Gwynedd > Lliwedd >
 
Avalanche/Red Wall/Longlands*** HVD

Adjacent Climbs
<< Terminal Arete
 
The Sword >>
[Jenny on the second belay, 3 kb]A route that is steeped in history, and the classic of the buttress. Start below the right-hand end of Heather Shelf. Photo on page 109. 1) 20m. Follow the groove to Heather Shelf. 2) 30m. Climb diagonally rightwards onto a face, then climb upwards to belay 4m left of a prominent spike, level with a dog-leg in the corner off to the right. 3) 15m. Climb up to belay left of a quartz band. 4) 25m. Move right and climb the quartz band. The groove above leads to moves rightwards to gain some ledges. Move onto the right-hand side of the rib to the right and climb it to a spike belay. 5) 33m. A vegetated groove up and right leads to a tall, thin block. 6) 33m. A scramble rightwards along a shelf leads to a stance on the Great Terrace. 7) 4a, 24m. (The start of Red Wall). Move rightwards to a grassy groove. Climb this to a hard move onto a rib leading to some good ledges. Belay at the bottom of a deep groove pointing towards the top of Terminal Arete. 8) 4a, 30m. Climb up a rib, passing a pinnacle on the right to a ledge. Climb the short wall to the Green Gallery. 9) 10m. Climb leftwards to belay about 10m left of the huge gully. 10) 25m. (The start of Longland's Continuation) Climb the left arete of a steep face to a hollow. A jammed block leads rightwards to a slab. Climb the slab, trending rightwards after 6m and pass another slab to belay in a grassy slot. 11) 30m. Follow a rib on the right to belay beneath a steep slab. 12) 4b, 15m. The final pitch is the crux slab! It can be climbed direct, or trend left at half height. © ROCKFAX

Ticklists: Classic Rock, North Wales Rock Graded List, UK's best Diffs and V.diffs, Mountain Rock (big mid grade summit routes on rock!).

Photo: Jenny on the second belay © Stefan_Morris
View all 5 photos or Submit a new photo of this climb.

PUBLIC LOGBOOKS
This climb is in 187 logbooks, and on 77 wishlists.

Dan_Staff - AltLd - 29/Sep/12 with Alistair Everett

Epic! lead final pitch in the rain and topped out into a storm with 50/60 mph winds and stinging hail - unbelievable.
deejmonkey - AltLd - 09/Sep/12 with Damian

Training for Madagascar, making sure our rope work was up to scratch!
vertigo714 - AltLd O/S - 01/Sep/12 with Joss Jones

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 12/Jun/12

Hidden - AltLd - 11/Jun/12

Hidden - 2nd - 28/May/12

TCarrick - AltLd O/S - 26/May/12

Lead P1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 + 13. Route finding not too bad thanks to chalked up holds - Is that much chalk really necessary on mountain routes? Did stray off at the start of red wall, but managed to get back on route. Fantastic day out! Topped out at 8:30!
Mike Nolan - AltLd O/S - 26/May/12

Led P1-7. Falling snow made it all the more fun!
Slick - AltLd - 06/May/12 with Kate Standeven, Kevin Vans-Colina

Started snowing as we got to the bottom of the route, but luckily it stopped not long after. Moved together up most of Avalanche, then went off route a little bit on Red Wall / Longlands and ended up pitching some dirty, loose and fairly tricky pitches.
Clay C - AltLd O/S - 06/May/12 with George

Moved together until I took over, took us off route and up a more adventurous line. Bled a lot over the rocks and tried not to drop too much on my partner!
67hours - 06/May/12 with Clay

Route finding was a hard! but brilliant fun :D
Stefan_Morris - AltLd - 05/May/12 with jenny

Neal Butterworth - AltLd O/S - 01/Apr/12 with George Fisher

Hidden - AltLd - 30/Mar/12

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 30/Mar/12

lots of loose rock, 3* for aventure, none for the actual climbing
arandall - AltLd O/S - 30/Mar/12 with Wendy Matthews

great adventure :) lots of wobbly rocks were a little unsettling
Wendy Watthews - AltLd - 30/Mar/12 with arandall

Very nervous about this mountain crag route, but found as the day and climb went on I become more and more confident, even tackling an arete head on! I became better in my technique and noticed my choice of moves becoming less rushed and more thought out and executed.
nick_curtis01 - 2nd O/S - 29/Mar/12 with James Mackey

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 22/Mar/12

mcglenr25 - AltLd O/S - 22/Mar/12 with Francis Charlesworth

Hidden - 2012

A Downing - 2012

TheAndyBarker - 2012

TheAndyBarker - 2012

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 2012

captain dringo - 2012

Hidden - 2012

Darrell Read - Lead - 15/Oct/11 with Gabriele Ziluite, Matt Freeman

mattx1123 - 2nd - 15/Oct/11 with Gabriele Ziliute, Darrel Read

An epic outing in the rain and buffeting winds and an interesting walk back down to the Llanberis pass in the dark. The quality of the climbing didn't live up to expectations although this may have been at least partly down to the general wetness. Protection was very poor on most pitches and there was LOTS of loose rock. A memorable day for the adventure and the situation (stunning views across the Snowdon lakes) but not really for the climbing unfortunately.
madasten - AltLd O/S - 29/Aug/11 with Anna, Miquel

Great day's climbing - ominous place to climb, but the weather stayed with us and the route finding wasn't too tricky.
Alex Thompson - AltLd O/S - 19/Aug/11 with Jon Thompson

Hidden - AltLd - 23/Jul/11

jon59 - AltLd - 02/Jul/11

Great day out to do my longest UK multipitch. A few nice pitches with choss inbetween spoilt slightly by a party going past us then proceeding to dislodge lots of rock that narrowly (3 metres) missed us. Route finding was quite straight forward using the guide as we went. Also the route is well worn.
JWB - AltLd O/S - 02/Jul/11 with Ian Stokes

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 02/Jul/11

will_benfold - Lead O/S - 04/Jun/11 with Will HC

gravity - AltLd O/S - 04/Jun/11 with Manik

ian d f - Lead O/S - 04/Jun/11 with Michael P

Hidden - May/11

Hidden - 2nd O/S - 24/Apr/11

Led all but P6. Leader ahead of us fell off on P2, breaking his ankle and needing a helicopter rescue. Rest of the route nothing special, although the final slab adds a good sting in the tail.
Monkey_Alan - Lead O/S - 24/Apr/11 with Paul Jackson

a fine day out led p2,4,6,8,11,12
katherinesydney - AltLd O/S - 24/Apr/11 with andrew funnell, steve mount, jo morrison

It was good because it was on such a big crag, but too broken up with easy grassy climbing to be worth 3* or even 2* in my opinion. topping out at the peak of Lliwedd was cool.
willoates - AltLd O/S - 20/Apr/11 with Phill, Steve

Climbing in the wet and rain made it that little more interesting...
tscoobydoo - AltLd O/S - 16/Apr/11 with phillip belcher

Phil Belcher - AltLd O/S - 16/Apr/11 with tommy

Hidden - 10/Apr/11

Hidden - 2011

31770 - 2011

Hidden - 2011

birdie num num - 2011

Hidden - 2011

Hidden - 2011

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 2011

pearson9596 - 2nd O/S - 2011

Ben C - 2011

Hidden - 2011

Tobias at Home - 2011

Tobias at Home - 2011

jon59 - 2011

Hidden - AltLd - 03/Sep/10

Graham Westbrook - AltLd - Sep/10

Started via The Sword instead of Avalanche. Great fun although did have to queue a bit for Red Wall/Longlands so lost momentum near the top but still a great day out. Not as loose or veggie as expected! Would def come back.
Batt - AltLd O/S - 03/Jul/10 with James Hoyes

becksta500 - AltLd O/S - 27/Jun/10 with Alex Smith

asmith37 - AltLd O/S - 27/Jun/10 with Bex Leigh

Ed Feldman - AltLd O/S - 27/Jun/10 with Steven Andrews

Great mountain route with lots of options, a fantastic position for a top out and a perfect approach to Snowdon
Steven Andrews - AltLd O/S - 27/Jun/10 with Ed

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 25/Jun/10

stuart34 - AltLd O/S - 20/Jun/10 with Jess Christley

Jess Christley - AltLd - 20/Jun/10 with Stuart Inchley

Liam Ingram - Lead O/S - 16/Jun/10 with Tabea Fiechter

Excellent day out. Use the marble streaks on the wall to identify the start of the route. Keep an eye as you approach; when you're at the foot of the face it can be difficult to pick out the start. Oh, and stay away from the fractured red stuff on Red Wall - Climb more to the right.
ruaidh - AltLd O/S - 12/Jun/10 with Chris Sansum, Zoe

Just did the pitches from the great terrace as a finish to the sword
monsteratt - AltLd - 12/Jun/10 with Will K

Chris P1-5 P6 is an easy scramble. Rory P7-11. Zoe P12. Really nice route. Excellent quality rock. Perfect weather, and the climb was bone dry. Found the route easy to follow once we had located the start. Finished the day off with a pint in the Snowdon cafe and a wander down Crib Goch.
Chris Sansum - AltLd O/S - 12/Jun/10 with Zoe, Rory Galvin

Hidden - AltLd - 06/Jun/10

Nice day, easy climb, route finding can be interesting.
Stuart Wildman - AltLd O/S - 05/Jun/10 with Rob Sykes

In trainers, with headtorches on. Topped out at 1am (climbing took just over an hour)
sam820 - Solo O/S - Jun/10 with Phil

griff90 - AltLd O/S - 31/May/10

Took about 4 hrs. Let pitches 1,2,3,5,6,top of 8,9,10 and 12.
Fatclimber - AltLd O/S - 22/May/10 with Gavin

iceaxejuggler - AltLd O/S - 17/Apr/10 with George M

12.15 - 7.45pm!
GBM - AltLd O/S - 17/Apr/10 with JT

MarekM - Lead - Apr/10

Microwired22 - 2010

matt.woodfield - AltLd - 17/Oct/09

Stupidly spent an hour climbing XS desperate choss to reach the heather ledge; lobbing mud, stones, flakes, heather, wet sods and swear words off in the process. Route finding went well thereafter, but you could see why it's tricky. Lovely traditional mountain route and needs to be viewed with a mountaineer's hat on. Some loose stuff. If you are on route, it's not vegetated at all. Final polished slab had some bold spice - a sting in the tail. Stunning views. Great Top Out!
jimorothy - AltLd - 25/Sep/09 with Rachel Crolla

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 12/Sep/09

Started climbing at around 10am and finished about 5pm. The route is good, but hard to follow, with grass and mud in various bits throughout. The final longlands pitch (S 4b in newest guide), felt at lot more VS 4b/c taking the direct line up the right hand side of the main slab, perhaps there's a different S 4b line up it! Topped out to a round of applause from the walkers above watching my everymove, and a stunning cloud inversion to the East.
hcooper - Lead - 12/Sep/09 with Jennifer Slack

tlmarjot - AltLd O/S - 12/Sep/09 with Ben Lea

Great route - some superb pitches
Babika - AltLd - 22/Aug/09 with Jason Parker and Sue Jackson

lazybones - AltLd O/S - 22/Aug/09 with Tom Pearson

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 24/Jul/09

Hidden - AltLd - 24/Jul/09

Ben HW - AltLd - 15/Jul/09 with James Brownhill

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 13/Jun/09

Good climb in a stunning position, route finding interesting at times! Combined with the Snowdon horseshoe makes a good day out.
hilled101 - AltLd O/S - 31/May/09 with Rich P

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 24/May/09

Danny Crump - 2nd O/S - 23/May/09 with Bernie Sosin

jamesh - Lead - 01/May/09 with Emily Price

6.5 Hours - Hauling rucksacks up after climb too. Don't know if on route the whole way. Very vegetated too in places. Awesome climb. Done as guidebook published 100 years ago!! Topped out to a cracking sunset
sleavesley - AltLd O/S - 17/Mar/09 with Tom Shooter

paulh1967 - 2009

Hidden - 2009

donkster - AltLd O/S - 2009 with DaveNW

Swirly - AltLd O/S - 27/Sep/08 with Dale Lee

Hidden - Lead - 21/Sep/08

2nd Ascent of this remarkable climb. Very damp start. Long day in the mountains.
Owdham - Lead rpt - Sep/08 with Ginge

Hidden - AltLd - 23/Aug/08

Siany - 02/Aug/08 with Rob Shepherd

Mark Salter - 26/Jul/08

Sunny start, followed by rain and cloud. 4hrs
shaun.fox - AltLd β - 25/Jul/08 with Darryl

victim of mathematics - Lead O/S - 16/Jun/08 with Kimberley Saint

Chriswallis2 - AltLd O/S - 16/Jun/08 with jenny

igneouscarl - AltLd O/S - 10/May/08 with Tom Stahl

the juicy dangler - AltLd O/S - 09/Feb/08 with carlene hill

Carly - AltLd - 09/Feb/08 with Richard

AndrewJenkins - 2008

Hidden - 2008

mr random - 2008

Hidden - AltLd - 26/Aug/07

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 19/Jul/07

dunno if we were on route all the way?
Andrew.Davies - Lead O/S - 07/Jun/07 with Mr Fingers

unfit - AltLd - 06/Jun/07 with john N

Rob84 - Lead O/S - Jun/07 with Drew and Jim

Graeme Hammond - Lead O/S - 08/Apr/07 with Pete aka Dad

Hidden - Lead dog - 03/Feb/07

jepotherepo - 2007 with richard lackey

Sean Kelly - 2007

tumbling wizard - Lead - 2007

mikekeswick - AltLd - Nov/06 with tommy

Hidden - AltLd - Aug/06

A fucking epic... The hardest, dirtiest most overgrown Vdiff know to mankind with no protection to boot... Experience was made better by my partner getting quite seriously ill halfway up requiring the aid of Snowdons big yellow air taxi! Will be back to complete the job though! : )
Cameron13 - AltLd dnf - 14/Jul/06 with SecretSquirrel

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 07/Jul/06

Enjoyed the climb but don't follow any polish as all the wrong route choices are polished as well as the true routes! A few pairs overtook us but often then climbed the wrong route for the next pitch - requires good route finding and concentrating on the route description.
gazbonutter - AltLd O/S - 01/Jul/06 with Pete MacDonald

Ybot Htulk - AltLd - Jul/06 with Kristoffer

kristofferalpsjo - AltLd O/S - Jul/06 with Toby Kluth

Caralynh - AltLd O/S - 16/Jun/06 with Paul Dickenson

paul_d - AltLd O/S - 16/Jun/06 with Cara-lyn Reynolds

Karlos - AltLd O/S - 10/Jun/06 with Paul Lee, Sandra

A Crook - AltLd O/S - 08/Apr/06 with Duncan Hassell, Dom Stockton

Hidden - 2006

Shad - Lead - 2006

in rain storm
Nicos - Solo O/S - 25/Aug/05 with mikey

leonjones - AltLd - 26/Jun/05 with Paul Ness

BALD EAGLE - AltLd - 11/Jun/05 with Christian Darr

Richard Horn - AltLd O/S - May/05

Hidden - AltLd - Feb/05

What a Superb day out. All day climbing in wonderful Snowdonia. Best day in the Mountains ever.
Owdham - AltLd O/S - 2005 with NickBrat

Hidden - AltLd - 21/Aug/04

Hidden - AltLd O/S - Jun/04

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 23/Nov/03

Moved together, alpine style for the whole route in preperation for Marks trip to the Alps
dean.lindsey - 2nd O/S - 02/Aug/03 with Mark Watson

Hidden - AltLd - 13/Jul/03

John HW - AltLd - Jul/03 with Cath

Took a leisurely 3 hours.
Phil West - AltLd O/S - 29/Jun/03 with Shaun Walby

shaun walby - AltLd O/S - 29/Jun/03 with Phil West

Hidden - AltLd - 26/Jun/03

jamie ward - AltLd O/S - 15/Jun/03 with Andrew Parish

See logs of individual routes for details
Toreador - AltLd O/S - 21/Jan/03 with Peter, Carmen

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 06/Jul/02

Hidden - 2nd - Jun/02

Ed Booth - 2001

Ed Booth - 2001

Ann S - 2nd - Jun/00 with Bill Harrison

marcoleptic - AltLd O/S - 2000 with Stuey, Gibbon Bum, Banjo, Moley

Steve Lenartowicz - 2000 with Pammy

J1PEF - 2000

DavidR - AltLd O/S - 27/Aug/98 with John Marston

this is what i call proper climbing
NewLeaf - 2nd - Jun/96 with chris

Backed offwhen the snow got too heavy.
adi bryant - Solo dnf - Apr/96

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 1996

Budge - AltLd O/S - Jul/95 with Richard Teed

Started 12:00, finished 8:00. Atmospheric cloud inversion.
iskra2000 - 06/Aug/94 with Keith Barbour, Paul Woodcock

Mickdenali - Lead O/S - Aug/94 with Keith Biddle

Hidden - Solo - 14/Jul/94

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 1993

Iain Thow - AltLd - 22/Jul/90 with Craig James, Dean James

not sure of date, great day out, lying on top of ridge in sun befre walking the horseshoe to complete.
lithos - Jun/90 with martin brown

mark-abz - AltLd - Jul/85 with Charlie G

Nigel Bond - Lead - 19/Jun/83 with Nick

Hidden - May/80

Chris Craggs - 1980

Kafoozalem - AltLd - 1976 with David Walter

Falko - AltLd O/S - 19/Oct/75 with Al W.

Bolt Phobia - AltLd - 12/Jun/75 with Wil Hurford

Mark Kemball - AltLd - 1975 with Dave "Hamish" Wilkinson

lump'o'lead - 1970

zukator - 1970

Hidden - AltLd - 15/Oct/65

GMC Party. Done many times including in partial winter conditions
David Smith - Lead - 1964

Users with this climb on their wishlist are:
cmarsden5, Hidden, the power, Hidden, Rocktart, Deezel65, sam0000, Hidden, Stu Howard, Hidden, Hidden, Hidden, budchawla, Hidden, Ross.Cooper, CM1992, JONLIKE, wurzelinzummerset, Hidden, jon_ridley, Ffej, mattmurphy, Hidden, adam.wall, Dan Geh, Sianny, Hidden, bigmrp, muwasi, ayuplass, byatt2002, Hidden, minus273degrees, Tyson Broad, johnpr, groovy chick, Hidden, Hidden, zach.stone, Wizard's_Ping, Hidden, dansmonkeytroubles, Lumbering Oaf, Ian Archer, paulerussell, Hidden, Sankey, Templeton Adams, stevez, Hidden, jumpingjimminy, Dan Lane, Hidden, Jimb0, snakes77, Richard Morgan, huweylewy, mjbeckett, Hidden, Hidden, tobydunford, Hidden, frume, LittleJoe, Hidden, Ezy Ryder, Hidden, kleinej, Hidden, Hidden, Hidden, Hidden, DerwentDiluted, snave29, Hidden, Hidden, sgl0jd

Voting
Total votes cast 68
hard S0 of 34
S0 of 34
easy S22 of 34
hard HVD5 of 34
HVD7 of 34
easy HVD0 of 34
hard VD0 of 34
VD0 of 34
easy VD0 of 34
3 Stars14 of 34
2 Stars14 of 34
1 Star2 of 34
0 Stars2 of 34
Bag of .....2 of 34
Please Login as Existing User to rate this climb.
Style of ascent

Soloed4 of 187 (2.1%)
Lead20 of 187 (10.7%)
Followed10 of 187 (5.3%)
Alt Leads112 of 187 (59.9%)
Unknown41 of 187 (21.9%)

'Climbed'95 of 187 (50.8%)
clean O/S87 of 187 (46.5%)
clean β1 of 187 (0.5%)
clean rpt1 of 187 (0.5%)
dogged1 of 187 (0.5%)
dnf2 of 187 (1.1%)