Andy and Toaf stayed in the Pub till close, leaving me and Laura to head back earlier. I was tired anyway so wanted to curl up under our boulder and try and get some rest. I was pretty hungry and was actually looking forward to trying out some dehydrated food I'd brought from decathlon (psyched by dehydrated food, you know it's bad!). There'll be more about the food in another post. As we drove back up the pass there was a guy thumbing for a lift, and I finally stopped (after Laura yelled too). I've hitched around snowdonia before but I feel bad driving past climbers who only need a lift up the pass etc. Climbing is about having a good time, so I think we should all try and pass this on.
We pulled up and asked where he needed to get to. In a heavy South African accent he asked not for a lift, but for a push as their battery had died in the car park. We instantly offered to help. I've flattening my battery before (on the motorway, another story) but know what a pain it could be. They asked for a jump but I told them that my little car wouldn't have enough to jump a large engine like theirs. I should point out that they had a minibus! So we started pushing, with Laura steering as she was lightest just so we could get it on the road. Once on the road we swapped drivers and we tried to start it while rolling but to no avail. All seemed lost but I told them if we got it to the pub then I knew someone who'd be able to jump it. Pushing it all the way to the pub wasn't really an option, so Jess was pulled up in front. Some 30mm tape produced from the back of their bus and the towing started. It took a push to get going but Jess handled it fine. I couldn't believe it, my little 1 litre polo towing a minibus. It was enough to get their engine turning over as well so we didn't even need to go all the way to the pub! Very gratefully they thanked us and offered us something to say thanks. There was nothing we wanted as me and Laura were just happy to help. They headed off, and we head to the boulder.
We cooked up and settled down for what would be a colder night. Not that I was cold in my two sleeping bags but outside it was definitely colder. There was no clouds in the sky but also a sharp breeze in the air. I hunkered down in my sleeping bags behind my makeshift windbreak (my large stuff sack) and waited for sleep to take hold. I woke up during the night a few times and constantly checked the weather, there was no change. In the morning we woke up early, but didn't get up early enough to avoid old Rosie, so another £1 was surrendered.
A quick check down the pass told me what I already knew, that Dinas Mot would make for a cold, more solitary days climbing. We couldn't exactly get enthused to walk up to Cromlech, apart from Laura. Laura wanted to climb in the sunshine. Me, Toaf and Andy weren't bothered. I'll point out that I was in a foul mood after such and excellent nights sleep because Toaf & Andy had potentially lost my guide books in the pub. More than likely they where in the pub, but Toaf had been and checked and they weren't there. I don't think anyone wanted to argue about what crag to go to.We walked in on frozen ground, which meant we avoided the bog hopping I normally have to do to get to the Mot. Andy & Laura had teamed up for "The Cracks" HS 5a. Me and Toaf decided on "The Direct Route" VS 5b. I've done all of this route to the last pitch and then had to abseil off on my first attempt, and I've backed off the last pitch of the Superdirect and done the final pitch of this instead. I've never actually done the whole route in one go, so that was the aim for today.
"Let's go fast and light?" asked Toaf"well we normally do" I replied
"yeah, I meant you lead, your quicker and it's cold" Toaf had countered.
I knew he'd lead the day before and that was probably him done leading for the weekend. It's not that he's not good at it (he is) he just doesn't like it. I set off and soon remembered how seemingly gearless Dinas Mot feels. I crossed the first pitch of slabby terrain with good friction to a good nut belay. I looked up at the second pitch and yelled "Toaf, pitch 2 is wet! I think you can lead it!". I snuggled down into my belay jacket and brought him up on the guideplate. At the belay we re-stacked the ropes, swapped the gear and I was off.
It's was quickest changeover I've ever had. P2 wasn't wet, but my feet did skitter off at one point. I placed alot of gear almost running out of runners but arrived at the next stance quickly. I looked at it and remembered Dan sitting there fast asleep when me, him and Rob had come climbing one warm day in the summer. Now it was a cold March Sunday as I brought Toaf up. We waited for a bit at the ledge, rewarming our cold feet before the last pitch. Andy & Laura were still o the first pitch at this point and needed out ropes to abseil off.I took the final pitch and what a great pitch it was! I know I've done it before but it really is a little boulder problem in the sky! I'd joked we should have hauled a bouldering mat up there just for the photo (might actually do that one day). The rest of the pitch isn't easy either. It goes from being a delicate boulder problem to a burly climb. It's got loads of protection on it, and I even got a knee jam in for a hands free rest! Toaf swore his way up the route and we abseiled off to join Andy on his second pitch. At Andy we nicked the guide book off him and decided to pull our rope and climb quicker to meet them at the top.
We'd decided on Diagonal (HVS 5a) which goes in 4 pitches, all at 5a. We spent no time messing around at the bottom and just racked, ditched taking the sack this time with our shoes and off I went as Toaf lit up. The route is described as having sparse gear and I found his out at a couple of points on P1. It traverses in a diagonal line to the first belay and have a pretty interesting 5a section, with little protection. I had a pretty tiny spike slung that I thought would come off, amazingly it didn't! The friction was awesome as well, which meant I could take full advantage of the rough rhyolite of the Mot. The belay took a while to put together, as I could only find 1 decent anchor, but hunting around produced another, phew! On went the belay jacket and the guideplate and up Toaf came.
Arriving at the belay we where on fire. There was no messing around, the ropes where racked, gear swapped and the guidebook checked and boom, I was off. I ended up running P2 and P3 together as P2 is only 12 metre long. It took a hanging chimney/groove which was really fun to climb up. I placed too many runners on this bit meaning I had 4 left for the 30 metre P3. It traverses and then you have a little mantle to do, all above some spaced gear. The difficulties soon pass and it eventually turns into a scramble for the final stance.The final pitch was keeping within character of the rest of the route's I've done on Dinas Mot, a hard won finale. I fought to get any upward ground on what seems like bad holds, placed an awful nut and must have been making more than enough struggling noises as Andy popped his head over the top. "Bloody hell" I exclaimed as I got hold of a half decent hold, good enough to pull up on. Then a jug and that was it, it was topped out. What a fun pitch! yeah it was the hardest bit, but it so much fun. A great pitch to end on.
Toaf again swore his way up the pitch, proclaiming that it was crap but I could see him smiling really. We all rappelled off down the gully, and walked round. Laura and Toaf too cold to do another route, Andy was happy with what he'd done. I still wanted to climb but group consensus said other wise. we stopped in at the Vaynol and as luck would have it, they still had my guidebooks in there. We drove home in the setting sun.
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