UKC

Does Flytrap require a drought of Biblical proportions to bring it into climbable conditions? Or is it meant to be climbed wet? We went to have a look today on the promise of low tides and the calmest seas ever, and the groove and traverse on the crux pitch were still sopping wet, with constant dripping from the roof of the cave. I sketched up the groove, dousing potential footholds in chalk in order to minimise faceplanting risk, and then finally admitted defeat on confirming the traverse itself was soaking too.

I'm interested in hearing from anyone who's done it or had a look in the past. Admittedly we've had quite a bit of rain in the last few weeks but overall it's been pretty dry over a longer period, I was pretty surprised it was so wet.

By the way, I am now aware that there is a bird ban in place until this Sunday - we saw one nest, probably close to the finishing point of the route itself, when we were escaping up an adjacent moss-riddled part of the promontory. The Ground Up selected North Wales guide does not mention this restriction, whereas it's pretty explicit for other parts of Gogarth. In addition, on the UKC crags database a lot of the Flytrap area routes are duplicated under Wen Zawn and Flytrap Zawn - the latter mentions the bird ban whereas the former does not. I've e-mailed the moderator about the duplication.

Cheers!
Pete.

In reply to PeteH:

I've done it, and it was dry at the time.

The wetness you encountered is more likely to be condensation than seepage, Pete.

Like lots of Gogarth, better to leave it until later in the day, and a westerly breeze will always help. Turn up too soon, in warm weather when the crag is sheltered from any wind and the sun hasn't yet hit the cliff, and you will be guaranteed 'gopping' rock.

But do go back. It is worth it!

Neil

In reply to Neil Foster:
Can you remember what time of day it was when you did it, and what the weather had been like otherwise? I'd be really keen to go back and do it, but it'd be nice to have a better idea of when it would be more likely to be dry. It was about 4pm by the time we got down and onto the crux pitch. It had been very warm the last couple of days, which I suppose might promote condensation, particularly after a colder previous few days. There seemed to be so much of a constant dripping from above that we became convinced it must be seepage rather than condensation!

A bit of sun on it would have been nice, but I'm guessing the sun never hits the crux pitch on Flytrap!

Cheers,
Pete.

In reply to PeteH:

Did it a few years back on what I recall was a warm dry day.

I remember some some damp holds but not dripping wet, the final few moves to the chockstone definately had Gogarth soapyness.

Gogarth genaerlly seems bone dry so I doubt it will get much better in the short term.

But great route, well worth going back for.

Phil

In reply to PeteH:

I climbed it earlier in the year on an overcast day. I seem to recall it was actually raining, whist Alex led the crux. The top traverse was pretty slimey, but not really wet. Take lots and lots of chalk!

We were also unaware of the bird ban.

Like Neil we climbed the route late in the day.

We both thought it was a tad under graded at E2, but a fantastic route.

HTH

Tom

In reply to PeteH:

I did it in July (I think it may have been the day before the bird ban came off but we didn't know about that). I remember us taking ages to find the ab point but the route was dry. I thought it was quite hard, the peg was a stump and the other gear around it uninspiring and the move to the chock stone hard. Not sure it was worth 3 stars

Cheers all - sounds hopeful. I was honestly worrying it was always soaking! A bit of the usual Gogarth damp/soapiness we could've handled, but this was definitely different. Maybe we just got unlucky with condensation. Cold weather leading to depths of cave being cold, followed by warm weather leading to lots of evaporation and it all condensing up the cave? Sound plausible?

A mate of mine, who climbs quite hard, has just told me it's a good DWS at high tide. Gulp!

Pete.

In reply to PeteH: Sorry for not getting back sooner. The route has been damp despite beeing there after a period of dry weather, and getting there in the afternoon. It is I think a route that remains damp for a while.

Not sure if it was condensation like a previous poster mentioned, maybe? But it was dripping when we did it. The cave was very cold, I remember getting the hot aches in there, as the rock never see the sun up there. Who know, I do know that it os often damp from other ascents.

Will try and check out the duplication i the logbooks.

In reply to PeteH:

Was dry when I done it but with the usual wetness you get from a sea cave. Id also give it a grade of E3. Pretty stiff pulling to get over the chockstone. The route packs quite a punch for 50 odd meters or so.

Centurion05

In reply to centurion05: This thread has really put me off the route - I'd previously really wanted to do it. First few visits to Gogarth made me think that everything was a soft-touch, once you got past the grip-factor. I've since experienced some hard routes and the infamous 'toothpaste effect' and I've changed my cocky little opinion somewhat.

In reply to Jon Stewart:

its a good route, don't be put off by that. i wouldn't say gogarth is soft touch though.....