Climbs 60
Rocktype Dolerite
Altitude 200m a.s.l
Faces N
Andy Newton on the second ascent Live by the Sword © tat
Crag features
This granite quarry was developed in the 1960s, but due to loose rock was ignored until recently. The quarry is nicely seperated into three bays, a large eastern bay, a small central bay and a large western bay. A number of new boulder problems have been discovered in the right hand bay, while a small number of new sports routes have been developed in all three bays.
Although northwest-facing, the walls can get plenty of summer sunshine but it can be very cold in a wintry wind .
Most of the sport routes have double bolt lower offs and are generally on excellent rock with good friction and sound holds. The top of many of these big walls have monstrous stacked blocks and luckily the sport routes stop far short of these.
It has been reported that the Dr Faustus wall routes remain dry in light rain.
Approach notes
Lies high on Moel y Gest, on the opposite side of the road from Craig y Castell, about 0.5 miles along the Criccieth Rd from Porthmadog. From the cemetery go straight up a ramp to the base of the cliff.
A good and well travelled alternative is to follow the signed path from the layby just west of the supermarkets and outdoor shop complex on the Porthmadog criccieth road. The path crosses a stile and then splits - take the left-hand fork and continue up through the woods towards the summit of the hill.
After the path crosses a perpetually wet patch there is a small cairn on the left marking the track on the right that contours westwards to the quarry. Skip down the track just short of the quary to find an easy entry,
Approach time: 20mins
Access Advice
This granite quarry was developed in the 1960ies, but due to loose rock was ignored until recently. The quarry is nicely seperated into three bays, a large eastern bay, a small central bay and a large western bay. A number of new boulder problems have been discovered in the right hand bay, while a small number of new sports routes have been developed in all three bays.
Seasonal Restrictions
Dates: 1 March to 31 July
Reason: Nesting Birds
The restriction may be lifted or modified later in the season following site visits by RSPB. The quarry is in three distinct bays, and the birds (two seperate protected species) tend to vary their exact nest sites each year. Outside of the restricted times climbers are asked to be aware that if their presence disturbs the birds (screeching sounds, and obviously agitated birds) then they should not linger beneath the nest area. Both of the left hand bays are normally restrcicted but the right hand bay, that contains the newer sports routes and the bouldering is not covered by this restriction.
| NOTE BIRD BAN for all of MARCH APRIL MAY AND JUNE
climbers have been ignoring this and there is a real risk we will lose access tat - 14/Jun/11 |
|
| Boulders on far right hand side of quarry have recently been developed. Downloadable topo from North Wales Bouldering:
http://www.northwalesbouldering.com/upload/members/Moel%20y%20Gest%20topoV4.pdf
News article: http://www.northwalesbouldering.com/newsitem.asp?nsid=411 Glyn - 14/Sep/09 |
Climbs at this crag
| Name | Grade | Stars | Type | Logs | Partner Ascents |
|---|
These climbs you have climbed by seconding or top-roping.
These climbs you have Dogged.
These climbs you Did not Finish.
Climbs are waiting to be checked by a crag moderator, and may not be accurate. Climbs can't be verified by a crag moderator, and they need more information to confirm it. Climbs are no longer climbable.
Moderators Updates to this page are checked by UKC volunteers Glyn and dropkneesnotbombs