[SA Chris]

If ever I'm down that way I might give it a go!

[cowboyhat]

Really jealous of that Cornwall trip: I went down there for a week in the summer a couple of years ago to do more or less exactly what you did and it rained non stop.

[duncan]

Local Hero E2 5c * - good stuff, nicely balanced.

Impeccable taste you have!

Sounds like a great trip. Mark Kemball and the North Cornwall guide team will be interested in your thoughts on grades and so forth if you've not contacted them already.

[SA Chris]

Fiend rarely lets his thoughts about grades be known. Or argued about.

[Fiend]

 

Duncan, cheers, it was a nice route, bold and steady then safe and cranky. I'll email stuff to Mark.

[comPiler]

Snowdon Shower-dodging.
5 August 2015, 10:42 pm



I've decided to spend a longer period in North / Mid Wales to try to do some of the many and varied climbs that inspire me down there. This has exactly coincided with a longer period of utterly dire weather and one of the worst "summers" the region has seen.  So for the moment the deeper desires of The Pass, The Rhinnogs, The Moelwyns, and Arennig Fawr have been put on a very reluctant hold, in favour of the mostly inferior but mercifully extensive wet weather options of The Slate, The Lime, and hopefully The Quartzite and The Lleyn. I hadn't fully warmed up for the latter so haven't actually tackled  Rhoscolyn nor South Stack nor Craig Doris yet, but have had a few fun days out and even a couple of hours bouldering squeezed onto the tail end of a showery snowdonia shitfest:

The classic Dali's Hole hut, as surreal as ever. The room I'm renting in Bangor is a bit more upmarket than this, but only a little bit... This was after a very nice afternoon on the Railtrack Slab, with a total of 183 crimps and 57 rockovers used.

Bouldering at Drws Y Coed after it had showered most of the day and we'd escaped to some minor sport climbing on Anglesey. After this neat problem I hooned over to Ogwen and just managed to squeeze in Bombshell at the Milestone Boulders, see below.

Sunset from Hornby Crags on the Great Orme. A fairly newly revamped sport sector with a lot of good 6s in an atmospheric and secluded location. We did 6 in an evening which was good mileage.

Video of bouldering:

 Pleased to get Bombshell done as on first acquaintance it seemed I wouldn't be able to do the move to the lip, nor the crux span from the back, and even if I hyopthetically did, I would need more pads and spotters given the weird landing. A bit of dicking around later and I had it all worked out,  including using my beanie to plug up a seepage line.



Source:  fiendblog

[Richie Crouch]

Great riverdance skills on bombshell! Quite keen to visit drws y coed on Saturday before heading elsewhere. Is it near to any other decent bouldering/oddities?

[Fiend]

LOL, cheers, all pretty shoddy but I was fighting to stay on.

Drws Y Coed is not far from Beddgelert so there's quite a choice around there, all within a few miles of the Rhyd-Ddu junction, although I think most are a bit further to walk than Drws Y Coed's 1.5 minutes (.5 of which is opening and closing a gate).

http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=10735

http://www.northwalesbouldering.com/upload/members/Hidden%20Gold%20V2.pdf

http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=17297

http://www.northwalesbouldering.com/upload/members/Fontainefawr%20V4.pdf

I think there are more NWB topos but I can't find them. Moel Y Gest is not too far either.

[Richie Crouch]

Cheers! Hadn't seen that beddgelert Hidden gold block before but have climbed at Boss Cuvier a few years back. Might get on that and go check out the stuff further into the main woods where the shocker block is (minging weather/fog permitting!).

[Hoseyb]

Next Wednesday after work is looking viable for a Mymbyr Session, You up for that as well Richie?

[Richie Crouch]

I think we may be out for dinner in Bo selecta Morris weds night, but I'll let you know ASAP as I'm keen 

[Fiend]

I'll give it a go, unless I'm benighted on South Stack or something.

[comPiler]

Slate Of The Art.
14 August 2015, 11:35 am



The next day's target, taken from Cwm Glas Bach.

Making some Tentative Decisions like "Shall I decide to do this move and risk falling off, ripping 5 bits of shit gear I've got pretty boxed placing, and take a 10m lob past the lone bolt??"

Mini-mountains!

Wanna fuck with these goats?? Nah, didn't think so.

You talking to me, motherfucker?!

Keeping busy whilst Coel is threading lower-offs...



Source:  fiendblog

[comPiler]

Shock Of The New
17 August 2015, 1:29 pm



...again. A trip to Wales without going to Rhinnogs is like a curry without a Cobra, a cappucino without an extra coffee shot - something essential is missing. And I don't mean Rhinnogs in the miserly token-gesture bandwagon-jumping Rockfax micro-coverage. Admittedly Lechau Mawr and Y Grisau are superb crags, but such limited plum-picking and honey-potting is quite contrary to the spirit of exploration in the area as well as a disservice to those developing and documenting it.

The days out I've had recently have been proper Rhinnogs days - hosted by the foremost developer and documentor, the legendary Terry Taylor, and accompanied by fellow enthusiast The Pylon Kunt....and naturally such days include new routing as well as second ascents. The lengths have been short, in keeping with the gritstone stature, but the quality has been high and the potential, around the Cwm Nantcol area, highly impressive. I've ended up doing two of the best new routes I've done:

The Bilberry Hunter E4 6a ** 10m

A good climb with a bold  start and bouldery finish, and good cams in-between. Spring onto the  first rail just right of (E4 5c), carefully gain the first break and  then the second break on satisfying holds. A thoughtful crux on layaways  leads to the finishing jug.

(named after the third man, who was easily distracted by local flora)

TT has numerous E5-ish projects at this short steep crag, but hadn't even spotted this line properly until he abbed down while I was repeating a neat new E2. He had a quick play on a top-rope but there were too many sidepulls for his tweaky elbow. I decided to have a quick look, quickly realised it was rather cool, gave it a good scrub, got the top dialled, and shot up it in a flurry of headpoint gaylordness. Not a style I'm familiar so it's hard to judge the grade, but the quality and balance of the pitch were still obvious.

Whillans Crack "HVS 5b" ***

Precisely named, with a grade as traditional as the line. The magnificent cleft delivers everything it promises, small cams and large nuts protect.

Same valley, same guru, different day, different crag....very different climb. Somewhat tired and somewhat midged to death (I'd got complacent about the relatively tame Welsh midges and left the repellant behind), TT had already retreated, PK was soaking in the atmosphere, but I couldn't resist this fantastic fissure. What one route would Brown and Whillans done if they'd visited? Exactly. I topped out giggling with my left arm covered in cuts and grazes. Hosey, your time!

Also quite a cool line but not in the same class:

Word Of Pain E3 5c **

Likely to be uttered if you fall off. The right side of the sharp arete is serious but steady after a tricky start. From blocks place high tiny RPs, pull onto the arete and make difficult extended moves to good holds up right. More RPs possible, then climb gracefully up the positive arete with no further gear.

This is the right hand side of PK's Dark Orgasm pillar (itself an undeniable classic, visible from literally miles away). Great line, slightly unbalanced climbing, a cool hard crux with 1 HB zero next to your face and a jagged block below. Above that, delightful and easy. Unfortunately the camera decided to stop taking shots and missed the funky final reach with the last proper gear being just above my hand, and only a poor taped on skyhook above.

Incidentally before this we revisited the site of my Careless Orc mini-classic that I'm still bemused why it wasn't considered worthy of a North Wales Bouldering mention, and I'm pleased to say it 1. Hasn't fallen over and 2. Still looks really cool and inspiring.

Finally, here's a second ascent of a TT E4 6a, very much the spiritual twin of The Bilberry Hunter (similar height, similar steepness, also crux at the top, also on the lowest tier of a 3 tier crag system in the Nantcol pass...quite uncanny). Had to fight at the top of this which was nice:

The wall to the right has 3 E2-ish things in a row up obvious flakes, then 2 VS-ish things at the far end. There's another half a dozen routes to the left, a comfy bilberry base, and nice clean tops.

And the Lleyn looks like this from Cwm Nantcol...

...gnight!



Source:  fiendblog

[fatneck]

Nice work Fiend... Hosey's a nice chap isn't he

[Fiend]

He is a cuddly bundle of crack bloc sandbagging pain fun.

[comPiler]

Young And Easy And Under The Apple Boughs.
29 August 2015, 10:57 am

A surprisingly pleasant "breather", this line is not as crumbly as it appears, and is outside of the day's mould, remaining unseen amongst the creations of it's grand neighbours. Left as an oddity and ungrabbed by attention, it seemed to "spring in" when ready, and rang with the pleasure of those promising, blissful days of May.

...

This John Redhead is a cunt

...

There is a certain pleasure in doing a route that has, even to a small degree, a mark of the man. A Dawes grit route, a Pritchard Gogarth wobble-fest, a Smith roof or crack (or usually both), a Crocker sea-cliff line, a Fowler chossheap, a Bob Smith heinous highball... Of course I am far too bumbly for almost all of these, but occasionally something "outside of the day's mould" slips through the net of truly big numbers and is accessible to the masses. YAEAUTAB (jeez!) is one of a solitary handful of routes in ...And One For The Crow that I am actually capable of, the second one I have done, and an inspiration that was solely due to the book and photo. It definitely felt outside of the day's mould for slate, being a very trad experience with committing climbing above spaced gear - no bolts, crimps nor rockovers in sight.

Something else very much outside of the day's mould is this (although given the quality and accessibility of the crag, it shouldn't be!):

(photo: Terry Taylor)

Diamond Eliminate, at Bird Rock. One of the finest truly roadside adventures in the whole of Wales. If you can cope with the 1 minute uphill walk in, the Diamond face of The Bastion towers over you, gently overhanging for 45m. Steady juggy bold-ish E2 5b climbing neatly sandwiches a committing E4 5c crux on slopers past a definitive "cluster of bollox" gear selection, and leads to a fine summit experience at the apex. Typically for me this was an 8 year inspiration, following a showery recce in 2007, and typically it turned out to be a highly enjoyable experience under the watchful eye of local guru TT  - alas not one of his routes though, but I'm sure I'll do more of those soon.



Source:  fiendblog

[comPiler]

Headz.
8 September 2015, 10:27 pm



I think I've now read all of Martin Crook's "Diaries of A Slatehead" in the fine new(-ish) Slate guide, albeit in sporadic bursts and in the wrong order. I really like the way he refers to the slate gurus and aficiandos simply as "heads", emphasising the cultish dedication to the medium (or The Medium?). Thinking further, heads are not the only cult in the area - away from the hoary old traditionalists and honeypotted classic-baggers of the mountains, the fringes have their own dedicated acolytes and accolades: Slateheads, Ormesmen ritually circling Pen Trwyn, and presumably Coastline Perverts praying at the tottering temples of the Lleyn (the latter has only a passing mention in the definitive guide, but the spirit and idea is strong enough). I think one could add Rhinnogite as a further path to follow, not least because following paths in those broad hills is not an easy task. The addictive nature of the climbing and exploring seems to match nicely other three cults.

I'm not sure the exact qualities one needs to attain those titles, and I suspect it is a matter of spirit rather than box-ticking (just like climbing, then....). Certainly ownership of a North Wales Rockfax would be an immediate preclusion, and choosing such areas merely for convenience or fashion would demonstrate a lack of essential soul. A lasting passion and appreciation of the perculiarities of the rock type, along with varied exploration of the venues would be a good start, and a calm, knowing utterance of: "Yes, This is it" might be a confirmatory finish.

Unfortuately despite erring towards those tendencies on a regular basis, I don't think I'm quite deserving to be a head, yet (not that I could ever achieve it via accomplishments, only via dedication - but that's the main quality). I'm close with the slate, having been from the heights of Upper Australia to the depths of Vivian in adjacent visits, and done a 6a rockover next to skyhooks in one of those visits, but slate is so afflicted with hordes that the bar needs to be set higher - more exploration needed. I'm tip-toeing along the Ormesman path but have a long way to go - more routes away from Marine Drive and perhaps climbing at my limit in all 3 disciplines, trad sport and bouldering, would further my steps. On the Lleyn, I have the passion but not the experience, I mean every numpty and his dog has done Byzantium - going off-piste with the definitive guide is the appealing way forward.

I suspect I am a Rhinnogite, even if it's my own suggestion. Visiting several venues all along the ridgeline - yes. Doing multiple hollow star routes and likely second ascents - yes. New-routing with Terry Taylor - yes. Pushing myself on a few routes as good as any short outcrop routes anywhere - yes. Falling in heather, bilberries, and boulder chasms - yes. That must be enough....

Anywhere here are some pictures of that chalky polished trade route Byzantium, it is still fantastic:









This is a boulder below Direct Hit. I thought it was rather pretty. The route was jolly good fun.





Source:  fiendblog

[Johnny Brown]

Effort Fiend, proper classics. The one right of Direct Hit (same start) is not much harder and a much better line. Honeydew is chop route without a tricam 1/1.5.

[Fiend]

Cheers beast. Been meaning to get back ever since you berated me for doing The Mermaid... "Worst route on the golden wall" on my first visit . Byzantium really is great. And Direct Hit felt more like a proper Doris experience, I placed all of a double set of cams except the two smallest ones, and both Coel and myself pulled a hold off. The one to the right could be a goer....I did want to have a look at Honeydew, the photo inspired me, but the rib start has fallen down and it looked a bit longwinded to get on it....

[Johnny Brown]

I did want to have a look at Honeydew, the photo inspired me, but the rib start has fallen down and it looked a bit longwinded to get on it....

Oh wow, didn't know that. Has that affected the E2 as well then. Any pics?

Crux move on Byzantium ok then? Last time I did it it felt well boney.

[Fiend]

HD - if you look at the topo photo there's a distinct area of angled rock just right of the start of Knowing Her, it looks triangular in the photo due to the shadow. That section has gone (up to 3m or so), leaving the remaining half of the rock to the right. Thus the possible start to HD would be a highly brutal slanting roof crack out from the cave, or starting 6m further right up the brown wall and trending left to reach the KH crack at the niche. I'm pretty sure KH would be possible starting up the brown wall the same way...I didn't want to try HD this way as to protect the 2nd could have given epic rope drag potential.

As it was we had to build a large cairn to reach the first holds of DH, taking the exact line in the topo...

Sorry, should have got a picture, doh.

Byzantium crux was nice, and easy. I was a bit worried that it was going to be hard to clipped the peg and reversed for a 7 minute rest. Turned out to be fine, it suited me well, vertical cranking on positive holds with high rockovers. Really nice!

[comPiler]

I found myself in Wales...
15 September 2015, 7:22 pm



...and I found myself in Wales.

Hippy bollox, but entirely true. I just had an extended spell in Wales and rediscovered the joy of climbing and therefore the joy of existing. I pushed myself harder, and my tweaks and aches felt better. I ate worse, and got fitter and lost weight. I had only sporadic friends around, and felt more sociable and affable. I stayed in a slightly dingy, barren room, and felt more comfortable and slept better. The weather was generally rubbish to mediocre, and I managed to get more climbing done than previously in the year.

I ended up in the wrong weather, but in the right place and the right time to work around that, and follow many of my inspirations in many different areas. It helps that being based in Bangor there are approx 10 guidebooks worth of climbing within an hour's drive (Gogarth North, Gogarth South, Limestone, Slate, Llanberis Pass, Ogwen and Carneddau, Tremadog, Meirionydd,  Cloggy, Cwm Silyn and Lleyn - I count the last 3 as totalling 2 normal guides are they are individually slim volumes) - compared to approx 1 guidebook living in Glasgow (half of Lowland Outcrops, half of Highland Outcrops). It helps even more that the wet weather options: GN, GS, Lime, Slate, and Lleyn are both plentiful, varied, accessible, and in themselves enthralling and exciting areas. Some of my Pass inspirations had to be put on hold, but one does not really go to Gogarth and grumble that it is a merely a mundane escaping-the-showers option. These venues held plenty of appeal as well as a revelatory quick hit approach, all being within half an hour's easy drive.

Thus, I did my climbing thing, my real climbing thing, of choice and variety and routes that personally appeal to me. Although the overriding feeling from this was happiness, there was also some satisfaction in climbing well, climbing as well on trad as I ever have. As usual this is down to a variety of factors (not just time on the rock, as I started doing reasonably challenging stuff after scarcely a day warming into it):

• Being somewhere with plenty of choice of inspiring climbing
• Being somewhere where I don't have to drive for two hours to get that choice.
• Being somewhere with plenty of wet weather options
• Being somewhere that lots of climbers go, so I could actually get partners.
• Persisting with my climbing throughout a generally personally dismal spring and maintaining my psyche and patience.
• Training hard throughout the spring when I wasn't climbing well outside.

In short: 66% location, 33% lots of effort and preparation and persistence.

I suppose I could do lists n shit, how about a top ten climbing experiences of the time down there:

• The Long Run, Gogarth - possibly the best climbing experience of my life. Not hard, just wonderful, the perfect route for my style, in perfect conditions. A dream come true.
• Byzantium, Craig Doris - worth the 8 year wait! Just fantastic, bold, committing, fly-on-the-wall situations, and a superb steady crux.
• The In Of Sixth Happiness, Arennig Fawr - climbed by surprise after a nausea-and-exhaustion-inducing battle on War Cry, and an appalling walk-in. Once on the route it flowed perfectly, another one "Taylor"-made for me ;).
• Crimson Cruiser, Moelwyns - another quite steady and utterly brilliant route. The meat of it is merely "good", but the jug-hauling space-walking finish is the best climax to any route, anywhere.
• Whillan's Crack, Rhinnog Fawr - a surprise FA stolen from a cloud  of midges. Not too hard, but has the mark of the man who would have  done it. Topped out with grazes all down one arm, and giggles out of my  mouth.
• Killerkranky, Scimitar Ridge - a proper route with a proper crux. Fierce and fighty but not too pumpy. This signalled getting to grips with Wales.
• Penny, Holyhead Mountain - the earliest challenging route I did in my time down there, easier than I thought and joyfully good holds and good balance.
• Diamond Eliminate, Craig Aderyn - also worth the 8 year wait! As grand as roadside routes get, and exactly why I stick to my personal inspirations.
• Brute 33, Carreg Wastad - still picking the scars off 10 days later... A whim inspired by the old guide photo, and joyfully brutal.
• Men At Leisure, Australia - had to pick something from many days on the slate and this was perhaps the most intruiging with a skyhook start and a super techy crux higher.

(to be fair this list should be 1-11. all The Long Run and then 12-20 everything else, but Ordered Lists don't let me do that ;)).

Finally some random photos I probably didn't post before:





















Source:  fiendblog

[creedence]

Nice write up, I enjoyed that.  I look forward to being good enough to do Crimson Cruiser, I love that crag, and can never understand why it isn't more popular!

[Fiend]

Cheers.

The rock is brilliant, I'd forgotten how good and pockety it was. I wanted to do Non Dairy Creamer too, but we ran out of time. The guys I were with both did Great Feet, I seconded it twice, really good route. The whole Moelwyns deserves more attention, I've done some great stuff on the Western Crags and also Upper Wrsygan (the latter being totally understarred). Carreg Y Foel Gron (first two shots) has some similar rock - and some rock just like Black Crag Wrynose, a great combination (albeit on smaller routes).