Tremadog, Llanberis Pass & the Beach!

Lazy weekend mainly spent dogding a bad weather report. We ended up at Tremadog after a lesuirely drive over from stoke stopping at Llangollen. Here I took adventage of all the fresh produce available and stocked up on fresh bread, fruit and cheese for the coming weekend. Having had to meet friends we ended up heading to Tremadog. I've been here loads recently so resided myself to pottering around on route I'd done before and keeping an eye on everything.

Me and Andy teamed up for Meshach as Tim and Killan aimed to do The Brother's Start. Andy set off well, taking my rack ask he wanted to try my nuts out. It was a crazy hot day and we met loads of people down at the bottom of the crag. We met a nice team climbing Grim Wall next to us, and I ended up lending them my guidebook so they could see where the final pitch went, under the assumption that we'd sharing the same belay stance (both it is the same for Meshach and Grim wall). As it happened Andy missed the diagonal line of Meshach and ended up doing a variation of the first pitch of Shadrach (VS 4c) . No worries as it was much more interesting than the actual first pitch and I seconded up quickly, another leader hot on my tail. We had a lightening quick change over (alpine style with a mess of gear on a bandolier) and I was off racing up the second pitch. I wanted to get Andy off before the next guy arrived. My guidebook was now somewhere else on the crag with a random party. I had to yell to them to take it up and bring it back when they could!

The second pitch of Shadrach isn't a push over my no means, but I raced up in the in the heat of the day. I topped out and quickly whipped off my boots and my feet started to burn in them as the rubber heated up. Andy flew up the pitch as well and we found some shade to hide under and escape the midday sun! While we where doing this we found another abseil off Grim Wall area of Tremadog but we sat down to watch Tim and Killian. Arriving at the belay we suddenly heard "Crap!" and off Tim's belay device went to be eaten by the undergrowth! We all laughed at his misfortune and we abseiled off. I actually left my rack behind but Andy picked it up for me.

I then found Tim's belay device in the grass by at the base of my abseil, what luck! Tim and Killian headed down to get some food and Me and Andy did Grim Wall Direct (E1 5b). The first pitch was harder than I'd expected and I didn't think that my new shoes actually performed that well on it. The gear was worse than I remembered as well and the runout long enough to make my a little nervous, but I enjoyed it. Andy seconded it well without any problems. We met a team abseiling off the abseil station above Grim Wall and like most of the teams they were doing it in 2 abseils. Now I know full well my 50 metre rope will reach, just about saving the faff!

Then I took the second pitch and after an awkward start I got moving well under the little roof and then shot up the final layback crack, complaining that I couldn't get my fat fingers behind the flake at places. Andy again enjoyed it and climbed really well. We rappelled down from Grim Wall and Andy set up the abseil.

Arriving at the base Andy said he's ok another couple of people coming down my ropes. Now I'm not against people using my ropes but I'd rather ok it rather than someone else. It's happened before and really slowed me down by people being too slow to abseil. This time however my ropes got stuck and it too the weight of three of us to unstick it, which then snapped off a rock that came piling down and nearly put one of us in hospital. It was serious big rock!

After this my psyche for climbing and died a little so we all met up and headed down to the beach! Me and Andy took a swim in the ocean. We actually ended up at the beach all night to escape the midges so sat around cooking up with a campfire.

Sunday morning Andy suggested Llanberis Pass so off we set. We ended up heading to clogwyn Llo which is just opposite Clogwyn y Gochan. I've not noticed this crag before and I can pick out one single reason for this... North Wales Rock. This is a wicked cool book and give great climbing across the whole of North Wales, but I'm starting to find limitations. This is probably because, for someone like me who spends alot of time climbing in North Wales, it is a select guidebook. I've been struggling to get inspired to head to Ogwen and Llanberis Pass as nothing has caught my eye. However the gaining of the new CC guide has got me re-psyched to get out there.

So I looked in the guide book for a crag close to the road, with some interesting looking routes on it and ended up heading here. It's seriously only 10 minutes from the road (looks like it should be half an hour). The walkin alone was really nice, with no well worn path winding its way through the scree slopes, but instead dodging the patches of marsh and damp in my trainers and walking through knee deep bracken, jumping old walls and sheep folds. It was a day for exploring.

We kind of knew the weather would break later and I suggested a climb called The Wrath of Grapes 2 (HVS 5b). I would lead it too. I've not done The Wrath of Grapes 1 but I'm going to find it out and do it next time I'm there. This crag is well worth it just for the route names; Lore and Hor d'eorves and Leurve Shack to name a few. Anyway I kicked off by scrambling up this groove until I found the base of the climb and we moved the ropes and belay, not the good start (!). The climb too and little groove in the arete, then broke out across the slab. It was covered in a fine spread of dried lichen which made me wish I was packin' a brush on my harness (serious consideration!). Up the groove bridged like mad, on lichen covered holds (eek!) and placing some "interesting" gear. Andy agreed after that it looked sh*te but he recons it would have held, I just planned not to fall off. Then a better piece above it as I moved up and... what?

I had to move out across the slab, but where? and on what? It wasn't like it was lacking in holds but they where all bad and seems to have been placed at the wrong angle, then sprayed with lichen! Never fear as I gung hoe'd my onto the slab then realised that I was well and truely stuck and I was probably looking at falling off. The shakes started, adrenaline was released and a muttered something that was suppposed the be "watch me here" but in reality came out like a squeak to Andy.

Bloody hell it was hard, it's not 5b now way? maybe I'm off route? crap crap crap...

Pull yourself together, you idiot. you climbed up here and you've no choice but to keep climbing...

So I did. I felt my arms pumping as I placed a decent piece and made the balancey moved I needed too, then moved up and rocked over with my hands on slopers, praying that dry lichen has good frictional properties. It has and that was the 5b move over. The rest of the climb was pretty sustained 4c+/5a but it was a little non-descript. Never-the-less it was a great route. Andy seconded it with no problems what so ever. Seriously, his climbing has just come on leaps and bounds in the last 3 months. Spanking 5a on top-rope and leading it well and seconding 5b with no issues...time for a trip to Gogarth again me thinks.

Then it rained. We'd already hunkered down under a boulder and watched it come up the pass. After calling up Tim for an evac (ie a lift) when packed up and ran down through the bracken, which now soaked our legs and found another boulder to shelter from the weather till our lift arrived, thus ending another weekend in wales.

Another weekend in wales and you'd think I'd be bored of it by now. I read a quote the other day (another Stevie Haston artical) that said if you climb on all the rock in North wales then it'll prepare you for climbing anywhere in the world. I don't know if it's true, but I'd still like to climb on all the rock in north wales at least. It seems that new guide books have lead me to find out the climbs that I should be doing, and visiting the less frequented crags and finding those little gems of a climb. I'd adding a brush to my rack in preparation for this...