UKC

Any suggestions for a first E3 in the snowdonia area , with half decent gear and really just a nice route
around the ogwen and llanberis area?

many thanks

ioan

In reply to IOAN D:

Dervish?

In reply to IOAN D:

left wall with one shoe?

In reply to Morgan Woods: i will keep that in mind

In reply to IOAN D:

Well, what type of climbing are you good at or prefer? No good pointing you at a crack if you don't like crack climbs.

Bob

In reply to IOAN D:

Demitrius in Ogwen is well protected and slabby so that mght be good. My first E3 was Stairway to Heaven on the Mot but it was E2 then. There are loads on slate but some might not be considered "real" 'cos they rely on bolts. Foil is well protected but hard, Memory Lane is ok protected and quite easy but loos high up. Avoid Tremadog!

In reply to IOAN D:

Quasar - Grochan
Foil - Cromlech
Stroll On - Grochan
Comes the Dervish - Vivian

If you fancy something further away, like on Gogarth.

Rat Race - Main Cliff
The Moon - Yellow Wall
Red Wall - Red Wall
Redshift - Red Wall
Wendigo - Red Wall

In reply to Adam Lincoln:

Good God Adam! Stroll On as a first E3! And Quasar, I found that harder than Right Wall! And the Red Wall routes....

As noted before: Demetrius

The Exterminating Angel, Craig Cwm Trwsgl is bottom end E3 and excellent.
Samurai Groove, Hyll Drem is steep but on very good holds.
Pellagra, Craig y Castell is technical and well protected.
Geireagle, Bwlch y Moch is simply weird


Bob

In reply to Bob:

Well, they are well protected

And as for Red Wall routes, its character building for later on....

In reply to Adam Lincoln:
Ity's character building all right! Wendigo though is quite alright I thought at E3. As mentioned before, Foil is well protected but I found it quite, or rather very hard. Memory lane is alright to, the 5c crux wasn't to hard if you have an average reach.
If you like exposure and sea cliffs then the moon on yellow walls is also OK at E3. not realy that hard, and the difficult section is near the belay with good gear anyways.
Quasar and stroll on, well I agree with Bob, they are quite hard for their grade, I found them both harder than ressurection, and positron. Infact I found the crux's ahrder than the cad even (although at elast if you fluff them up your OK where as the cad is far more serious!)
Think in general the Grochan is toughly graded.
My first E3 was silly arete, it's quite OK for the grade, protection where needed and once your over the roof it's steady E1 climbing, just keep it together with the lack of gear.

In reply to nicholas Barrowclough: I'd agree The Moon is not hard for E3, but the crux cannot be seen except by a very tall belayer ie it's miles from the belay. It's certainly close to the belay for the leader to watch how his second is going to do it though.

In reply to IOAN D: no doubt dervish

In reply to IOAN D:

How about Green Wall in the Moelwyns? That'd be alright as long as the peg in the top bit is still good

Or there's that little crag near the top of the Llanberis Pass, I think the names Goat Crag (but in welsh). There's a big groove there that's E3. (It's the same crag as Tangerine Trip and Red Giant.... ...I think)

In reply to TimB:
Tangerine trip is excellent! But not as a first E3 as it's E5, sorry to hijack the thread.

In reply to nicholas Barrowclough:

I know - I just can't remember the name of the crag or the E3!!!

In reply to TimB:
Clogwyn Gafr, Pulsar, E3 6a is quite good, the other good E3 up there is Satsuma special, E3 5c

In reply to nicholas Barrowclough:

Ah yes.
http://www.ukclimbing.com/databases/crags/craginfo.html?id=703

And the other E3 I was wittering about is here
http://www.ukclimbing.com/databases/crags/craginfo.html?id=863

In reply to TimB:


Funny you should mention this as only yesterday I suggested E4 for this on another thread, bold and pumpy as I recall, don't remeber there being a peg either.

In reply to IOAN D:
My first was The Dervish and 2nd was Plumbline on the Great Orme but thats a bit further away.

The Ent

In reply to Bob:

Got to agree with that Stroll On and Quaser are bloody hard for the grade!

In the pass can't think of many obvious classic that would make a good E3 - Memory Lane is pretty OK but you do need to be happy on some boldish ground.

A bit further afield Rhoscolyn has the Sun and Mask of the Red Death both fairly easy for E3 and well protected. Sun is the classic but Mask... is also excellent (possibly more like E2). If they feel easy Centrefold round the corner is great and solid E3. Rhosycoln gives a feel of Gogarth but in a intimidating / serious position.

In reply to Ian Patterson:
I had a wobbler on the top pith of Mask!!!!! Doh

The Ent

In reply to Ian Patterson:

Obviously that should read 'in a LESS intimidating' !!

In reply to IOAN D:

Lubyanka - Cyrn Las

-John

In reply to Ian Patterson:

Quasar is a hard E3 as I remember having been on it twice, probably not a good first choice (unless you've got some stamina)

The Sun at Rhoscolyn can't be E3 - hard E1 or easy E2 maybe. The Mask of the Red Death felt more E3-like, but certainly low in the grade. Either of these is a fine first choice, but you would always have a nagging doubt about whether you'd actually "done" an E3.

Geireagle at Tremo was E2 a while back and would be a good first E3 now. Silly Arete is a bit scary, but the climbing is pretty OK. These are both good routes and have to be worth a go (unless they have polished-up in the last 15 years).

In reply to Bob:

The other Cwm Trysgl E3 is even better I thought - and quite soft?

Foil Ok, Geireagle easier.

How about Erebus or Pellagra?!

In reply to Bob:i dont mind crack climbs but i think i am better at slabby stuff

thanks anyway

ioan