UKC

I am going to Wales for vacation in the end of May for about 10 days. We plan to do some touring and mix in some climbing while we are at it. We plan to hit up Pembroke (st. davids), The Gower area (three cliffs bay), tremadog, the pass (cloggy maybe, slate quarries, dinas mot, dinas cromlech) are some of the places I plan on stopping in, weather permit of course.

I will be checking a bag with limited space and weight. Do I NEED two half ropes to climb at these places? I was planning on stearing clear of any meandering routes to avoid having to bring two ropes but maybe thats not possible. Should I buy another while I am there and ship it back with me? or can i get away with one rope?

In reply to CL1MB0N:

In general, the structure of Welsh rock tends to "meander". Routes that go straight up splitter cracks, or straight up the middle of blank slabs, are few & far between. There's a reason why half ropes are standard for British trad climbing. Having said that, I'm sure somebody competent and experienced with extending gear for single rope trad climbing would find things to do.

St Davids: not that familiar with the area, but from what I've seen generally shorter routes and less tidal/abseil approaches than South Pembroke. Probably ok.
Tremadog: quite a few wandering pitches but probably feasible.
CLoggy, Dinas Mot: definitely not places I would really want to go to with a single rope, but probably doable if you choose routes with care.
Cromlech: ok
Slate: ok except provided you don't embarrassingly strand yourself at the top of the Dervish (40 metre abseil descent)

In reply to CL1MB0N:

I most often climb with one 60m half rope doubled up. Saves weight on the hill and most routes have pitches under 30m.

In reply to CL1MB0N:

You'll cope with a single rope just fine.

You can always use both ends if the route has scattered runners or wanders. The only place you might want two is for the slate but only really for the longer harder lines which tend to be long pitches with spaced gear.

jk

In reply to CL1MB0N:

Lots of gear shops in Llanberis & you can check on UKC for gear shops in other areas.

So if you think need another rope then it will be easy enough to get one

In reply to AlanLittle:

What about trad gear wise? I want to go relatively minimal but still be safe. What I have:
BD Cams 000-4 (doubles from 0.75-2)
Full Set of BD Nuts
Half set of DMM Offsets
5 Alpine Slings
12 Sport Draws
Cordalette - 30ft
Slings
Lockers
Full set of Hexes

I was thinking about leaving behind my #4 and #0.3, My hexes and most of my sport draws.

In reply to CL1MB0N:

Most Brits carry a double rack of wires and a single rack of cams, so I'd say bring all the wires and slim the cams down. In Pembroke it can be rare to place cams at all. I only carry hexes in winter personally. 8 draws plus 4 alpine draws and 2 slings, 2 lockers should be enough for anything, you won't need the cordalette either.