UKC

"Seldom visited, but not to be missed, the unique rock of the Red Slabs is one of the true hidden treasures of North Wales. An amazing sweep of rough friction rock that slides down the mountainside like a ski run. So slabby it’s almost a walk, until you get just a bit too far above that last runner!"

Writes Jack Geldard responding to the statement that, "It is beautiful here in North Wales, it’s just a shame it’s so busy."

And he provides some alternatives to the, "mountain equivalent of the M25 in rush hour"

Read his picks, fully illustrated, for off-beat Ogwen Vdiffs at..http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=497

I appreciate jack is trying to inspire a sense of adventure in this article but its stretching the bounds of credibility to claim:

"The polished Twin Cracks of the second pitch could be graded anything from V-diff to E5!"

Hope (VD) on Idwal slabs was my second ever lead and it certainly didnt feel like E5! (perhaps thats because I had a beautiful instructor form PyB to give me encouragement).

In reply to bendurance:
I nearly fell off the top of that. Not due to normal climbing fun, more due to me dicking around on wet grass and not being tied on.

If that is what an E5 feels like then i'm doing better than i think

In reply to bendurance:

Twin Cracks on Hope would have probably got the technical grade of 1B in the old Pyatt SE Sandstone guide.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

Agreed...but the start of Charity is another story. Also, The Red Slab is not for ingenious VD leaders although it may well be a route for HS leaders ingeniously pretnding to be VD leaders. The other sad thing is all of the routes well known classics. There are loads of hidden VD delights in the Ogwen guide.

I guess I expected too much from this and to be fair I'm not the target audience.

Offwidth ona new computer

In reply to Anonymous:

I was surprised at the choice of routes given the title - with the exception of the Red Slab they are all mainstream classics that see ascents and traffic jams every sunny weekend.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: Nice article Jack. Keep up the good work.

Home route, V. diff, on the Gribin Facet (Clogwyn y Taru) is varied and 'entertaining' - including a really squirmy chimney pitch which may delight those that like that sort of thing.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

A nice article with a good purpose.