Nestling on Holy Island's south west coast is a crag for connoisseurs. Hidden amongst the sparkling zawns, sea caves and secluded bays is a metamorphic masterpiece. Often overlooked in favour of its bigger brother Gogarth, this delightful venue has a handful of some of the highest quality sea cliff extremes in Wales.

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Rhoscolyn is more of an experience than a place. Your first acquaintance will be with the delightful 18th century St Gwenfaen’s church as you park up. Legend has it that in 630 AD Gwenfaen was chased away from her cell by druids and escaped by climbing the rock stack off Rhoscolyn head. Unfortunately, the tide came in but angels managed to carry her away, which is how Saints Bay got its name.

Patchwork quilts of Erica cinerea (purple bell heather) and yellow gorse draw your eyes to the deep blue horizon at the end of the road. As you reach the cliff tops you will realise why Rhoscolyn has been designated a "Site of Specific Scientific Interest"

The colour palette of the quartzite rock encountered is exquisite and apart from Scotland’s Beinn Eighe this variety is pretty much restricted to our very Gogarth. So be thankful that Mother Nature has blessed us with its presence. The quartzite at Rhoscolyn is certainly more distinctive than that experienced on the rest of Gogarth with its deep purple orange lustre sometimes fooling the climber into thinking it’s seeping.

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Developments elsewhere at Gogarth were well underway when Dave Durkan paid a fleeting visit to Sea Cave Zawn in 1970. He quickly added Symphony Crack which ranks as one of the all-time best Diff’s. Climbing the notoriously friable and scary Adrenalin (E3 5c) with a raging hangover possibly sucked away any enthusiasm he had for the place and developments halted until 1983 when Stevie Haston powered his way through the magnificent roof of Sea Cave Zawn to create Electric Blue (E4 5c).

It wasn’t till the summer of 1984 that things went riotous at Rhoscolyn when a local Kayaker by the name of Jadwat spotted some routes from his canoe. He told Paul Williams who returned with the legendary Jim Moran to literally demolish the place in one summer. Previously Jim had insisted that “there weren’t any 6a pitches on Cloggy yet as the rock has too many holds”, therefore an E4 6a was pretty hard by Moran scale, but not as way out as the Bancroft scale or as suicidal as the Ray Evans scale.

During an epic 1st ascent of The Jub-Jub Bird (E6 6b) Jim Moran’s second lobbed off the start of the overhang and swung so far out to sea that he came back with an Irish accent!

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It’s very possible that you too will be drawn in by the line of The Savage Sunbird (E2 5b) just as Paul Williams was in 1984. This route is in no doubt the best E2 at Rhoscolyn. The lower moves utilise a series of beautifully sculptured flakes; however, we have all been there when the holds keep coming and the gear isn’t having it. Just a bit of commitment is required to reach a sinker then you’re in for the ride of your life. What follows on the final groove represents all that’s wonderful about sea cliff climbing. None of the moves are easy but none are stoppers. Hidden nut placements that have to be earned and crimping on the most solid of quartzite will have you grinning all the way to the belay.

I was fortunate enough to be climbing with Dave Simmonite on our previous trip who I have to say has some pretty amazing footwork! As Dave pushed on through the maze of loose quartzite not daring to place a runner for fear of it pulling the crag down on us, I couldn’t but wonder how the story was going to end. At this point things weren’t looking great; the famous photographer had reached a large rattling pillar that he dared not use, a ground fall was on the cards and although it may have been good for my career as a photographer, Dave was a friend and I wanted to share a birthday beer with him later that evening. It soon became apparent, that even the talented Adam Long had struggled on it which takes some going and the route that we thought to be E2 was in fact The Cocktail Trip (E4 5c). Luckily a member of the team was on hand for a speedy haul out. A shaking Dave was rescued in the nick of time.

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Fallen Block and Sea Cave Zawns

What lies beyond Llawder is not for the faint-hearted. If you venture down into the nearby Fallen Block Zawn you will encounter a monolith of over-hanging adventures. Lacking the relaxed atmosphere of Llawder this is certainly not a place for the weak. Apart from the appealing slabbiness of Traunt (VS 4b) the routes here require big biceps and plenty of stamina. Developed mainly by Paul Williams and Jim Moran in the eighties this area is home to the best hard routes at Rhoscolyn. Centrefold (E3 5c) is quite possibly one of the best E3’s anywhere. Godzilla (E4 5c), The Trail of Tears (E4 6a) and Magellan's Wall (E5 6a) require either bags of stamina or a bold approach for success. If you don’t feel like an upside-down escapade then you’re better cutting your losses and going for a swim.

This, however, was not the attitude of Nick Bullock and Streaky Desroy when they added The Frumious Bandersnatch (E7 6c). It took 6 visits to tame the beast. Nick’s words of “under-cut with much vigour hoping the holds don’t explode before your biceps” and “place gear in the slightly worrying booming rail before you reach a point of total meltdown” tell a story. Apart from a lob of biblical proportions that sent the leader plunging into outer space, no casualties were encountered and the team had cracked the route in a very acceptable style.

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If you’ve survived this far then Electric Blue (E4 5c) in Sea Cave Zawn might be the next challenge on your list. As I stared up at the chaotic palace of downward pointing pillars what was it to be? Get stupidly pumped leading the dam thing or embark on the best deep-water solo on Anglesey. The scary looking pink jellyfish in the raging blue foam below gave me the excuse I needed to abandon ship for quieter waters.

Dave insisted there was a neglected gem going by the name of Fan Fare (HVS 4c) in a much less intimidating region of the zawn. I couldn’t believe my luck; this was going to make the history books as the photographer himself was about to be shot at a rate of 10 frames per second. Covering some impressive ground on larger than life holds the route was just what we needed after Dave’s terrifying experience earlier.

So what’s it to be? Trapped forever by the delights of sun, sea and exotic rock or might you chance your escape like Icarus did when his wings melted causing him to plummet into the depths of the Aegean sea.

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When to Climb

Since the majority of the cliffs are south facing and sheltered, the summer months can often be too hot. Fallen Block Zawn can be greasy in damp humid conditions because of its close proximity to the sea. Spring and autumn are the best seasons and even the winter on sunny still days can be very pleasant.

All the cliffs are non-tidal apart from Fallen Block Zawn where climbing isn’t possible for 2 hours either side of high tide.

Where to stay and eat

Excellent camping can be found at the Outdoor Alternative just down the road. The White Eagle pub in Rhoscolyn is excellent and in the past was visited by Prince William and his wife. If a few beers and a jolly good punch up is more your style then head for Holyhead.

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Gear

Two 50m ropes and a rack consisting of friends 0-3 and a double set of wires should suffice. For many of the routes in Fallen Block Zawn, Godzilla in particular, you will need plenty of slings to reduce drag over the roofs and a much larger rack. Many of the pegs are rotten and shouldn’t be trusted. Belays are often hard to find and require some imagination. I have found a removable stake to be really useful at this crag.

Guidebooks

The new Gogarth South guide by Ground Up is the only definitive guide to the area. North Wales Climbs by Rockfax contains a selection of the best routes as does the Ground Up North Wales Rock guide.

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