Pat and I were like kids in a sweet shop when we got to North Wales. Sunny weather, brilliant forecast, dry rock everywhere. Day One say us hiking up towards Dinas Mot to get some multi-pitch cragging done. Up first was a HS called 'The Cracks', a mostly easy ramble up the side of the buttress, but with one hard boulder problem right at the top to gain a ledge, slapping off crimps for an insanely chalked up sloper. Warmed up, we abbed down a manky gully with about 485629 spikes all waiting to snag ropes, and decided to do something a bit more challenging. We chose 'West Rib', a fairly bold HVS. Pat took the initial pitch and placed one bit of gear. The guidebook said of pitch 2; 'there is a good runner at 9m'. Well that's alright then.
I teetered my way up on small edges then handed the lead back over to Pat for the final 4c crack. Bloody hell it was hard. He actually fell off at one point but managed to catch himself with a plummeting death grip. It was a fantastic effort from someone with relatively little trad leading experience. I gracefully lobbed off the start of the crack and smacked my ankles on the waiting ledge, just to make Pat feel better about himself. Obviously. Descending, the ropes got stuck again in the bastard gully. I just about managed to lead the sustained Lorraine Direct in one massive 60m pitch before the light got bad and we couldn't resist the siren call of the pub any longer.
Tip-toeing up Lorraine Direct (HVS)
The next day we parked at the Cromlech lay-by and slogged up past Pen-y-Pass towards the towering cliff of Lliwedd, Wales' biggest mountain crag according to our guidebook. We climbed a combination of several classic routes, 12 pitches in all. It was great fun, easy but fairly serious, with maybe 2 or 3 bits of gear per pitch. Things got a bit harder towards the top with the crux slab coming right at the end in full view of loads of hikers. I hauled myself up like a sack of mouldy spuds, anxious not to fall of and make an arse of myself. From the top of Lliwedd we then walked up to the manically busy Snowdon café. You couldn't get near the actual summit, there were too many people packed on it like sardines eating their sandwiches. Pat and I slunk off down the Miner's Track, wondering why we bothered.
Lliwedd is the obvious crag on the far left
The forecast was less good for the Pass the next day so we drove over to Tremadog and ambled up a few routes in glorious sunshine. I made a misguided attempt on an E1 and fell off a lot before giving up. The highlight was the mega exposed classic 'One Step in the Clouds', which wins the award for the most hidden jugs/gear placements I've ever seen.
Bringing Pat up Christmas Curry (S)
In the evening we headed back to the slate quarries where Luke persuaded us to have a crack at 'Looning the Tube'. This interesting route took a bold traverse from a ledge to a bit of rusty chain fixed in the rock, then finished up a long drainpipe feature to the top. My rack consisted of 2 quickdraws, a cam, and a sling. Despite that, the runouts never felt that bad, and I cruised over the positive edges with ease. I was prepared for a fight at the crux, but it was protected by a bolt and basically a piece of piss.
Pat facing his demons on 'Looning the Tube' (HVS/E1)
Poor old Pat didn't find it so. More a jug-campuser than a slab crawler like me, he struggled on the small holds, but still summoned the will power to drag himself through each runout to the next gear placement. He eventually called it quits at the cam and lowered off, very impressive nonetheless. Now he's got no choice but to get back on it and face those runouts again...
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