UKC

I'm taking a novice to North Wales in May, and I'd like to give them the full sea-cliff climbing experience. So I'm looking for a spectacular exposed Severe.

Is there such a thing?

In reply to Fredt:

They start at vs don't they? And they would be scary for a novice. Maybe down in Pembrokeshire (not North Wales though)

In reply to Fredt:

Symphony Crack (VD)

Thats yer badger. Not severe but ferkin good.

In reply to Fredt:
Symphony Crack is definitely the best option, also at Rhoscolyn if that goes smoothly are
Baggers Crack (S) (at the requested grade & from comments looks to be worth stars) and Truant (VS 4c) (not stiff for VS).

In reply to Fredt:

They look excellent suggestions, many thanks all.

In reply to Fredt:

There is ... but not in North Wales.

You may need to think outside the box and cast your eyes further south to less well-travelled and more secret places where there are sea cliff Severes a-plenty (well, 17 in total), on very good hard sandstone, which gives excellent climbing:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=19082
'Feral Pedestrian' would probably be exposed enough, with an exciting little abseil in as well.

Failing that, there are better climbs at the grade on the adjacent tidal island:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=19217
'Crab' is deservedly popular, although not that exposed but it can be approached without abseiling. 'Heavy the Beat of Weary Waves' is good and nicely exposed, while 'The Day the Balloon Went Up' is superb at the grade - and quite exposed too. Both the latter have abseil approaches.

The spectacular location, no queues and frequent sightings of pods of bottlenose dolphins feeding 50m offshore are simply the icing on the cake.

In reply to Fredt:

How novice is novice? can they abseil? can they climb harder than F5a? if so it's possible to maybe do something like lighthouse arete but it entirely depends on your abilities to avoid/resolve any issues taking a novice brings. I personally think Lighthouse Arete is doable for most people who are seconding around severe as long as they can cope with exposure. I wouldn't go near a tidal sea cliff with anyone who can't abseil safely or tie basic knots.

In reply to higherclimbingwales:

Agree with all of this.

Mick

In reply to Fredt:

Agree light house arête, it says vs in the guidebook but ignore that, plenty of the other routes there aren't too complicated provided as already stated, you and your partner have the right skills to get out of trouble, or at least not get yourselves in trouble in the first place!

In reply to Fredt:

Not every novice would appreciate the abseil down to lighthouse arete, though it is a cracking route and very flattering at VS.

In reply to Fredt:

A short venture would be porth y garan, lots of easy routes but no real exposure, great for novices though. It's all aingle pitch around 15 to 20m high, lovely grippy rock. There's a good online topo of it if you search google.

In reply to Mick Ward:

After having done it yesterday, I agree with this as well - Lighthouse Arete is a ladder. If they're happy to abseil and have a reasonable degree of fitness/"can-do" attitude, go and do that.

Alternatively, initiation slabs at Pembroke are meant to be a good intro to sea cliffs, and have some VERY amenable grades - just the wrong end of the country!

In reply to ianstevens:


It's not technically hard, but [I think] correctly graded VS because you don't want two people who've just started leading and seconding Severe at the bottom of it - the whole place is a bit serious.

In reply to DerwentDiluted:

I am also planning interested in some easyish sea cliffs.

Can you direct me to a route description for Baggers Crack.

There is no description on UKC and it does not appear in my copy of Rockfax "North Wales Climbs".

Any help much appreciated.

Thanks

In reply to abseil:

Agree with you on that one - if it was HS the coastguard would be far busier. However if the OP is competent then that shouldn't be an issue, so long as his second has the ability to get up it and head (probably a little "out there" if you only ever climbed indoors and the rope is beside you as opposed to above) to second the traverse at the start.

In reply to Fredt:

Not climbed here, but Craig Badraig over towrds Cemaes / Amlwch might be worth a look:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=15951

In reply to Stoff:

Baggers Crack 22m is in Fallen Block Zawn and looks something like the photo at the foot of this linked page.
http://www.sterling-adventures.co.uk/blog/2008/06/01/in-pursuit-of-the-idea...

In reply to The Ivanator:

Thanks...even I should be able to follow that line !!

Can't wait until summer