UKC

If you want a quiet crag in N Wales on a Bank Holiday, follow me!

I posted last BH that I was on the Cromlech soloing with no one else around, well yesterday we went to South Stack and again had the crag to ourselves in the sun, it was lush! write up on my site http://www.jbmountainskills.co.uk/news/route-of-the-week-no-4

It was a little overcast in Llanberis, and looked like it might rain, so we headed over to Anglesey. As we got to the gearing up spot at about 12:30, there were some people leaving who told us there was a lot of seepage on some of the routes, but Lighthouse Arete was dry so that's what we did. After a couple of hours most of the crag had dried off.

Chatting to someone after the route who was scaring his son by showing him the abseil line, they said that Holyhead Mountain was heaving.

In reply to jezb1:

Good write up, love the photo of Heather reaching the belay ledge, classic expression!

In reply to jezb1:

But... but... If everyone who wants to go somewhere quiet follows you then it won't be quiet

In reply to davidbeynon:

I'm ahead of you there, I'm going to announce where I'm going in advance but then go somewhere different, but don't tell anyone

Was in Vivian Quarry this afternoon doing a link up, by my standards it was super busy - two other people in the quarry!

In reply to jezb1:

I was climbing some of the more obscure crags in the N Pembroke area. Saw nobody on Sat, and only 2 groups on Sun.

I'm pretty sure I could develop an algorithm to spot quiet, quality crags automatically based on walk in length and drive times from known honeypots.

In reply to jezb1:

Is this another: 'So climbing is dying out and no one does it anymore' thread?

In reply to DubyaJamesDubya:

Definitely not, just boasting about my ability to find quiet crags on bank holidays!

I don't believe climbings dying out at all, I hope not anyway as it would mean less work for me!

In reply to jezb1:

It's not exactly dying out, but it's certainly changing. While a small elite (I don't mean that in a derogatory way at all) are climbing better and more boldly than ever before, the vast majority are climbing less adventurously and more comfortably within their limits. And possibly a bit let imaginatively in terms of venues etc. It seems to be a general trend in our culture, and perhaps across all of Europe (as witnessed by the burgeoning of blinkered nationalism) - a general, new inward-looking timidity. Whereas we used to embrace the world, now we've become afraid of it.

In reply to jezb1:

Bus stop quarry, llanberis, was heaving!

In reply to jezb1:

We were amazed to have the Clach Glas Blaven traverse to ourselves on Saturday with amazing weather too.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

What about those of us who are crap climbers, but love to go to remote and rarely climbed areas to explore?

Not sure where I fit in.

In reply to Wesley Orvis:

According to the logbook, only 2 people have ever climbed Clach Glas North Ridge so I wouldn't expect a crowd! (Seriously, why is this?)

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

That's an interesting point Gordon - the ratio of roadside climbers to long walk ins seems to be skewing massively to the roadside crags.

Gone are the days when the norm was to get the train to the other side of the country then cycle 30 miles only to face an hour's walk in!

We were at Craig yr Haul the other weekend and I was amazed at the texture of the rock - totally virgin. Virtually no logbook ticks on the crag.

Dom.

In reply to jezb1:

I do sometimes wonder if people avoid some good areas on a bank holiday because they think they'll be too popular.
I find parking for the crags in the Pass can be quite difficult since it appears that Snowdon ascentionists will be filling up any spaces as far down as Nant Peris.

In reply to Landy_Dom:

The OP was talking about Castell Helen though which is less of a walk-in than Holyhead Mountain. It does however reinforce Gordon's point about climbers being risk-averse though these days. Bus-stop quarry and Holyhead Mountain are decent enough crags, but in the past, we would only ever have gone there instead of better crags in bad weather or due to lack of time. They hardly represent the best that North Wales has to offer.

In reply to DubyaJamesDubya:


Quite possibly

This weekend was also something of a special case (or possibly not-all-that-special) in that the forecast was extremely mixed for most of the weekend, so people will probably have been more conservative than usual with their route and crag choice.

I remember when there was the long dry spell last year, people were complaining about queues at Cloggy...

In reply to wynaptomos:


Erm, were you in North Wales this weekend?

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Yes, not climbing though I admit, just going off the OP's info.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:


I think the media focus on that elite plays its part here, in that most media interest is on new routes at the extreme high end of the grade spectrum, which can be intimidating for those of us new to to the sport who will never climb at anywhere near that standard.

There are still adventures to be had at the lower grades though, especially in Winter. You just have to use a bit of imagination and maybe choose not to go where everyone else goes.

Andrew.

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Yes, it was mobbed on the one day I got up there

In reply to DubyaJamesDubya:


Probably they all got lost on their way to The Sidings or something.

In reply to jezb1:


Doesn't South Stack have bird restrictions on most of it this time of year?

With this topic already having 21 replies, I feel like I'm on a panel show and a buzzer is about to sound leaving me with minus points.

In reply to Mark Collins:

Restrictions apply to Mousetrap Zawn and Red Walls, the OP was climbing at Castell Helen which is outside the ban.

In reply to The Ivanator:

Sorry, perhaps I should have been more specific when I said most of South Stack.

In reply to jezb1:

There were loads of people on the Main Cliff especially on Monday. Busiest I've seen it I think.

Also on the last BH I headed to Swanage which was pretty busy... maybe if folk want to avoid the busy crags they should find out where I'm going and avoid??

Dunc

In reply to Duncan Campbell - UKC:

Hey Dunc, I for one am quite happy to be at the same crag as you (I was at Swanage on the first BH weekend and met you and others on Boulder Ruckle - glad for the info re routes).
So I got up Jo without a struggle (after having found it ) is thunderball a good next bet ???

In reply to Ciderslider:

Hey Ciderslider,

Brilliant effort! Glad you found, cruised and enjoyed Jo.

Thunderball is definitely a good next bet, it is harder than Jo but the second pitch just has a harder move through the roof and is very steady below and above that plus there is good gear to be had to protect it.

Just take care with your rope work as embarrassingly my ropes got caught as I topped out and I had to down climb the looseness to free the ropes!

Good luck!!

Dunc

In reply to jezb1:

nice blog mate, plannin on doin that route in the not so distant future. like in about 66hours time...lol.
looks like you got lucky with the weather too.