UKC

Hi guys just a few questions for anyone that has climbed the cymlyn quarries in South Wales , I'm relatively new to climbing I've done bits here and there but never really got into it properly , I work as an irata rope access technician but that's completely different to sport climbing as you already know , I'm going to try cymlyn quarries on the weekend and do a bit of top roping with another irata tech I know , my questions are what if any experience of these climbs do you have and is there any other climbs in the area that I should be attempting before hand , if I've not been clear about anything please let me know and I'll be happy to explain what I mean , as I've said I'm new to this type of climbing and don't really know the jargon or technical fact so please bare with me

In reply to Trinder:

I wouldn't bother with the quarries at Cyrmlyn. They're not great for top roping as you'll find it hard to get to the top of the route safely. Unless you're fairly good, most of the routes aren't that easy there. Also it's not that nicer place.

Navigation Quarry might not be too bad, as it's an easy walk to the top and there's bolts on the back of the quarry wall, but the routes are again hardish (well mostly 6a upwards).

Trebanog isn't probably an awful choice, lots of short routes and some concrete posts which you could rig up a top rope of, assuming you have plenty of rigging rope. Very easy to get to the top of the routes as well. Lots of easy routes.

In reply to mattrm: that's a shame as crymlyn is a stones throw from from where I live , I've checked the swmc website and it says that all routes have double bolt abseil anchors at top , are they not easily accessible ? Or are they on the actual routes and not on top of quarries , I'm a capable climber and have done some trad climbs in bettws y coed and managed some quite difficult routes but obviously I'm not an experienced climber so don't know how ill fair on other routes without the help and advice of my work colleague that got me on the crags in bettws y coed , I'm confident that my work mate that would be coming with me is capable of safely belaying me as we are both pretty safety conscious being industrial rope access techs so I may try to lead on the sport routes , I've got loads of quick draws and all the gear for leading so may just give it a go , have you climbed crymlyn yourself ? If so how did you find the lower viaduct quarry as this is the first spot we are going to look at as it's bit smaller and has the lowest grades in the whole place , sorry if I sound bit clueless I do know how to be safe as it's my job but it's quite a lot to take in when your starting off as you all know

In reply to Trinder:
Not been to Crymlyn, but in general on sport routes the loweroff anchors will be on the face of cliff, not on the top, as this stops the rope rubbing over the edge. Therefore they are usually not easily accessible from above. There will often be thick vegetation at the top of the route (as the climbs are not intended to top out), and even if not it will rarely be safe to lean over the edge and clip into the anchor. Your options may be as follows:

a) get a set of quickdraws and just climb the route, sports style.
b) get a clipstick and add least a few krabs/quickdraws and cheat up the route (connecting yourself to bolts, clipping higher bolts, pulling yourself up - always leave quickdraws below you in case the bolt fails).
c) if the anchors are in reach from above, make yourself safe using alternative natural anchors (boulder/tree/trad gear) above the climb and clip them. This requires walking access to the top of the route (not guaranteed) and good natural anchors (not guaranteed). Alternatively, abseil to the anchors. If you abseil off a tree ideally use a sling/short piece of rope around the tree to make an anchor (with carabiner) rather than running your rope directly around the tree, and definitely avoid pulling the rope down if it is running directly around the tree as this will saw into the bark and (slowly) kill the tree.
d) ignore the loweroff anchor and rig a standard top-rope off natural anchors, ensuring that the top rope carabiners hang over the edge, the rope is padded to protect it from sharp edges, and the top is not sufficiently loose that doing so will dislodge stuff onto the climbers as the rope shifts.

What gear do you have, as presumably you have ended up with ropes and rigging gear but no quickdraws or you would just lead the routes?

In reply to andrewmcleod: thanks for your advice mate , I've got gear for leading ie quick draws , nuts , cams ,hex's etc but I would've liked to top rope first untill I get my confidence up , plus the only climbing rope that I have at the minute is a beal edlinger 50 m @ 10.2mm thick and I didn't think that would be suitable for leading with , I've lead climbed in the past but at the time I was using someone else's gear , I've never really climbed without an experienced climber with me you see and the only climbs I've done without them has been little crags on local mountain that I've used rope from work to either top rope or set up a fixed rope and thrown a bit of my work gear into the mix ie croll while I'm clibing the fixed rope and if I take a fall attach my I'd or stop and descend , or I've top roped with work rope and used my work harness as it absorbs the impact of falling better I should mention that the rope I use in work is 10.5mm static rope so no good for leading at all , I got a shed load of gear off a work friend that's has been used once and is in awesome condition ( it's all been load tested and checked over ) the only thing I didn't have was rope .
I'll attempt to lead sport style when I get to crymlyn but failing that I'll take a 30m static and rig up an abseil to the top anchors and set up a top rope like that , I've got plenty of rigging rope and static rope but only the beal edlinger 10.2 climbing rope so could be bit painful if I take a fall .
Thanks for your help I'll start a new thread and let you know how I get on with it all

In reply to Trinder:

Try Tirpentwys lot nicer climbing and nice setting. Don't know about setting up top ropes but some easy climbs in the 4 - 5 range
Not much further than cymlym either

In reply to Trinder:

No reason the Beal Edlinger wouldn't be okay to lead on. Just can you trust the other guy to lead belay you?

In reply to Trinder:

I hope your Edlinger is suitable for leading on as a 60m Edlinger is my only rope! :P but more seriously, the Edlinger is a dynamic single rope for lead climbing. Whether a rope is suitable for leading or not is to do with construction, not diameter.

I can second the recommendation for Tirpentwys though (don't know why I didn't suggest it myself!), really lovingly bolted and cleaned and some nice easy routes. Also some of the routes have snapgates at the top which means you won't have to thread and clean the anchor - it is basically like indoor leading without the quickdraws (just take them out as you lower off. You should still put your own quickdraws/screwgates in the top anchors if you are going to top-rope off them though (and ideally until the last person finishes the climb). If using quickdraws for top-roping, use a pair, one in each bolt, with opposing gates. If there is a chain connecting the bolts (which I think there often is on the easy routes at Tirpentwys) then a single screwgate in the chain is fine as well.

If you don't know how to clean an anchor that only has rings, there are some good guides on the BMC site somewhere or just avoid the routes without snapgates.

Ignore the big 'no climbing' sign, just leave in the incredibly unlikely event of being asked to by the landowner/representative.

In reply to JoshOvki: I've just been doing my homework on the beal edlinger and yeah you are right mate I must have been told wrong or got confused on that one , I'm going to have a crack at leading some sport route up cymlyn this weekend by the look of it , I'm pretty confident with my mate belaying for me he is an irata tech like me and is pretty safety conscious like me , I may even use some work gear to maximise safety when lowering off , I haven't been there yet so don't know what is available to me by means of ground anchors , thanks for the advice

In reply to andrewmcleod: cheers mate that is very helpful , got a bit of bad info on differences between rope think there was some miscommunication there between myself and guy I spoke to about ropes , cheers

In reply to leeboy1985: where is this mate is it up Merthyr way ?

In reply to Trinder:

Just to double check - you know how to lead belay, how this differs from standard top-rope belaying (and why it takes considerably more attention/responsibility)?

And do you know how to clean an anchor? (clip yourself in to make yourself safe by one of a number of methods, thread the anchor by one of a number of methods, untie as required, disconnect yourself from the anchor, lower off). Again at Tirpentwys the easier routes have snapgates which saves the hassle/danger.

For the sport climbs you would not top out - you would lower off the bolted anchor, so no gear is required.

Finally, if you can't get up something, have no qualms at all about 'cheating' your way up by any means. Stand in a sling if you have to, stand on the bolt, pull yourself up on a tight rope once you get a clip in above you, just don't put your fingers through a bolt hanger or grab the clip parts of a quickdraw (you can pull on the strap). Otherwise you may have to leave a carabiner in the bolt and lower off that (depending on the type of bolt; smooth bolts e.g. U staples can be threaded and lowered off directly, bolt hangers will cut through ropes). Lowering off a single bolt is obviously to be strongly avoided (you could leave a second crab in a lower bolt if you wanted to be super-dooper safe.

In reply to Trinder:

http://www.southwalesmountaineering.org.uk/wiki/Tirpentwys

also a useful topo here:
http://www.sportsclimbs.co.uk/mainpages/southwales/Tirpentwys%20topo.htm

In other words, just down the road from the Cyrmlyn quarries. Do pay attention to the guide on how to access the crag though; there are several paths and it could be confusing.

In reply to andrewmcleod:
I know how to lead belay as I've done it before and I'm confident that my mate will be ok also , I'm fine with cleaning anchors too mate thanks for the concern , I've been working on ropes for a while now and always with 2 ropes , irata is really strict with rigging and points of contact so I'm fine at cleaning and equalising anchors etc , I may take a foot loop though incase I do struggle and need a bit of help reaching a hold , thanks for your advice and that place you've mentioned is actually closer to me than crymlyn so I will more than likely go there instead

In reply to Trinder:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=8695

Just up by pontypool. Nice crag gets afternoon sunshine and really nice climbing