UKC

Evening,

Just returned from a day out on Dinas Mot. Ended up on Lorraine Direct and West Rib, but would like to return for Diagonal.

However - the illustration in the new North Wales guide makes out that there is no gear for that mantelly bit...Is there much gear on that 3rd pitch?

ta!

In reply to jibberingwreck: Think you can fiddle a nut 1 in at the guys feet(in photo) but that is about it. Not the hardest pitch though, and probably the best. Good luck, Ed

In reply to boothy: i picked plenty out of it yesterday - but have to admit being on a whimsical adventurous deviation meaning that our second pitch began slightly below and to the right of the chimney below the traditional second stance* I think there were at least 2 pieces in what would be the normal 3rd pitch - but it's a beaut and the moves more than make up for the lack of pro.


*there is still adventure to be found if you leave the polish behind...

In reply to boothy:
Not the hardest pitch though, and probably the best. Good luck, Ed

But it is the crux!

In reply to boothy:


I'm intrigued - which did you think was the hardest pitch then?

To the OP: I got gear in a crack near the scoop. Not much though, and it was placed blind.

In reply to jibberingwreck: Thought the wet polished overhanging crack at the end was nails!! I led the "crux" pitch but probably thought the first 2 pitches were equally as hard as the 3rd. Did it quite a while ago though. Very nice route. if you take some black diampnd swedges, i'm sure you'd be able to wangle in some gear in the groove on pitch 3. Ed

In reply to boothy:

Must admit the first time I did it I found the crack hard - but that was before I'd learnt to jam properly! The next time I did it it was pitch black and hard for different reasons.

In reply to Andy Hobson:

I think people find that mantle hard as they think they have done the crux and relax, a fatal mistake.

If you know it is coming, is not easy, and psyche yourself up for it maybe it is not so hard, my feelings anyway as the leader on the day we went to do it dived off a long way resulting in a hospital trip and never went back on it.

In reply to boothy:

The final crack is probably a bit much for 4c but not sure it's really any harder than the 3rd pitch, just different.

Agree that it's a great route. Imagine doing it onsight as a new route in 1938...

In reply to sutty:

Indeed - although I think the guide now makes it fairly clear that the mantle is the crux of the slab pitches. Don't know if this has always been the case though?


Ouch! Even with modern kit I wouldn't fancy falling off any of it - you'd be in for a looong slide if you did.

In reply to jibberingwreck: Expect Hard Very Serve Difficulties. There's only so much run out you can get above so many difficult moves.

I havent done Diagonal, i went for Super Direct last time i up instead, which crosses Diagonal and uses a few nutslots in Diagonal.

It looks a nice route that i will return to do.

In reply to jibberingwreck: One of the best routes I have done.

No gear of any use on pitch 3 to protect the hard moves, but just keep a steady head and you will soon be up.

I did'nt find the mantle that bad, I thought the bit before it was harder, I guess I was expecting something harder after quivering in the scoop for about 15 minutes!

Cheers

Andy

In reply to jibberingwreck:

Personally I think you've done the better route - West Rib.
Yes Diagonal is bold, but if you are happy on bold routes then it is a very easy HVS. You don't even have to mantle the 'mantel'. I thought there was gear below the mantel but then it was about 10 years ago when I did it. Super Direct is absolutely fantastic though, I thought this better than either.

In reply to IanJackson: The super direct is a much safer proposition that Diagonal i think. Superdierct is slightly harder and more sustained but there is pretty reasonable kit on the main slab pitch, unlike the 3rd pitch of diagonal is runout above a number 1 nut for a quite a way.

In reply to boothy: But SD does require the placing of tiny nuts with a poor view of the placement, otherwise there is big lob potential. I would say SD is mid to high E1 & Diagnoal is an easy HVS from a technical & sustained perspective.

In reply to VisionSet: I found once i sorted route finding on Super Direct, (dont ask). That a grade of HVS+ would be more suitable.

In reply to jibberingwreck: I meet the first ascentionist (Arthur Birtwhistle). He explained how relieved they were to arrive at the belay ledge (just before the crux) and find a good spike there - they knew they could abseil off if they had to. Take a look at that "spike" when you get there!

In reply to jibberingwreck: A long while since I seconded this route, but I think my leader got a decent nut out right at the mantleshelf move. There is also a placement low down after the traverse right from the belay. Great route.

In reply to jibberingwreck:

I find the descriptions one reads of this route utterly bizarre. I did it many years ago when HVS was a pretty big thing, and I was expecting the long lonely lead described in Hard Rock. In reality this pitch is effectively a boulder problem, with loads of overhead gear, and over very quickly. The second pitch is much more worrying, and the final crack harder. especially of course for non-jammers.

jcm

In reply to johncoxmysteriously: the top crack is a cruise.

In reply to jibberingwreck:

The move is sufficiently far from a really good wire to make it 'very interesting', but safe.

In reply to stewart murray:

"A long while since I seconded this route, but I think my leader got a decent nut out right at the mantleshelf move. There is also a placement low down after the traverse right from the belay. Great route."

Dunno how you guys remeber this stuff. I can't even remember most routes I've done let alone the placements on them!

In reply to blancbleu:

Well at least one of us can't (quite probably me; it was 1986 or so). Graham D thinks the mantel is runout. I remember it as being extremely well-protected.

jcm

In reply to Anonymous:

Depends on your definition of run out, I guess. I remember doing it early on in my HVS career and the gear really seemed a long way off. Objectively it was probably about 5' away to the side.