New Beginnings in Wales10 February 2012, 6:51 pmWell the move to Wales started off with some trepidation. I was sad to leave Sheffield and say goodbye to my friends there (though hopefully I will see them again soon!) but excited to be moving to Llanberis.
I was nervous about my first couple of weeks as my boyfriend Alex is a way a lot with work this month and whilst I knew a few people I didn't know many. However I now have my first ever car so freedom to go wherever I want is a pretty new feeling right now and an exciting one too!
Luckily for me everyone so far has been really lovely and I feel like I'm getting to know a great bunch of people. The weather has worked out perfectly and I have already had some wonderful days out bouldering on some beautiful rock in great locations. Its days like these recent ones that I have had that make you remember why climbing is so special and how lucky we are to be able to go on adventures exploring new places with good friends. You can't really beat those days when everything is just perfect.
My boyfriend would probably agree with me when I say I'm not the most focused of people when it comes to bouldering. I've grown up doing routes most of my life and I definitely get more psyched for trad and sports climbs. However all my days since moving to Wales have been bouldering and I have really enjoyed them. I am always impressed by girls who can boulder well, it takes a lot of dedication and training to get. I am hoping that I can keep on going with the recent psyche I have found for bouldering in the hope that it will make me an all round better climber.
Last Tuesday I headed to Parisella's Cave, it was pretty cold and warming up and then staying warm was pretty tricky. I went there with Ollie Cain and Caff but Neil Dyer and Pete Robins also joined us there. Its not very often that I'm the weakest person in a group out climbing but in this case I didn't mind being the weakest! My original intention was to try Rock Atrocity but it was so cold that the thought of pulling on the dishes wasn't very appealing to me so I turned my attention to Lou Ferrino, I felt pretty pleased with linking the upper moves and had a bit of a play on the lower bit. Wow is it powerful! I am definitely keen to carry on trying it but it may take some time to work out a good way to do the bottom bit as its the sort of climbing I'm not very good at.
On Wednesday we headed to a couple of places with a group of strong people. The first place we visited was called Craig y Llyn in Nant Gwynant and the tick of the crag for me was Voie Normal (V7/7a+) on my second go. Its always interesting to watch other people climb and everyone else made this look so easy, but for me I found it really powerful and did not climb it well.
The finish of Voie Normal - Ollie Cain
After warming up at Craig y Llyn we then headed to Elephantitus Cave. This place was beautiful in the sunshine, bouldering on sun kissed rock in winter is a rarity but this was one of those wonderful occasions. Elephantitus Cave has some sweet little lines that are definitely worth a visit but on a nice sunny day to get the full ambience of the place. There was no messing about once we got there with team strong quickly smashing in Elepahntitus (V6/7a), again making it look really easy. I was pretty nervous pulling on as there were some biggish moves but luckily I flashed it with Jim (big guns) Mccormack's beta! I was pretty happy as the climbing is so lush. Next a lot of the group turned their attention to Down on an Elephant (V8/+ or 7b/+) with everyone putting in quick ascents. The first move was a big cross over from a good left hand hold into a slot with your right hand. Because this looked like a big move I didn't feel any pressure as I thought it would take a few attempts. I surprised myself by doing this move first go and went on to flash this problem which I was pretty chuffed about. In the end it felt ok to me but I think it suited my style and small fingers! A few of us then tried a problem called Tusk but that is definitely one to go back for and Dave Noden impressively added a new problem called The Old Bucaneer weighing in at V8+/7b+.
The view of Elephantitus Cave across the water - Simon Panton
Flashing Elephantitus - Simon Panton
Flashing Down on an Elephant - Simon Panton
Determined not to let go at the top of Down on an Elephant - Simon Panton
Attempting Tusk (V10) one to come back for - Simon Panton
This week Tuesday and Wednesday were stunning yet again, I can't believe how lucky I have been with the weather!! On Tuesday we went to the Lily Savage boulders on the opposite side from Tryfan. It was an entertaining walk in, a little bit boggy and neil couldn't quite remember the way! We all did a tricky little V6/7a to warm up and then went to try Paul O Grady (the stand up and sit down start). I wasn't climbing my best that day but it was nice just to be out. I didn't do the problem either way but I had a good stab at the sit down start. Unfortunately we ran out of time and had to leg it back down so that myself and Miles Hill weren't late for work!
Tricky V6 warm up - Ollie Cain
Paul O Grady sit start (V9) maybe one day - Ollie Cain
On Wednesday a small group first headed to Rhiw Goch, myself and Jim Mccormack were pretty broken from the shouldery burl fest at the Lily Savage boulders the other day. Unfortunately for me Jim has big guns and is extremely strong so I was expecting him to still be ok. I on the other hand was praying for bit of respite in the style of climbing. It as not to be! Rhiw Goch is a lovely little hidden place but its also pretty burly. After warming up myself and Jim set to work trying a deceptive V8 /7b called Moria whilst Chris Doyle was working some nails burly problems and projects. Moria was a really lovely problem, from the ground it looked pretty easy and I thought it would go quickly. How wrong I was!! once you get on it the holds aren't quite as good as you think they will be in places and the foot holds are all at the wrong angle. The first move is extremely powerful and shouldery, it took me a few goes to get this consistently and then I had to figure out a good sequence for the top as Jims way was too burly (he dispatched it pretty quickly)! I was robbed on one of my attempts where everything pinged off at the same time on the top and I shredded a fair bit of skin. I decided to have one last go with time running out ad skin feeling pretty sore. I almost wanted to leave it but I felt so strong on the go before that I just couldn't. I pulled back on crushing the holds and feeling super smooth, I got to my high point and hesitated a little bit but my determination came through and I stuck the last move to top out! Psyched :)
Hitting the top move on Moria (V8) - Simon Panton
After this we headed to the Mallory boulder for the afternoon, its a fair old hike up through the boggy ground and the heather, but the rock is one of the most aesthetically beautiful places I have climbed. Unfortunately I didn't have much time as I had to be at work in the early evening so I did a lovely V4 called Barking Direct and then tried a V7 called Mallory Crack with one hard move that I couldn't quite do but then I had to leg it down to my car to get to work. Hopefully I will visit there again but it is a bit of a mission so the psyche definitely has to be high!
Barking Direct (V4) What a Line! - Simon Panton
I've definitely enjoyed my first couple of weeks and I'm looking forward to hopefully getting out some more if the weather behaves itself! I'm really loving life in Wales and made even better by the people I have been getting to know. At the moment I feel really lucky to be where I am in one of the most beautiful places in the country. For the first time in a while I feel completely at peace and satisfied with the way things are panning out, it will soon be spring and I am getting psyched for what will hopefully be a good routes season again.
Happy crushing to everyone out there!
Source: Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!
