2014 has been a bit of an up and down year for me. Dodgy knees after a painful OMM towards last year left me dreading the long slogs in the Scottish Hills through the winter. The winter was less than ideal and trips were cancelled and plans changing meaning I only made one trip up North. Just as my climbing season was getting going, I injured my finger. 9 weeks have past and it is definitely on the road to recovery. I have only had a couple of days climbing in the last 9 weeks with my finger heavily strapped, which has left me pretty disheartened and weak as a kitten. I have made some pretty major decisions and I have finished my job at Low Mil Outdoor Centre in Wensleydale to have a summer break and head into the world as a Freelance Outdoor Instructor. But first a summer of climbing and time spent in the mountains.
I am currently working towards my Mountain Instructor Award (MIA) having completed my training last year at Plas y Brenin. I have become totally focussed on my preparation for assessment, spending as much time as I can in the mountains and on crags, developing my own climbing as well as teaching others.
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| Piers heading up Pitch 1 of Rowan Route |
Having just finished at Low Mill, I headed straight down to North Wales on a bit of a dodgy forecast. I met up with Piers as soon as I got there and we headed up to Milestone Buttress so I could familiarise myself some of the routes. As soon as I had my rock boots on and stepped onto the rock of pitch one I realised how much I had missed the rock in Snowdonia. My other trips to North Wales this year have purely been scrambling and hillwalking days in the mountains. The rock is so positive and feels great under both rock boots and finger tips, as I smoothly move up the first pitch, taking in each move, every foot placement and comfortable in my surroundings. Rowan Route was great, good pitches and fantastic teaching opportunities.
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| Pitch 2 belay on Main Wall, Cryn Las |
With a dry forecast the following day we decided to head high into the mountains however the march into Cryn Las, high on the South side of the Llanberis Pass passed in the blink of an eye. We were the first team at the huge buttress of rock which towered over us. Our plan was to climb the classic Main Wall which weaved its way up the left side of the crag linking a series of comfortable ledges by a series of ramps, finishing with a brilliant slab on the penultimate pitch. The route lived up to expectations providing brilliant climbing with good belays and an extra dose of exposure high up on the route. A perfect choice to reacquaint myself with the high crags.
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| Piers heading for another off width chimney |
We decided to stay high in the hills so we walked across to Clogwyn y Person and chose to climb Rectory Chimneys. A 6 pitch VDiff seemed pretty straight forward on paper, but the climbing was surprisingly pushy and chimneys are awkward and insecure. We felt even more embarrassed at our climbing when we read in the guide that it was first climbed in 1925. Hats off to those guys! A quick crossing of Crib Goch and descent to the car topped off a cracking day.
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| Gusty end to the day on Crib Goch |
A damp morning the following day was coupled with gusty winds trying to put us off heading out. By mid morning the weather had improved slightly as we walked into Cwm Idwal. Big boots were the order of the day and we climbed the Ordinary Route up the slabs following the deep water worn cracks. We worked on our stance management and rope work, throwing a few scenarios into the mix as well, as I provided some hoists to help Piers out. A real weakness of mine is the flora found n the mountains, so I took a lot of pictures of every flower and plant I couldn’t identify and trawled through Mike Raine’s cracking book, Nature in Snowdonia, a perfect reference for flora, fauna and geology in the mountains.
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| Someone jumped in on my Wild Thyme picture |
I was joined for the weekend by my girlfriend Claire who had come down from Yorkshire to escape the Tour de France which had taken over Wensleydale. We headed out on a scorcher, up the Gribin Ridge to the Glyder summits before dropping down into Cwm Idwal. Sunday was looking good again, so we headed back to a busy Idwal, and climbed the classic Hope climbing in parallel up 4 long pitches. There were great belays and solid ledges, which enabled us to work on our stance management and rope work. We stayed roped together for a scramble up to the descent abseil which we stacked, which completed a brilliant day of learning for all.
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| Perfect end to a scorcher in Ogwen |
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| Pitch 4 of Hope, Cwm Idwal |
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