We’ve spent much of the spring and summer in North Wales, from celebrating the Centenary of the CC hut at Helyg, to the BMC International Meet in the Pass…
.. and our two-week tour of the Llŷn Peninsula:
There’s a strong case for North Wales as home to the most concentrated and diverse set of trad crags on the planet, but there is such a thing as “too much of a good thing”. After all that Cymru climbing action, I was feeling in need of a bit of a change of scene. However, the weather gods decreed otherwise, which is how Rich and I ended up heading for another dose of fun based out of Beudy Mawr, the Rucksack Club hut in the Llanberis Pass.
Craig Dinas (Betws Y Coed) A browse of guidebooks and apps threw up Craig Dinas, just outside Betws Y Coed, as a newly (re)discovered venue which I hadn’t previously visited, and a trawl of UKC suggested a bunch of 2* routes up to 45m in the VS to E2 range. Throw in a 10mins approach, southerly aspect and a location away from the mountain clag, and it ticked a lot of boxes.
Far from obvious from the road in this tightly wooded valley, there’s actually a decent (if a bit brambly) path from behind the (sadly closed) Silver Fountain hotel leading up to the crag in about 10mins.
The base of the wall bulges and there are a series of overlaps, so the full height of the buttress isn’t apparent from below. We started off up Main Wall Climb, HVS 5a. Steep initial moves through hollow-sounding “fangs” lead to easier but still interesting climbing.
There’s a handy rap point at the top of this route which also serves the adjacent ones – unfortunately care is needed to avoid the rope getting stuck in the chimney / chasm formed by the giant ‘boulder’ leaning against the face at the base. Failure to anticipate this (top tip – throw the ropes out well to climbers left) meant we ended up doing The Nurgler, VS 4c next to retrieve a jammed rope. This irritation turned out to be a blessing, as we might have turned our noses up at ‘only a VS’ and missed probably the route of the crag – fun corner / chimney fare to start (very traditional) followed by a wild step around the overlap above. Great fun!
We finished on Dinas Mawr Eliminate – more stiff pulls on hollow fangs, but also highly recommended. We were gearing up beneath the routes over on the right face when the impending drizzle turned to serious drops of rain, and we decided to call it a day with three good routes in the bag and maybe another visit’s worth to come back for.
Carreg Lefain Rainy at Beudy the following morning, and set to continue for a while (according to numerous forecasts now available thanks to the newly installed WiFi – great job Bill!) Time to head for the coast, and having spent much of the journey giving rave reports from our Llŷn exploration, Rich took little persuasion to check out another new crag on the peninsula. Carreg Lefain is another south facing, short approach option, just inland from Nefyn. The crag is obvious from the parking, with a good path leading to a bit of a bracken bash at the end (knee height, not ‘lost tribes’).
A new rock type – this time microgranite (handy to have a tame geologist along!) and it is steeper and more impressive than it looks from a distance. Here’s a view back at the end of the day. There are about a dozen routes from HS to E5 and Eilir (my trusted source on all things Llŷn) had recommended Lobotomy, HS, which wends it’s way over 70m and 4 pitches up the diagonal line of weakness visible in this shot taken at the end of the day. Eilir’s one-word verdict was ‘wild’ and I’d be inclined to agree (probably worth VS for the positions).
Due to the steep nature of the crag, the leader disappears out of sight quite quickly, and Rich was surprised to spot me after running the first two pitches together ‘What are you doing over there?‘
Here’s a view back to Rich and you can get a better sense of steepness…
More airy traversing along a ramp eventually runs out, and a groove leads back left to the top of the crag.
Continually interesting – pack a sense of adventure and maybe a pair of secateurs!
Psychopath, HVS 5a, is the line up the right hand end of the wall, with a steep entry to an obvious diagonal groove. I pulled off a shoebox-sized block (seemingly well attached) getting established into the groove, only just managing to stay on as the block landed on my midriff before I ‘chested it’ to one side. Happily Rich was stood well out of the way, but in his efforts to save the ropes from being sliced he very nearly pulled me off! A fall at this point would not have ended well. Somewhat shaken but unscathed, I found the groove a delight but the tricky step left to avoid the steepening felt tough for HVS.
Fine views from the top…
…with Gogarth and Holyhead Mountain clearly visible
Having very nearly brought myself to a premature end, we decided to call it a day on our exploration of Carreg Lefain. Thoughts of a two-crag day were briefly entertained, but a trip to the Nefyn Brewery won out (more excellent mountaineering judgement!) Meanwhile, a good crew had assembled at the hut and we had a pleasant evening of chat interspersed with learning a couple of devious new card games.
Notice Board Crag, Conwy Another damp start in The Pass the following day had thoughts returning to the coast. I’d often gazed up at Notice Board Crag, passing through Conwy, for the past decade or more, without ever visiting. Time to put that right… It really is a noticeable lump of rock – said to have been used to hang criminals on the top of as an example for all to see.
You approach up a steep bracken path from the right, then over the top of the lump, passing the eponymous sign…
…to follow a narrow trod down to reach a situ wire and rope handline that protects access along the base of the crag. It’s mildly vertiginous!
Unusual outlook, and best to focus on the distant views of the Great Orme rather than the caravan site!
Our third rock type of the weekend was Rhyolite, with the alarmingly steep wall rendered somewhat more amenable with sharp edges and crozzly pockets for some great routes. There are about a dozen lines from 6a+ to 7a+, though only a handful described in my ‘edition before last’ of N Wales Limestone. We relied instead on the topo at https://www.sportclimbs.uk/north-wales/north-coast/noticeboard-crag/ which is really handy BUT has the penultimate couple of routes incorrectly swapped. So it was that we sandbagged ourselves starting on Hang ’em High (6b+) thinking we were on Dead Weight (6a+), and feeling a bit grumpy as a consequence. Brilliant route though, with a stiff sequence (definitely not 6a+) heading up left above the overlap. Dead Weight shares the start but then actually heads right here.
Somewhat chastened we went for the easier angled (merely slightly impending), but nominally harder The Go Zone 6b+, and were pleased / relieved to find it easier 🙂 – Note – the following photo does NOT reflect the actual angle!
We finished off with Leaning Jowler, 6b, and also excellent.
Jug-tastic climbing with a long reach in the middle and a bit of a voyage out right at the top. Keep the faith and the holds will appear.
A top spot for a stop-off either on the way to or from N Wales, or maybe just for a day trip. Bear in mind it is north facing and catches a fair bit of wind, so best for a warm day! Either way I’ll be back.
RockAroundTheWorld 