall Area & Nose (V-Diff) on the Lower Tier.
I also had a good look at a few climbs I want to have a pop at over the next few weeks, but not soloing!

Top pic: The 3 tiers of World's End
Bottom pic: Wither on Taerg Wall Area

World's End, nr Llangollen

Perfect day for climbing today. Davey & I headed down to World's End for some sunny crags with beautiful views. I lead Incompetance (HVD) & End Flake (HVD), and Davey lead Ashgrove (V-Diff). Would have been nice to do more routes, but Davey had to be back home for the school run.
Heading back to World's End on thursday, so will get a few more routes knocked off then.

Top pic: Beautiful day at World's End
Bottom pic: Davey leading Ashgrove

Maeshafn, Clwyd Limestone

Tonight I have been out climbing at Maeshafn (nr Mold) on Clwyd Limestone with Davey, Mike & Ethan.
Between us we climbed Shattered Crack (HS 4a), Sling (HS 4a), Dandy Lion (HS 4b) & Elephant Crack (S 4a).

PIC: Davey climbing in the dark on the crux move of Elephant Crack.

Idwal Slabs

I met up with Mark today, and we headed for Idwal Slabs. We first climbed the 5 pitches of Faith (V-Diff), then branched off to the right and climbed Javelin Gully (HS). Dry rock & sun at last!

Top pic: Idwal slabs in perfect climbing conditions.
Bottom Pic: Mark (in green) & unknown climber on final pitch of Faith where it conmverges with Hope.

Tryfan Fach

Today Davey & I decided to ignore the weather forecast and take a drive to Snowdonia to climb on Tryfan Fach (Little Tryfan). As it turns out the forecast was spot on, and it poured with rain all day.
However we first climbed Tryfan Fach Arete (Mod/Grade 3 scramble), then we climbed Crack 3 (Diff) again in heavy rain.

Top pic: Climbers on Tryfan Fach Arete, and Davey stood just to the right of Crack 3.
Bottom Pic: Davey leading on Crack 3

Milestone Buttress

Today Colin & I were out climbing on Milestone Buttress, Tryfan. We arrived to a near winter scene much to our suprise, and first climbed Rowan Route (Diff) in the hail & rain.
As the weather dried up in the afternoon we then climbed Direct Route (V-Diff), and incorporated the second pitch of Superdirect (HVS).

Top pic: Looking up Superdirect & Direct Route
Bottom pic: A suprise winter scene!