UKC

Hi all,

I am after some suggestions from the UKC hive, we have a climbing trip booked for May for a few days staying in Llanberis, we have some mountain multi pitch days sorted, but fancy a day climbing slate in the quarries. We have predominantly climbed on Grit and lead around VS ( Just started dipping our toes into HVS.).

Please recommend me some climbs to try to give us a feel of what the quarries have to offer. 
 

any other tips to give us a memorable trip to north Wales feel free to add!
 

thanks in advance.

Ryan

Lots of easy sport in Australia, solstice and equinox in bus stop quarry, looning the tube (hvs, but in my opinion soft), seamstress in Serengeti. Lots of stuff is easy to put a top rope on too, just take care near edges and wear a helmet. Pushing the boat out, fools gold is good and quite steady for the grade.

Hi Ryan, 

Slightly random but I just sent you an email through UKC not related to this at all. Would you be able to take a look if you get a chance? 

Cheers,

Will 

Thanks for the tips, I was thinking more trad than sport though. 

Looning the Tube (E1 5a)

Its not really E1.

Llanberis Pass is one of the best venues in the UK for trad. Assuming the weather plays ball, there are fantastic routes of VS/HVS on Dinas Mot (Direct Route (VS 5b), Lorraine Variation (HVS 5a), Carreg Wastad (Shadow Wall (VS 4c), Clogwyn y Grochan (Spectre (HVS 5a), Brant (VS 4c), Brant Direct (HVS 5a)) and Dinas Cromlech (Dives/Better Things (HS 4b)), among a great many others.

Fill yer boots! 

Thanks John.

plenty to go on my list there.

If your logbook is up to date... Seamstress is the obvious VS on slate, but you'd probably get more out of Ogwen or the Pass, e.g. Tennis Shoe, Original Route, Groove Above in a day; The Cracks and Direct Route on Dinas Mot, maybe Slow Ledge Route and then going to Cyrn Las for Main Wall - many others, too. Or head to Tremadog or Castell Helen. Because mountain rock (or a nip down the South Stack) will give you quality cruising whereas slate's a bit funky and you might not get as much quality in your grade range.

I know you mentioned slate, but for a gritstone VS leader on a first trip to Wales you won't find a more mind blowing route than Main Wall (HS 4b)

Nothing wrong with slate at all  but at VS there is nothing much to spend your time on, as CW says, and you could be having so many much more rewarding experiences in the Pass on natural rock in the time you've got there. I don't know how many days you've got but there isn't a worthwhile day on the slate at VS.

It being Wales you will almost definitely get rain at some point.

Tremadog often has better weather, worth being aware of a couple of the VSs there which have suffered rockfall over the last couple of years (Striptease and Shadrach) whose grades may have changed, plenty of other excellent VSs on these crags though!

Another good option is to head over to Anglesey, Lighthouse Arete Direct is utterly excellent and very straightforward for VS (but you need a long abseil rope to get down to the base of the crag).

Longlands Climb on Cloggy is very steady at VS iirc but any day on Cloggy feels like an adventure! Great/Bow Combination if you fancy something a bit stiffer. That's if Cloggy is in nick of course

we are there thu - Sun, we are planning on the classic rock tick Grooved Arête (HVD 4a) on Friday, but other than that open to suggestions. 
 

I take your point on slate at our grade. 
 

thanks for the suggestions so far all. 😃

Dives VS 4b. I seem to remember that I was lucky enough, that I did it when it was easier at HS.

I'm sure being out of practice and a slate 'noob' didn't help, but I found Seamstess a pretty unnerving lead at VS (I backed off leading it - not often I do that on VS). I ended up playing about on (and enjoying) the numerous 5 and easy 6s bolted lines thereabouts.

Slate is unnerving! Which is why I would stick to rhyolite at VS, rather than grappling with frictionless choss and dodgy gear

Nor HVS either. Any steady VS leader should be fine.

One did find Sabre Cut an enjoyable day out in fine conditions. Good luck

Nea (severe or Mild VS) is a great route. The original third pitch fell down years ago. The alternative is about 4b, with some dodgy holds. However, you can probably abseil from the second pitch.

And Phantom Rib.

Spectre....shudder

Snakes and ladders in the slate quarries is a great wet weather day out and gives you a great feel for the place. 

There are other worthwhile routes on the East face, Belle Vue Bastion (VS 4c) if you want a quality VS, either (or both) of the Pinnacle Ribs for something easier or Gashed Crag (VD) at a similar grade.

Alternatively, "combine" with a route on  Tryfan or something like Direct Route (VS 4c) on  Glyder Fach or on  Clogwyn Bochlwyd or on a nice day do a route on all 4 crags.

Hmm, the "crags" don't appear to be displaying properly (at least on my phone), should say "Milestone Buttress" on Tryfan.

Agree with all the comments suggesting mountain rock and Tremadoc as great options at VS/HVS.

Brant Direct and Spectre are ideal routes for an aspiring HVS leader (good pro), some of my first. One to avoid early in your HVS career is West Rib (HVS) on Dinas Mot - has a terrifying runout (unless that’s your bag). For the same reason maybe avoid Diagonal on the same crag (though I ain’t done it).

Another option (as well as Tremadoc) if weather is crap is Holyhead Mountain on Anglesey. It’s a nice mellow spot, often is dry when the mtns are not, and has a fair number of pleasant routes at VS/HVS. Has saved a few washout weekends for me. Of course you have a lifetime of climbing there if you wander down to the main sea cliffs of gogarth (The Ramp, Gauntlet, and Emulator are a good initiation at HVS); but note it’s fairly serious territory, and feels it.

I thought Emulator was pretty solid E1 & the logbooks would seem to agree

I did finish with a bit of a "one eyed view" of the route as about half way up I got a bit constricted in the corner, brushed the side of my eye and somehow flicked out a contact lens into my gasping mouth and swallowed it

Any steady VS leader, who's familiar with slate. Which is to say, not many VS leaders.

Of those, Brant Direct is easiest (good first mountain rock HVS) then West Rib, then Spectre (IMO). West Rib has ok, but spaced gear and is relatively steady, it's in balance. But I appreciate that if you're not into boldish slabby stuff, you might find it much harder, even though the moves themselves are easier than those on Spectre.

Diagonal is harder than West Rib, partly because it has more than one hard pitch.

The good thing about the nose of the Mot is that most of the routes are in a similar style and you can gradually ramp the difficulty up as you get used to the style.

I would order it; The Cracks, Western Slabs, Lorraine, Direct Route, West Rib, Lorraine Direct, Crosstie, Superdirect.

Don't know beyond that except that they're harder.

Gogarth feels much much more serious on an overcast day, even though the rock may be just as dry as on a blue sky day.

Doh!, missed out Diagonal in that list; between Lorraine Direct and Crosstie.

That’s for all the recommendations, they are great, just what I was after.