UKC

Hi,

Im heading up north wales way next week and trying to identify the best crags for lower grade bouldering. Usually Font 3/4 with some 5's.  

So far i have eyed up RAC boulders, Wavelength and Cromlech.

Just wondered if id missed anywhere glaringly obvious? Will be climbing Solo with one pad so could do without really sketchy landings. 

Wavelength area might be a bit shit with one pad, as I'm assuming you're not hugely experienced. 

There's coastal stuff on Anglesey, Benllech beach has a bunch of low grade stuff that has nice landings. There's a handful of low grade stuff at Snapdragon / Ogwen Cottage and just at the path up to Milestone Buttress, you could effectively just park at one end of Ogwen and walk from one end to the other and do them all.

Ill have a gander at Benllech beach.

Probably been outdoors about 10/15 times around roaches and churnet valley way. Would i be any better off at wavelength/cromlech with a second pad? Still unlikely to have a spotter though

I managed a good few 4/5/odd 6 at Porth Ysgo with one mat and no spotter the other day.. not the place to do yourself an injury on your own but pick your problems carefully and there’s plenty to go at still. 

RAC Boulders is the obvious one but Idwal Cottage is also worth a trip.

The Sheep Pen Boulders in the Ogwen Valley seems to have a good range of quality bouldering !

For my money I’d still head up the Pass and aim for the meadow. It’s an absolutely stunning place to go bouldering. Plenty of lower grade problems on the lower satellites above ynys ettws (ninja cut is the only one I can remember but there are more).  Have a go at gav’s gritty sitter (v4) and there’s a cool v0 slab problem next to it that you can do endless little eliminates on. You can head up to the (v2) meadow crack problem next to killer weed to get some altitude and a great view of the Grochan. Further up there’s a quality slab with some nice problems at the lower end of the spectrum by Lordy, Lordy. Great day out and the landings are perfectly doable with a single mat. 

Cheers guys for all the advice on areas. Since ive booked my accomodation the weather has started to look slightly sketchier wednesday and maybe thursday coming up. How quick does the rock dry off up snowdonia? Im used to climbing grit which can be a no go for days.

Varies massively, both in terms of weather (mountain crags can be soaked, coastal venues baking hot) and how quickly they dry (aspect/ drainage/ wind direction etc.) the big difference is that most of the rock can’t really be damaged by climbing it in the damp, so that’s good 

Potential good shouts for rainy days:

Tanygrisiau boulders (south facing)

carreg hylldrem (almost rainproof)

garreg ogof by trawsfynydd (can be in the rain shadow of the mountains)

RAC (dodge the showers and it can dry very quickly)

porth ysgo (v dodgy/ limited with one mat though)

Cheers mate.

Decided ill probably pick a second pad up on my way through north wales which should make it a bit less sketchy but will still have no spotter. 

RAC is my main aim from what everybodys provided here but will have a look through the others now

RAC is great at lower grades, loads of good quality problems, nice rock, excellent landings and all less than 2 minutes from the car. What’s not to like? There is also caseg fraith, which is a 10 minute drive up the road and has a nice slab for v0 to v2 problems. Have fun, hope the weather plays ball.