New Friends, Old Friends, and the European Enclave of Mordor

Took another wander today to look at Harold's new routes in the top of Lost World, a tad frosty, this morning, and hoar frosted slate scree certainly made some of the scrambling quite exciting

 Some of the rocks scars left in Lost world do not seem as settled as I first thought...

 I was also tickled to see the European flag flying over the Kyber Pass. Beyond on the Willow plain, JCB's are creating an impressive grid of track ways and buildings. The plan seems to be to stabilise Yr Ceiliog (Trango Tower) so it stops falling on First Hydro's office roof. I doubt its been that busy down there since Willow itself was filmed.

The main aim of the morning was to check out how The Beast in Me was fairing. Its been 2 years or so since I put this baby to bed, and as it has had no suitors in the meantime, I was keen to check it wasn't returning to nature too badly, or indeed falling down. It turned out the rope I had bought with me was too short, however, in the hut above was the rope I had used to access it back in 2014. The hut was dry and as it was on top of a pinnacle, goat free. 

 After checking it for mouse chews, I popped over the edge.

The moss managed to avoid all the holds you actually use! I was also please to find the rock all in one piece. Its impressively non flaky for this part of the quarry.

Even more impressively the crux off width was squeaky clean! This may have had something to do with its overhanging, sheltered nature, or maybe something to do with this:

Heartily recommended if you want to keep your slate project slime free for seemingly years...

Other routes have not fared so well. Ticks Groove and Prometheus Unbound have spilled their guts.

So there it is, if you want to repeat a hardish route in Mordor, The Beast in Me (HVM) is cleanish and not in any immediate danger of falling down. There's even an abb rope (a little green and stiff...)

Enjoy

Brewing next Years Psyche 2016

So with a chapter closing in Mymbyr, I must admit to losing motivation, My drive had stalled, my get up and go had snuggled under the duvet....

Action was required. The Lleyn weekender reminded me of how much I enjoy getting stuck into projects. Getting up 53rd & 3rd, reminded me why I do these things in the first place; the ignition of adventure, like the crack of Indiana Jones' whip. It also reminded me how many silly projects I had littering the proverbial cutting room floor. I felt it was time to pick out the most ludicrous example, dust it off, and see if I could at least tilt at some windmills..

The Super Prow of Cwm Ffynnon!

Not only the very first giveaway, back in 2009, but also revisited as an Open Project in 2014.

Now this may have something to do with its location, or potential for you to fall 100m of a 7m highball, but it always bugged me that someone didn't get it done. My main issue was that to approach from pen y pass required a summers evening, and it still took an hour to walk in.

With all this bubbling, I spent some time with some maps and worked out that to walk in from roman camp, would only be 2k with 300m of ascent. Compared to the 4k and 500m of ascent I regularly took up to the Marchlyn project. Admittedly, tarmac is nicer then welsh bog and briar, but it just might work... A plan was hatched.

I packed a bag with some cleaning kit and a small rope and parked up in Free Conwy. 

The walk in initially followed the beta approach for Running Jam (INSPRE Feb 16)

but instead of busting up ther hillside from the bend in the river, I pushed on into the cwm

Random boulder I spotted on the Satellite images, thought It would make a good waymarker. The Issue was that I hadn't been to the Super Prow for 2 years and never from this direction, and the hills were full of rocks...

More pretty rocks

I had an Idea which bit of hill side it was going to be in and pushed on up.

here we go (wrong)

is that it? (nope)

Finally!

The bad boy from below

I couldn't help myself, and although I am only really considering this an exercise in extreme top roping, I figured out that a patio was conceivable, and got started.

The cleaning rope in place, dangling nicely over the start of next years patio project.

A tad steep, I anchored the end of the abb string at the base and positioned myself in on a tied off italian hitch (not just a pretty face)

The righthand start all clean and chalked up

a good go at getting the lefthand start chalked..

It took me 1hour 40mins to find it this time, however with the patioing and everything I caught myself out and had only 55 mins to pick up the kids from school. As the resultant mad scramble only took me 40 mins to get back to the car, I'm hoping the approach time can be significantly improved on.

That's where it is!

(I hope this may jog my memory next time..)

Lets dream big and get some stuff done in 2017! (but don't cock up the school run!)

How deep is your Love?

I took My Brother to Nant Gwytheyrn on Friday..

Daphne the miniature Schnauzer came along for a walk, didn't bag any seal or sheep, or gulls, but did eat a few egg cases...

So we wandered along the beach to the end, and being low tide, I couldn't help myself but have a quick scramble to check out the depth under the potential deep water soloing..

The end of the beach, and the start of the adventure

First peek...

The kelp wafted gently below the cliff, it was still a couple of hours before low tide, and there was at least a couple of meters of water in the zawn, and a couple of meters of barnacles above the water. very promising for a high tide venue

Wandering over the top, muchos steepness, and it looks above the deep...

A quick paddle on the other side gave a good view into the zawn, certainly worth a visit once the sea temps improve mid July..

After a nice meal at the cafe, we moved on to Trefor, as it was the home of our Great Granddad, and Chris hadn't been before. This allowed me to pop down to Tick 10... 

Not good. the pebbles have risen another 2-3 feet. Basically written off unless there's a mahoosive storm at the right turn of tide. We continued along the cliffs and spotted this little bay..

A new hope? might require an interesting approach.....

The Pursuit of BOTM

Those of you in the know, will recognize the above acronym as the on-line journal of the Big G. Someone who's ceaseless tramping in search of unclimbed pebbles is as insatiable as it is readable, and may have influenced the monthly giveaways. This particular BOTM had me intrigued and as soon as an opportunity presented itself I found myself on a jaunt to shale city.
This was the day after storms had blacked out much of North Wales and the unceasing winter rain had saturated every inch of terra firma. So if I found dry rock, it was likely to be always so..

The storm has littered the cliff top path with sea life

Shale city comes into view

The actual zig zag path down, those following the path at the back of the zawn as per G's instructions may suffer humour failure. I reversed and approached as per the Llyn guide, using this path to climb out, rather than the Aiguille Merlot which looked tempting but deadly.

Shale city, Ugly (the central fault) is its most famous route but the area suffers from heavy seeping and leprosy.

One of G's teasers. Its gets wet. However, as Benllech has shown, this may not affect its crack climbing.

Inside the caves there are some quick drying, non seeping lines, totally nails of course, but maybe someones cup of tea.

A very hard crack line, that wasn't wet despite this round the corner..

So there it is. Don't think I'll tie on here, and I may not have found anything to magnetically draw me back. But there's a lot more to place than the publicity suggested. Come you firebrands and claim your glory.

Giveaway Project of the Month - November

Well as I've just been there and have now done the research, it seems fitting that this months giveaway is on the Red Wall Promontory:

I spent a happy afternoon traversing the base here. Into the light looks really nice and has the appearance of a nice VS... The groove I intended to use as an alternative to jugging the ropes (below the n of Promontory) turns out to be a well protected E4.. Its clear that appearances can be deceptive on the promontory.

There are a few variations of Into the light that probably aren't worth a separate name, but might amuse some on a sunny day, they involve a hand crack in a deep groove and a hanging fin. However, this months giveaway is the entire Righthand Red wall side of the Promontory! A tad generous I grant you, but its almost overhanging enough to DWS and festooned with Jug "like" holds. The rock on the Promontory is good, more Holyhead Mountain than Red Walls, and unlike the slabby side, it has plenty of cracks for gear. I can only imagine the slight inconvenience of access is the reason it remains clear of routes thus far.

Enjoy

Giveaway Project of the Month - November

This rather beautiful and knife edge bow arête was a chanced upon whilst having a upper dinorwig scramble day. I squirrelled it away as a project for myself for when a moment presented itself.

However, enjoying as I am some freedom from pursuing projects, I am free to clear some clutter from my head space.

Its on the same level as pitch 4 of Big Thursday. I originally thought trad, considering its position. But a sport route in this position with this approach appeals to my sense of perversity. and avoids the top out.

Go enjoy

Unaccustomed as I am to Public Speaking..

Went Well last night, although the fact that the kids got me up at 6 this morning meant I wasn't as erudite as I would have liked to be. Also people were asking some very interesting questions that I'd wished I could have spent more time on, however, I over ran as it was.

Looking back there was a different slide show I could have done, that would have answered people in a more satisfying way.

I thought I'd have another stab on here at some of the questions asked.

-Climbing loose and scary stuff again and again, what drives you back?

A route consists of a line through space. Quality lies in the aesthetics of the feature, the experience of movement, and the overall effect of the process. For me the quality of the journey of the is a culmination of these things, and is found in the questing rather than always in the finished product. An outward journey can be mirrored by an inner one.

-Aren't you afraid of killing yourself?

Without risk adventure is meaning less, but to get meaning out you have to survive. So minimising risk is key. My personal strategies are three fold:

Immerse yourself in the language of the environment. Learn the character and moods of the rock, converse and insinuate into its flow. This required regular contact, and for a time I was fluent in slate choss, but like any skill, lack of practice causes rustiness, hence recent failure.

Secondly, Listen to the inner voice. I'm a Christian and I believe that we're given enough freedom to take risks and enough advice to prevent calamity. As a dad, I also know what having a risk-taking kid is like, and I don't want to take any of this for granted. Times and seasons and all that.

Thirdly, always have an exit strategy, always see the avenues of retreat, and see that failure is always valuable.

For One Night Only....

I'm Headlining!

Its the launch evening for Llanberis Slate; the Ground Up guide I've given myself to for the last n years.

It should be a fun night with climbing superstar and co author Pete Robins, and champion of accessible slate Colin Goodey both giving stellar presentations. Martin Crook may be beaming in from Kalymnos too..

Those of you who have suffered my LLAMFF talks in the past may recognise a few slides, but hopefully there will be some new abuse from the audience...

So 11th of September 730pm at the Caban, Brynrefail. Come along and please refrain from throwing stuff 'cos I'll cry.

Thursday's Lesson

Failure is a powerful stimulus. Retreat teaches humility, and rescue allows a second chance at not dying.
Things I've learned:

1. I may not be the choss hound I once was.


2. I can still make reasonable decisions.


3. When the crack smells of fish, its time to back off.

Giveaway Project of the Month - October

Yipee! Llanberis slate has now been in the shops (although the first batch may have sold out by now - awaiting the slow boat from China) So expect the next few Giveaway's to be slate centric (not much change there) With Page References!

This slightly naff picture is looking at the bottom of Braich, namely the East wall and Vilcabamba (pages 96-97)
The Fin of rock that boasts Where Green ants Dream and is skirted around to gain Buffer in a Crackhouse is seporate from the adjoining level. various spills of slate debris, probably even from working times have dropped in the gap, forming a roof of sorts.
This giveaway is a through trip; I attempted it on several occasions as a single man of limited ties, and each attempt was thwarted by a drastic need for fresh underwear.
All my attempts were from the Buffer side, as the "Floor" of the chamber is higher at this end, thus removing the need to ascend on matter of unknown actuality.
"Floor" is a poor descriptor; more of a mezzanine or catwalk. The protracted tinkling under your feet soon actuates active bridging and allows some further entrance. It was the point where this elevator shuffling requires descent that I chose to retreat for more fragrant delicates.

One for a keen explorer

An Initial Tickle

Had my first foray on the Beast last night. My good friend the esteemed Mr Walters QC (also known as Matt) was visiting after a couple of years in a bunker in Afghanistan drinking Gin. So he was quite up for a bit of a scramble and general mickey taking. He also took a picture or two, which may appear here.

My initial action was to try and weight a Camalot 5 which I had brought along to test. Good News, it pulled straight out so I don't need to waste energy lugging those things back up...

Next was an actual attempt, this provided loads of useful information.

-Rock'n Rollers are old skool cool, but a bugger to get out after you fall on them.

-Its safe if I've enough Diddy cams.

-If I want to get past the 3m mark I have to get a lot stronger...

Entering the jaws is ok, but to succeed I have to then face the other way. It is here, at the start, where there is at least one single real hold (a wide finger-and-thumb-tip pinch) that appears to be the only place to do it.

So this brings me to

-I don't need to revisit until I'm a lot stronger.

There. All pretty positive really, I'll test my core and upper strength soon to see if I can improve significantly there, and other than that Its just getting on some classics and classic offwidths and getting some battle strength up.

all good

Giveaway project of the Month - February and March

February got a bit mad, with training being replaced by hard graft at work. To reward your patience, here are a couple of Piccies I was keeping to myself. Craig y Llam is the home of 2 routes, a lot of unclimbed rock, and one previous Giveaway. the downside is that the unclimbed rock is probably best approched by boatand has a summer bird ban. It has therefore been ignored in rock rich North Wales. The upside is that its solid, futuristic and extensive.



The obvious chimney line drew me here - A tip off from Martin Crook

This wall is smooth, steep, and has a platform at low tide.

There are loads more features and lines, mainly one pitch of rock to one of scrambling, but high adventure none the less.

enjoy

Fulfilling a long held ambition

Yesterday I took a trip to the Skull entrance to Twll mawr

Inside the skull

Artifacts from the Skull's last visitors

Grandpa's Spade

Today a fortuitious alignment of free time and baby sitting allowed me to perform a task whose performance had eluded me for a while. I headed forthwith to filmset and decended the scramble in...

This was a bit wierd, as I'd done this loads of times (that view is from the bottom btw), but today I was imagining the added weight of fatherhood, combined with the light frost would make it a great psychological challenge. However, I still appear to be the same man I once was. This was a great revelation to me, as most people bang on how your perception of risk and danger is altered by parenthood. The risk is the same folks, you just avoid splatting a little harder.

This was my Goal
I first brought Grandpa's spade down into filmset quarry in 2007 with the intention of reopening the tunnel between gideon and filmset, which involved shifting a few square meters of slate scree which had slipped over the filmset exit. I succeded on new years day 2008, and due to a fair amount of affection for the place, left the spade in place for further adventure. For one, there was still a bit of scree coming down the shute, and also there were these amazing boulders..

Obviously I never got to platform them out, and 3 years or so after arriving down the hole, I went to retrieve my keepsake of a rather special man (To which he would probably say "Silly Boy...")

End of a chapter? maybe not, those boulders still look great and There's easy abseil / lowering access down Near Dark. Probably needs some corrogated iron tho'... Here I go again!

Entering the tunnel 1/1/2008

The hole stil visible with a bit of digging and imagination 19/1/2011