North Wales Rocks
So, after my kick start with Rob I’ve had a great few weeks rock climbing at home in North Wales. It’s been cold but dry which has meant a lot of climbing out on the coast and only a little in the hills. I’ve been working a lot for Plas y Brenin on a great mix of Rock climbing courses (see above pic of Crackstone Rib) and some other work including some of the training for new British Mountain Guides (a seriously talented bunch).
As well as climbing all the time at work, I’ve managed plenty of cragging with my mates in the evenings and the odd day off. I managed of few repeats of recent new routes that’d been put up by a few friends. A great source of info for all the latest news is http://news.v12outdoor.com/climbing-news/, a great local website with lots of great links too. Check it out.
My mate Owain was over from Chamonix to visit and we manged some great climbing (like rediscovering an old route of his called ” The Nantperishable”, photo above, just on the hillside opposite our house). Owain hadn’t trad climbed for a bit, but thoroughly enjoyed Cream at Tremadog in 1 pitch from the floor, and Fingerlicker into Silly arête also in 1 pitch as his warm ups for the season. Looking forward to climbing together some more in the Alps this summer.
As well as some slate and Llanberis Pass action, Gogarth (as always) has been where the best action is. Over the last week I climbed with Dave, Keith and Lee everywhere from North Stack wall to Main cliff. A new route in Easter Island Gully was a nice bonus. Last Saturday Dave and I had a day of climbing a couple of routes put up by our friends Twid and Louise…. Pulling For Two on N Stack wall (pretty gnarly) and Lost In Space down Easter Island Gully. This route in particular was totally fantastic. A must do for devotees of the crag, despite its lack of stature in the guidebook. Sunday had us doing a few mega classics before we checked in for an evening ascent of Alien….this route’s quality transcends the star rating system….wild. The final trip was Eraserhead after work with Keith and Dave. Another brilliant way up the best wall in Wales.
Off to the Alps tomorrow for a total change of scene. It sounds like everyone is still skiing there (the never ending season of 2013!). Looking forward to a good alpine summer season and hoping for plenty of rockclimbing in between the mountains!
