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Hosey B (Read 171619 times)

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#150 Getting out and Taking stock
July 04, 2014, 01:00:11 am
Getting out and Taking stock
3 July 2014, 10:43 pm

This year, I have mainly been going Bouldering..



I've tried a bit of sport, trad, and solo, but it takes time, which is in short supply, and I'm route weak, and probably a bit scared. There I said it.

Bouldering's easy. Strap it on, try a few moves, go home. The lack of immersion has also meant I can keep up my new territory fix without becoming a gibbering ball of obsession.

Tuesday I wandered back up to my favourite place. No not the quarries, but Dyffryn Mymbyr:

This bit of tranquil hillside has a enough bouldering to keep me happy; new and old, fondly remembered and waiting to be rediscovered. Its all a bit hidden and spread out, which explains why I still have to revisit the Craig yr Haul boulders having only wandered the lower cluster once when searching fot the next Georges crack and climbed nothing.. Boring boulders look great and amazing boulders can look dull, until you actually get over and give them a feel, very deceptive place.I noted that others have visited the Haul fields recently, I wonder if they played elsewhere (do tell..)

 My visit was due to kids having a taste of full time school, as I ended up lonesome I wasn't happy to gleam the cube, so I played with some old friends at Feidr Fw:

Last visit was around the time of Minnesota Loon, and I couldn't do the harder problems then. This visit Heel Keel and Happy Feet were sent which made me warm and fuzzy.Heel Keel is the overhanging arete by the highball pad, and has many poor holds in its lower regions, choice and a well placed heel-toe in the crack to its right is the key. Back it the day I was trying this sans heel, very butch.Happy Feet is not an aesthetic problem, in fact the Big G stomped up here, peered, and wandered back down again. Maybe it was some thing to do with the start being in the cave underneath the chockstone bottom right, or the fact that your back is rarely more than inches off the ground, or that if your chest is more than 40 inches or so you might bottom out...Never mind, the moves are ace and the struggle taught me to invert without the risk of severe neck injury.. My core is certainly weak compared to those days, my training started tonight.

So How, I hear you ask, are the open projects going...

January - Neverfall

2 more trips and I'll have to arrange a grand opening.... I foresee many, many mats...

February - The Tosheroon

Not been back, but very keen, good painful fun!

March - James' Boulder

The cognoscenti have been sniffing around, I need much, much more conditioning before my elbows will handle it

April - The Old Pier monolith

The last nail for my elbows (ok now tho') bit like above really, one for a hot day, and then I can go swimming...

May - The Marchlyn grit Mimic

Ready for a pad, not feeling the psyche for the cycle, fully expect someone to snatch it.

June - The Cube

the most reasonable I reckon, just needs a pad team, watch this space.

Been a good year really.

Enjoy, and drop me a line (here or UKB) if you have tried any of the open projects.. We will Succeed!

Source: Hosey B


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#151 Wander to Craig yr Haul
July 07, 2014, 01:00:40 am
Wander to Craig yr Haul
6 July 2014, 10:17 pm

Had a blessed opportunity today to perform a quick sprint up to explore J and K on the Mymbyr topo .

It was a fact finding mission, so rather than pads and shoes, I took my adventure hat, mobile phone, and Logan's 1 litre Spiderman water bottle...

J I had visited before, I had heard that Dr Crane and Associates had visited there, and at the time I was only looking for cracks anyway (pulley injuries led me to the true calling) It looks an impressive collection from the road, but there are only two properly useful blocs:



Upper cluster..



Lower Boulder

As you can see, Logans water bottle proved invaluable in providing scale and the vertical axis. I also have discovered that its a pain in the arse to traverse this hillside, this area is best approached from the Cube, as slogging up is infinitely easier then sideways travel.

My understanding of the area K; the main Craig yr Haul boulders was done on hearsay, squinting and looking at a map. I knew that Ug (Matt Perrier) had been up there and they were good, but that just made me think Ug probably did all the cool stuff, and I had plenty to play with in Feidr Fw. Hence I never went up there.

Big Mistake.







Lots of large boulders, many with flat grassy landings, often with a strong line. Obscurist's heaven.

My reason for finally making it up here was , not only showing a nice Font7A+ in the neighbourhood,  but extolling the area as replete in the 3 to 6B range. I didn't find his Sun-y-haul, I think this is because he didn't approach from the same layby as me. In fact I reckon trips up here are better made from the next layby towards Capel, following the stream up. This would mean less traversing and more likely to find this Bloc.That'll be my next trip, as Its part of this years plan to climb a Font and French 7a+ where I wasn't the FA, and this looks pretty.

Please visit

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#152 Lunchtime Bogtrot
July 16, 2014, 01:01:00 am
Lunchtime Bogtrot
15 July 2014, 9:40 pm

Had a couple of hours between school drop offs to check out the more direct route to Craig yr Haul. Within four steps I had entered a pond (note best to use the 3rd layby after the chicane for direct approach rather than the 2nd...).

Once I'd wrung myself out and re-calibrated next to the major riverlet, and surprise surprise a fence (no wonders I got my wires crossed conversing with messr Peck), it was easy navigation up to the now obvious Sun-y-Haul boulder.



Its a nice find, with many also-rans in the vicinity, though nothing to waste too much effort or patio time over. I was able to make sense of the righthand start (the only large hold) and sussed some of the swing in.





Really good effort by Tim for interpreting the line, the patio work, and just projecting up on this hill side.

I ferreted around a bit before the fell run back to the car for the School pick up. I'm not totally sold on the Direct route. The hillside is a mine field of crisscrossing streams and unhelpful vegetation. It also is fairly lumpy with hillocks and craglets to negotiate. I personally would recommend sticking to the Mymbyr approach to the wall, and using the path inside the wall to traverse to where the riverlet breaches the wall:



From here a scramble down gains Sun-y-haul



And a wander up gains the Craig y Haul boulders

Think I'm still on the hunt for that F7A+ project tho'

Enjoy

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#153 Re: Hosey B
July 17, 2014, 06:17:57 pm
 :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: So Excited, going in 20 mins with a little gaggle from work to try an outrageous Project... 

After tonight's extreme top roping there should be a very interesting Open project to unveil

 :popcorn:

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#154 Open Project of the Month - July
July 18, 2014, 07:00:09 pm
Open Project of the Month - July
18 July 2014, 3:35 pm

This Month we visit a project that has been very close to my heart; it was the very first Giveaway of the Month back in 2009, and a project I raved about back then. This was a period of time where I was relatively time rich (in between Logan and the Twins) but finger pulley injuries had set me on the path to crack addiction. It was whilst I was sampling the Big G's fine Running Jam that I glanced over and espied this massive roof, and what appeared to be a crackline through it. This turned out to be a ramp forming the Arête Superior of the SuperProw of Cwmffynnon:

This was obviously not a crack, or within my realm of optimism at that time. So I tried to sell it to all the great and good, but still the Super prow abides...

Fast forward 5 years, and I'm getting more and more blessed allocations of adventure time, and the whole year of open projects came about. This was always at the top of the list, I'm getting a bit less bold, but what a location for a bit of extreme top-roping!

The Mighty Cwmffynnon, a pleasant if out of the way site of adventure bouldering and extreme top-roping. Super Prow is in the middle of the rocky bit, amongst the heather band.

The approach from Pen y Pass took about an hour, although some of this was due to curiosity and incompetence. The final 100m or so are a bit tricky route-finding wise so this piccy might help:



Over the twin streams, up to the second boulder of Giveaway April 2012, then up again over a craglet, to drop down the far side of the prow.

Setting up the Top rope

Testing the Swing

A quick play on the Arête Superior, showed it was a little out of our league (I could pull on the massive starting hold, but movement was improbable. We then moved onto the Arete Inferior; a sort of direct bypassing all the uber-territory and launching into the realms of possibility. This also starts off a clearly defined hold. This is my first attempt:

Many, many attempts later, I got a working sequence, but I was too boxed to link it to the top of the prow. I pulled up the rope to play on the finish:

Here you can see the Arête Superior in all its glory; the starting hold is just right of the slanting hairline fault on the left. Between this and the junction with A. Inferior, there are 2 incut holds and a whole bunch of slopers. A. Superior seems in the upper 7's into 8's range and A. Inferior is somewhere in the low 7's. I'm really keen to return, but I think some mileage is required first.

Could they be Highballed? sort of... The ground slopes away alarmingly, It would be best to be roped and "guided" onto a raft of mats. I'd be more inclined to think in terms of an E grade, despite its diminutive size. You could pre place some RPs that might hold...

Top Rope Bouldering; Could it catch on? Unlikely, too much testosterone in the world. I, for one, will be back with my rig (25m static, 4 screwgates, 2 large nuts, plus the TR) and looking forward to the king swing!

Enjoy!

Source: Hosey B


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#155 Re: Hosey B
July 19, 2014, 11:29:38 am
Fuck me Hosey that's a bit wild! Good giveaway!

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#156 Re: Hosey B
July 19, 2014, 08:38:11 pm
I'd did say I was rather excited :-[
I can't see myself doing anything other than top roping the lines as:
A) I'm old enough to be a realist
B) The fitness required to guarantee me an acceptable level of risk is beyond my current parameters of obsession
C) My laziness prevents me dragging that many mats

Done or not done, I'm still keen to to rope it some more (with a fraction more fitness under my belt)
 :punk:

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#157 Re: Hosey B
July 19, 2014, 08:40:13 pm
pop to the blog to see the vids that haven't reproduced here....

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#158 A Birthday Hit
August 23, 2014, 07:00:09 pm
A Birthday Hit
23 August 2014, 2:30 pm

With August came my fortieth birthday, and a long awaited return to my old stomping ground of Devon. The plan was to get to some places I had yet to visit due to past faff, and I had high expectations of crushing local testpieces...

However, with this years minimal mileage on the rock, and old friends taking precedence over wild arenas, plans changed and (that rarity) pure pleasure was had instead:



Inkspot's hangover at the Dewerstone, a scene of major cleaning efforts opening up this previously shrubbed up area



Irish man's wall, a diminutive jewel of clean fine grained granite, and the odd low grade sandbag



Fun and Games on the high moor..



The sun setting on a great day on Lower Sharpnose. tide and squalls made for a late start, but much fun was had (I even got to follow Fay on the Blunt end..)



MJ: Devonian Alpha male



Matt Fabulous: Our man overseas



Wolf and Cinder: The only one of us with any mileage this year, and his owner.

So as Send-Tember is almost upon us, it appears I'd better get my finger out

(or just seek some more pleasure)

Enjoy!



Source: Hosey B


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#159 Open Project of the Month - August
August 25, 2014, 01:00:29 am
Open Project of the Month - August
24 August 2014, 9:14 pm

Send-Tember is around the corner, and I'm starting to line up some time to tackle these open projects. All my kids will be attending school full time for the first time, so when I'm not at work I'll have a whole 5 hours and 45 minutes to pursue the dream.

Super prow and the Neverfall project are obviously high on the list, with hopefully some repeat visits. I'm still lacking mileage, but I'm hoping to nail the Tosheroon too.

Mainly though, due to convenience, available quality existing problems, and personal love, I think I'm going to be hiking up to Dyffryn Mymbyr...

Thus this months Open Project is the biggest plum I've found up there so far: Giveaway April '13

So the First proper trying session was a bit rushed, due to child care duties, but at least I identified some viable holds and had a quick play.

The lowest arrows are your starting holds; a sloper and a crimp. these are reached from a sitter with feet cammed in the block. What follows is a lot of clever foot work that, combined with some slapping brings you to a compression like stance at the end of the main slopey rail.

This sequence eluded me on that visit, probably not helped by my fitness levels. The next move, however is likely to be the crux. A massive dyno to the next arrow (well, the chalk to the right of it..) BOOM.

I'm psyched to work it upto this point, especially as upto this hold, the landing is conventional enough. The next section is a little close to the end of the flat, and the hill slopes away rather severely. All within a highball range, but some rafting of mats and tethering of spotters will be required. I have a whimsical notion of binding a taco mat into a D shape at the base of the raft to make a "catcher" platform to pile more mats on....

However I'll try to latch the dyno before resorting to mad science.

As for project names, I'm considering Trixibelle.

Enjoy



Source: Hosey B


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#160 Neverfall: August and eminent
August 29, 2014, 01:01:40 am
Neverfall: August and eminent
28 August 2014, 9:49 pm

So thought I'd better get a trip into the hole before September kicks off as:

A) Once I can actually go climbing will I want to go digging?

B) I couldn't face visiting in July

I did get in during June with a trowel, and it was very like time-team in that I was dying for a JCB, or at least the fork which I had left at home... Slow going.

This time a coordinated effort between trowel and fork meant many gains were made:

Before and After this visit. It was very productive with all the top edge now exposed and cleaned of loose blocs. There was a large section on the right that I could see had a fracture line and looked loose.. It turned out to be a washing machine size chunk and only pull off-able by people of a size that would preclude an ascent..

The Top Before

The Finished Top. The blig block on the left is level with the top edge. There is then a narrow gully which fans out to a pretty roomy gangway above the main strip

What it looked like before all these shenanigans..

Look mummy! Jugs!

I also took this opportunity to abb the wall for the first time, and blow me the central line between the rails has holds! something for me to climb after all. The lines either side however look good and hard. The patio is all but finished. All the filling is done, the rest of the spill now needs leveling out with a fork (I started but ran out of time). So Please can someone else wander in with a fork, it'll take you half an hour and then you can get first go!



The wall with a scally for scale. The fine spill at the base just needs spreading out and leveling... and about 6 pads popping on it!

Enjoy



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#161 Re: Hosey B
September 04, 2014, 06:05:52 pm
So I got out today with Young Calum Muskett and got him to wander up through Joe Browns / Ray Kays project territory right of The Sport route in Twll Mawr.
Fun Day  :2thumbsup:
Ended up E4/5 6a but we were chilling so may have bypassed a couple of nails bits to get some gear in (feel free to do a direct)

Will do a proper write up when I'm less dazed and confused

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#162 The Antiquarian
September 05, 2014, 01:01:38 am
The Antiquarian
4 September 2014, 8:17 pm

An Antiquarian is a student of history, an observer of things past, and scholar of ancient artefacts. In my meanderings through the slate quarries I've always strived to delve beneath the surface and find out about the weird and wonderful rusting contraptions of quarry detritus, not just from active quarrying times, but the modern "quarrymen"; the inspection bolt of a long disregarded project, the Wedgefast nut I unearthed on Mancer direct, a peg in no-man's land.

Readers of the blog may remember talk of Twll Mawr and the efforts of Joe Brown and company to force lines up its big back wall. As They didn't get to the top, they didn't record them, and these often bold and adrenalin filled epics risk sliding out of folklore.

Today Calum Muskett took me out for a days climbing to try to stitch together some of these artefacts so that they can be remembered and valued. I don't necessarily think we completed their projects, as I don't know the line they were envisioning, but we visited some of their high points and had fun doing so. Its worth stating this wasn't an anti-bolt mission either; we made use of them when it suited us, but were keen for a trad adventure...

The Antiquarian E4/5, 5b, 6a, 6a, 5b

Bimble up the chain to rack up as for Razor's Edge.

1) 30m? Climb the pillar left of the V groove, cross the the next rib on the left and quest up to the crack for some more reassuring gear. Rise until level with the TDOS belay and bimble over to it.

2) 40m? Clip the first bolt of TDOS then enter the groove, follow until pushed onto the rib and follow until the First of Joe Browns bolts is spotted over by the corner on the right. Gain this and go up to the bolt at his high point (diff to clip as bunged up with old tat). Continue in the corner until a slightly unnerving slopey traverse gains the big slopey ledge, shuffle left on this to the TDOS belay.

3) 50m? Climb the corner system directly above the belay, to a decaying pink sling on a flake (remnant of a Ray Kay Jaunt). A rising traverse left meets the junction with the Taith Mawr Traverse (cam slot) follow this back right to where TM belays but quest directly up the corner system above the belay (plug the gear in the easy bits because its about to run out). the corner starts to shut out into the right arête, surmount the arête to join pitch 5 of TDOS just before the crux, follow this to the belay.

4) 20m Finish as for TDOS.

C Muskett, M Dicken 4/9/14

Myself leading P1, the rib of P2 is above my helmet, Took me a while to drop back into this style of fun, RPs apenty! I led 1st and last, and let calum do the hard work....

Pitch two, Joes highest bolt is a body length above me by the Veg. The black slabs of slate are a touch fragile/crumbly and make for an exciting ramble

psyching up for the slopey traverse, Calum has a little reach and height on me, so I felt a little intimidated by the space between the chalk...

I had a lot of Fun (thanks Calum) and relived a lot of old memories from my time on Taith Mawr, there are a couple of meanderings on P2&3 so feel free to claim The Antiquarian Direct!

Enjoy

Source: Hosey B


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#163 Open Project of the Month - September
September 10, 2014, 01:00:22 pm
Open Project of the Month - September
10 September 2014, 10:59 am

This month, following a tip off from a certain stout naped gentleman, I took my first of hopefully many visits to Nant Gwrtheyrn. This former quarrying village was subsequently abandoned and recently restored to form a unique heritage center and school for those Dysgu Cymraeg. The valley it which it resides is very steep and secluded and reminded me more of the French Alps than Wales.

Looking down from the car park to the cafe, and Fantan B beyond. Being a popular stop for walkers and the retired, I got some funny looks stomping through with two pads.... There is a winding path beyond, that gains the beach 50 meters below (that's elevation folks not distance, long winding path...) Upon arrival this is the view to the left; Craig y Llam and Fantan B, this might make an alternative approach, and I'm keen to explore Penrhyn Glas quarry next time.

To the right Avernus, and our goal; a little cluster of boulders at the beaches end. Yes its a walk (I'll only take one decent pad next time, rather than a stack) but the beach is serene and Groovy (certainly on this sunny day) and I shared its entire length with about 5 people. Although there is many sizable blocks here only one gave worthwhile value: Other blocks were okay to warm up on, but were either too easy or a bit loose. This puppy, however was worth the 2 hour wait for the tide to recede (I had a good book)First I tackled the nose, which took a while as the Grandolorite offers good holds at awkward angles, and perfectly positioned poor ones. The result was Moli Mawr, SDS off a side pull and a nubbin (a&b), maybe F6B. the undercut prow meant that heel hook maneuvers were the order of the day, I explored the slab on the right with a couple of standing variations before setting down to try the sitters.

The obvious slanting crimps c&d required a heel rockover outside my current flexibility and are the open project for this month, as its the line of the bloc.

I did make it up off of d & e (a flatty hidden under neath) at about F6C

The Cellar bloc might be of interest to some as it give steep 2-3 move eliminates with lots of poor and hard to grasp holds to choose from. (I failed to top on any of them)

Also of significant interest is the peninsular jutting out into the sea, I explored it at high tide, but the initial section would give some boulder potential, and the remained would provide some  fine sea level japes ( I was not prepared with cozzie)..

All in all, this is a really tidy spot, good for families that don't mind the odd slog, and Dads who don't want to just sit around, swimming looks good too.

I stopped to photograph this cliff on the steep hair pinned drive out, after my shenanigans in Twll Mawr last week they look really appealing (and Big), incidentally Calum returned yesterday and straightened the Antiquarian with a direct! Bon Effort, and makes me keen forth crack system to the right.

Oh and if you visit in the next few days, I left my sunnies on a boulder above the high tide mark

Enjoy



Source: Hosey B


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#164 Re: Hosey B
September 11, 2014, 10:04:57 am
Glad you found something to make the walk worth your while mate!!

Also have fished from Craig Y Llam before but was years ago (I was 15/16) with some dedicated locals and I wasn't climbing at the time but seem to remember lots of rock... Keep up the good work!

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#165 Twll Fest!
September 18, 2014, 01:00:29 am
Twll Fest!
17 September 2014, 9:02 pm

North Wales has a fine tradition of volunteers getting stuck in to spruce up and spring clean our more neglected and vegetable ridden rocks, be it Al Leary abbing Gogarth with his Ice axe and Yard Brush, or the more organised, beer and brush brigade such as TremFest at Tremadog.

When discussing the fineries of Twll Mawr with valued customers at the wall, the responses one usually gets is "Loose" "bush bashing" or sometimes "death". However, the reality is that the rock is fairly compact and any detached pieces tend to be just sitting on ledges, rather than loitering in the shadows waiting to pounce. Death, apart from at the hands of raptors is extremely uncommon, but I can't deny that its is the residence of some particularly malevolent bush.

Before Ian Lloyd Jones came along and invited the masses, this didn't matter much as only I seemed to climb there, and I always carried some secateurs. Saying that I did write up the back wall section for the Ground Up Guide and gave the routes I particularly enjoyed stars. One such route is Hamadryad; a magnificent E3 I climbed in 2003 with a particularly hungover Aussie Conrad. Apart from the Bastard Bush of Twll Mawr, I have no particular memories of incapacitating shrubbery, just good gear (bar the 1st pitch which was Conrad's anyway) bags of adventure and lots of pitches of real climbing. Classic Joe Brown really; awesome line, sustained entertainment, and that warm glow when its accomplished.

Imagine my surprise then, shortly after the Guide came out, to find Big Tim and the Bullock on my back wall! the first party I'd seen there without me tied to them ever... My warm glow soon dissipated, however, as their reports seemed mainly to be about brambles and bush- Oh well a hamadryad is a mischievous woodland spirit after all.

Fast forward to the arrival of Smaug, and many of the valued customers at the wall were now singing a different tune, and some of the more adventurous were commenting on the unfortunate nature of the fine line to Smaug's left, a Fine Line under the tyranny of Furze. This led me to thinking I could redeem my attribution of 2 stars, and maybe tempt some more people (apart from Big Tim and Bullock) to the delights of Twll Mawr Trad.

So yesterday I borrowed a long static rope and descended with a patio knife, well worn secateurs and a leather gauntlet. 100 and a bit meters later; with many coiffed ledges, grubbed out gorse and well yanked brambles (the gauntlet was well used) between myself and the top, I arrived just above the aid bolted crux. 50cm above the crux actually, pitch 1 and the first 20m or so of pitch 2 are not particularly hindered by veg (and I couldn't be bothered to drag that much rope anyway) but I thought I'd get the full crack clear.

50cm short...........

So I did this:



Having put in all that work, I transferred to the shunt and pottered back up. much enjoyment and watching of edges ensued..

The Bastard Bush with its new haircut. I couldn't bring myself to grub it out entirely, as we have history, and its used in the guide to show where Taith Mawr veers off (that sloping ledge beyond..)

A Nice Clean Crack.

Looking up the route from the tree on the second belay

Looking down the route from its second tree of note on pitch 3.

So there it is. It'll even have chalk on it until it rains, so get to it.Enjoy



Source: Hosey B


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#166 This is Bat Country....
September 25, 2014, 01:00:15 am
This is Bat Country....
24 September 2014, 9:09 pm

After my taste of adventure with Calum Muskett in Twll Mawr, I must admit something clicked inside of me. A quiet reawakening, like a clock in a long silent room, suddenly resuming its slicing of time, tick tick tick tick tick. Or maybe like a long term vegetarian after a drunken kebab, I don't know...

I was keen for getting in the driving seat for some Adventure new routing, Twll Mawr had caught me again. Now I know that this was what I was doing with Calum, but going in packing a wad is a bit like cheating really, and I was keen to be fully immersed.

When I was Putting together this section for the Llanberis Slate guide, I was fortunate enough to go for a panad with Joe Brown. During our brew he pulled out some photo's and drew in the "almost" lines, adventures and probings that turned into retreats and memories. The Antiquarian, followed one of these lines (The Antiquarian Direct; pulled off by Calum and Jez Leong 5 days after our trip, straightens this and is a fine effort at solid E5). The old bolts we clipped, however, were on a corner line that Joe had attempted, to be turned back by loose rock. Having climbed in this vicinity with Cal, I was sure I could potter up this and with the Direct now done, separate out the lines.

With Ben sorted for a Monday attempt, I spent the weekend, plowing through pics of Twll Mawr, sussing potential weaknesses, planning the rack, and enthusing at all and sundry. Monday came around and the ticking in my head was almost audible, so pumped up for a step into the unknown. This is climbing. To me at least, the opportunity to put yourself into an unknown arena with unknown assailants and hidden obstacles, to succeed through planning and instinct and wits. Well, that's what I do it for. Now I can get that through bouldering, especially discovering new boulders, and climbing something outside of my comfort zone, but the type of adventurous new routing that Twll Mawr provides is the Colosseum to their playground skirmishes.

Pitch 1. 35m 5b. Start as for the Antiquarian. at the crack ascend this until it runs out then follow the slabby side of the corner above until a bolt is reached. Belay here with whatever else you can find.

[tr][td][/td][/tr][tr][td]Ben's pic of P1[/td][/tr]
[/table]

I felt a lot happier leading this than with Cal as it was still in the shade and I found a Cam 3 slot at the start which prevented some feeling of doom, once out the top of the crack it all went into forced focus, and holds bright and hand drawn, looseness and threat doubly so, However, the drip feed of gear kept the tick tock at bay and eventually a lot later than I'd mentally rehearsed the bolt arrived.

Pitch 2. 25m 6a. Continue up the corner until it is possible to gain the slopey ledge on the left. Arrange meager gear, and force a rising traverse back right, dynamically across the corner (doubtful rock) to snatch a clean ledge on the steep side. Wriggle, throw and flop onto the ledge above. Belay of well equalized small wires.

Cal though this section of the Antiquarian warranted E4/5, I was with trepidation then that I lurched across the wooden corner. I would always agree that it is best policy never attempt something that you can't reverse. However, sometimes I disregard best policy and go for self belief, optimism, aggression and possibly a little carefully calculated psychopathy. However, a little goes a long way, and in this case it went a little way up instead of a long way to the floor. The nature of the back wall of Twll Mawr is that protection tend to be either solid faultline seams (rare) wooden and punkish corner faults (more common although less reassuring) or the cracks formed by massive chunks slightly separating from the back wall's main bulk. This belay was the latter.

Pitch 3. 30mish 5c/6a. Follow the left hand arete of the corner behind the belay easily at first with poor gear, until a committing step up to a sloping ledge (Cam 1 hidden on left) either take a large stride left and grapple into undercuts, or pull boldly upwards to a some poor gear and then scamper leftwards to a good foothold and undercuts (wire in a corner). Undercut wildly leftwards to the penultimate bolt of TDOS and mantel upto the bolt belay.

After pitch 2 I had originally intended to go up the cool looking crack line behind the grey slab of the true finish. Up close and personal it was clear this would need a clean on an abb before I would be prepared to commit. The same goes for the unifying crack system its part of, that arises out of the first pitch of Razor's Edge (indeed another Brown sortie repelled by death daggers, that led to the aid bolts and creation of Razor's Edge). The continuation of the corner system we were following was wide. the corner itself was wooden and bottomed out, the right arete a series of large blocky ledges of varnished slate, easy moves maybe, but past experience told me no gear and difficult to retreat from. The left arete looked full of holds and was a reassuring solid grey colour. Off I went, extolling it virtues while slotting away the RP's, then the slopes started, and the woodenness encroached forcing me away from the corner into steepness. Once I'd found the Cam 1, and remembering the benefits that pushing through provided on the previous pitch I laid one on and pinched my way up into the fins, hoping the steps would recommence. Nope, its flutings and eff all.

Bum, I realized I was in a little trouble here.. (Ben didn't until the next day when he reconsidered the nature of the belay he was relying on) a toe hook under the fin allowed a good shake out to consider my position. First, there's a shatter block in front of my face that may take a Cam, probably explode, but its something to do... Second, Smaug's sleeping over there, I can see the chalk, I can even see a foothold between us. Right. 1,2,3 Go (the old slateheads trick) pinch, hang,  kick press and into the undercut like your prizing the lid of a sarcophagus. Hairline seam in a corner framing a fang of broken rock. Flick! RP4. Okie Dokie, now look back through the razor fins, extend that rubbish cam to get the ropes clear. Right.. Serious Shuffling, then someone else's chalk, someone else''s route, someone else's bolt.

"Safe!"

The Bugger didn't even grapple with the fins, with his lanky legs, and the nicely extended cam, he just sauntered underneath. (mental note: when seconding, make things look hard, or at least seem scared)

P4 etc. Continue as for TDOS.

We didn't. I'd done Smaug before, was late for work, over adrenalised, and the line above too populated with bolts for a "better" trad line to continue with any worth or quality. Besides Smaug is a good route, and easy to abb off.

I Think this is certainly one of the biggest onsight leads I have done, certainly up there with Taith Mawr, although the crux pitches of TM are easier, abet with less worthwhile protection and more irreversible moves. I've been musing for a while that TM is probably nearer E5 that E4, and along with my experiences on The Antiquarian, have led me to believe I may have onsighted my First E5.

However, my own self doubt sneers 'bound to be E4', and my lack of attempts on established E5's  are causing a lot of umming and ahhing.

Then again, no one's going to repeat it anyway...

Twll Love E5 6a

Mark Dicken, Ben Ryle 22/9/14



Ray Wood's Smaug topo that I nicked and scribbled over..

Yellow is Smaug, Red is The Antiquarian Direct, Blue is Twll Love, Orange is Hamadryad, Green is Opening Gambit, and Purple is roughly Rock bottom line.

The unclimbed Brown project is the whitish groove/crack line immediately right of Twll Love culminating in the crack behind the sharp arete of True Finish (whole lot needs a clean/garden on Abb)

The space in between Hamadryad and the lines to the left should be interesting to Cal and Co....

Source: Hosey B


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#167 Re: Hosey B
October 01, 2014, 08:36:34 am
Quote
I found a Cam 3 slot at the start which prevented some feeling of doom, once out the top of the crack it all went into forced focus, and holds bright and hand drawn, looseness and threat doubly so, However, the drip feed of gear kept the tick tock at bay and eventually a lot later than I'd mentally rehearsed the bolt arrived.

Genius writing this Mark...  :clap2:

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#168 Back in the Hole
October 02, 2014, 07:00:11 pm
Back in the Hole
2 October 2014, 12:15 pm

Ok. This is getting a bit like old days now, the fervour and passion, pouring over old pics for potential lines. I abbed back into Twll Mawr this week, to clean and suss out another line attempted by the Twll Mawr Pioneer; Joe Brown. Guess what I found?



Turns out the owner of the nut also took photos of my First ascent of Taith Mawr..



I was my honour today to drop in on Joe Brown to talk Twll Mawr, and the recent developments that have been going on. Turns out the line I'm working on isn't the last of the lines he had his eye on, so I've a couple more for the bank. Oh and there's a box of gelignite on the ledges near Black Hole Sun.

Whilst wandering the back wall I took a pic of the upper pitch of Twll Love; it follows the left arete of this groove into the fins then scampers into Smaug with its tail between its legs.



The central groove was a bit too duff in its slate quality to attract me, and the right arete spooked me a little, as I remember it being really bald near the top when on Taith Mawr. However, looking at the FA shot, I think a way could be made that would get you to the top independent of Smaug. Thats ground up adventure climbing for you, and I'm not quite obsessed enough yet to do the Hindsight Variation finish....



Looking down the corner pitch of Twll Love.

I'd grown weary of slate climbing of late, but Twll Mawr is bigger than all that, transending the 'rockover left, rockover right above certain death' (or more recently - bolt) of most quarry conquests.

Quick! Get me to a boulder....

Source: Hosey B


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#169 Neverfall Open for Business
October 15, 2014, 01:00:12 am
Neverfall Open for Business
14 October 2014, 8:39 pm

Its great to have completed something of the open projects this year, even if its only the initial prep.

What Was

What Is

six and a bit foot wide, smooth and ready to accept many, many pads

What Was

What Is

Subtle I know, but a jug rail and flop ledge, with a solid trench to compose yourself and climb the stairs to safety. It also seems to have reduced a lot of the seepage.

Ready to Play...

I'm happy that I got to do all of this without collaboration as there is a great sense of achievement (I know the landing is a bit on the piss, but its not as bad as this pic makes out) However, I am going to need some help to develop this puppy, it is an open project after all.. and I only have stewardship of two mats.

As this open project venture has played out I realise two things:One- I'm going to need at least another year to make headway into them.Two- By making them open and taking the pressure off myself to complete these challenges, I've actually aimed higher and dug deeper than if I'd just been looking for my own selfish conquest.

Next year, I'll be taking a rest from giveaway's and new open projects, and instead be giving reports on how these twelve are going.

With that and my personal ultra secret projects and schemes we should certainly have enough blog fodder.

...Yes I know there are three projects still to launch, two are locked down, the third may be mythical.

Enjoy

Source: Hosey B


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#170 Re: Hosey B
October 16, 2014, 04:29:36 pm
Nice work. Are there actually any holds on that slab though?  ;)

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#171 Re: Hosey B
October 16, 2014, 06:02:10 pm
Ahhh... :whistle:



 :yes: Actually I reckon the central line will be in the  High Font 6! type region, the lines either side do have holds...
But they're very small and far apart

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#172 Re: Hosey B
October 19, 2014, 12:35:53 pm
Nice one Hosey D.

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#173 Open Project of the Month - October
October 23, 2014, 01:00:12 pm
Open Project of the Month - October
23 October 2014, 10:23 am

Well October is here and so is the weather. The ridiculously dry September spoiled us rather and, I got loads done, eschewing bouldering for the spicy adventure of Twll Mawr. Well October has brought, not only more Autumnly / Wintery weather, but a return a more normal work pattern (I've got some hours to make up) and to bouldering. This means more safety, and a chance to follow up on some leads from the Summer.

Last Open project I mentioned exploring Penrhyn Glas quarry, Well I made it in the last of the sunny weather, and found a little gem tucked away in its depths:

Porth Howel

Obviously I was drawn to the big cave at the back, after a bit of a death scramble down the scree at the back, I got to explore the cave itself:

This was at the end of the drought and you can see its still seeping in a lot of places, its also massive, (those are truck wheel hubs in the wreckage) and will need a nominated finish rather than top outs I feel.

However, on the other side of the beach: The Wall of Something Dead. (There was a bad smell under the pebbles that day)

The ramp also provided a safe way in and out of the beach. I didn't have pads with me that day, so the only thing I got done was The Rail, this is the obvious break that comes out the alcove on the left and cuts into the ramp at sort of half height. The climbing was suprising in that I couldn't always predict if the holds would be incut or slopey, the directional nature of the holds also forced good (better maybe..) footwork. I was keen to return. This time via the Craig y Llam approach, as walking to and from Nant Gwtheyrn was a ball ache.

So, as I said October meant more changeable weather, and work meant less days to choose from. Yesterday came around and off I went on my lonesome (not everyone has my optimism) and made the long winding trudge to Porth Howel. The ramp was seeping and I chose to slide the pads and bumslide down...

Then the drizzle started. As you can see the pebbles have dropped and leveled off a bit. You can also see how much the Wall of Something Dead overhangs. similar to roadside face I reckon.

Optimism prevailed ( I'd bought a book), and I settled down under this handy overhang..



A couple of hours later the drizzle was sort of abating, and I thought I'd try to make something of the day... Then it started again, so I went for a walk

Above the beach, give a bit of scale and better explains the ramp approach.

The other side of the bay has some potential, but the turf means it takes a bit longer to dry, especially in the drizzle....

Eventually, I decided to pull up my trousers and get on with it. Didn't Joe Brown climb in the rain? The wall overhung, and as the ramp projects out it seemed to deter a lot of seepage. Starting on the easiest lines with the biggest sopping holds, I clambered around. Then the rain stopped, and the wind picked up. Yippee!

The wall is quick drying and high, It does have some drainage on the left, but within an hour of the rain stopping it was pretty mint.

Here is what I got done:6. The Ramp. F5+ Starts off jugs on the front of the ramp, swings round to lip traverse up to The Rail exit.5. Up the Junction. F5 The obvious jug fest up to The Rail exit.4. Rockaway Beach. F6B! A crimp line up to the rail, taking the brick with your right hand. A long reach to a crimp then a flick will gain the top.3. The Wall of Something Dead. F6A+! Starts of opposing sidepulls (left on right margin of alcove) to blast up the seem to pull out at the "peak".2. The Rail. F6A Starts of opposing sidepulls (left on the overlap in middle of alcove) to pop for the start of the break, follow this on improving holds to pull onto the ramp.1. Blitzkreig Bop.  F6B+! Starts off opposing side pulls as for The Rail and after the pop, swerves left to follow the seam (big move to hidden jug) to the sloping rail. scamper right into The wall of Something Dead.

Here's a video of the FA of The Wall of Something Dead:

The wall is far from worked out as the pillar on the left of the alcove was too wet to go all the way (Nice moves up to the wetness BTW), and the below rail traverse looks mint! (more tidal stuff to the left)

To the Right of this was The Flail Rail F6B+, here's the FA video:

The shelter dried last, I tried the left hand standing line first, easy enough and I proceeded to top out. Don't do this, especially if its just been raining. Nominate a finishing jug (there's an obvious one), unless you really like XS death. The right hand line was also really fun (cool kneebar), and I finished this time at an obvious finisher Jug:

The obvious challenge is to do these line from sitters, Although the Left Hand line will need to wait until this young ladies brood have flown the nest:

The open project refers to anything unclimbed here. Please visit, as its ace. Park as for Craig y Llam (Fantan B) and follow the path all the way down to the top of the ramp scramble. I didn't bother to note how long it took to get there, as with these sea level spots its the getting back up to the car that bothers people. From the top of the ramp to the car took 25 mins, I am rubbish at trudging, but I was being earwormed by The Ramones. (Hey Ho, Lets Go)

Weirdest bit of detritus on the Strand line.....

Enjoy!



Source: Hosey B


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#174 Re: Hosey B
October 23, 2014, 03:38:35 pm
Psyched! On the list for a day of fishbouldering...

 

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