Tag: Wales

Beachside Bouldering on Anglesey

Beachside Bouldering on Anglesey

the Severe climber

Delightful cottage with all mod cons, less than five minutes walk from the beach and a short walk from bouldering in a rocky cove.

OK, the advert for the holiday cottage I rented for my family holiday on Anglesey didn’t read like this. Perhaps the ad should have.   It was great being able to do a little bouldering on the beach and an added selling point for staying in that part of Anglesey.

Warming up with some easy traversing on Lon Isallt Bay.
Bouldering above the beach of Lon Isallt Bay.
Lon Isallt Bay (AKA Porth y Corwgl?).
Bouldering above the beach of Lon Isallt Bay.
Bouldering above the beach of Lon Isallt Bay.
Bouldering on the black rock of Lon Isallt Bay
Bouldering on the little crag above Lon Isallt Bay.
Lon Isallt Bay (AKA Porth y Corwgl?).

It was actually a happy coincidence that I happened to be staying close to a small bouldering venue. It was only after I’d booked the cottage that I found out about the bouldering at Lon Isallt Bay when I was researching the bouldering on Anglesey on UKClimbing.

Lon Isallt Bay is a small, pretty and sheltered cove on the Holy Island part of Anglesey between Porth Dafarch and Trearddur Bay. Read more →

Finding Somewhere New

Finding Somewhere New

the Severe climber

I really enjoy exploring new climbing venues. They’re not new in the sense that they are untouched (I don’t climb that far off the beaten track). They’re just new to me and that makes them intriguing. That is part of why I enjoyed bouldering at the RAC Boulders in Snowdonia for the first time last weekend. It really felt like a discovery because I’d driven past the RAC Boulders fifty or more times before and never realised they were there.

The Marsh Boulder and the Frontside Boulder at the RAC Boulders.
Me bouldering on the Marsh Boulder at the RAC Boulders.
Bouldering on the Marsh Boulder at the RAC Boulders.
Me on the problem named Scoops (F4) on the Marsh Boulder at the RAC Boulders.

What I found was that the RAC Boulders are brilliant fun. There’s interesting and varied climbing on a couple of boulders with a good selection of lower to middle grade routes (which suits me). It’s also, conveniently, only a few minutes from the road while being surprisingly quiet and tranquil. Read more →

My Climbing 2015 in Pictures

My Climbing 2015 in Pictures

the Severe climber
Alice coaching me on how to climb using the open hand technique.
Me starting a problem on Badger Rock.
Longsleddale.
Autumn colours on the fell on Goat Crag in the Lake District.
Me climbing back along the traverse that leads to the bell on the Klettersteig Pfeilspitzwand.
Me climbing a ladder of stemples on the Klettersteig Knorren.
Valerie and me on the summit of the Knorren.
The Zillertal seen from the descent from the Klettersteig Huterlaner.
Me climbing the Klettersteig Huterlaner.
Me climbing Crack 1 on Tryfan Bach.
Me climbing JT (V0- 4b) at Robin Hood’s Stride.
Me climbing Pink Arete (V0- 4b) at Cratcliffe.
Climbing in the rain at Stanage.
Still getting rained on.
The summit of Mam Tor.
Climbing at Buthiers Piscine, Fontainebleau.
Me climbing problem number 6 on the orange circuit at Buthiers Piscine.
Me climbing problem yellow 28 at Buthiers Piscine.
Me climbing boulder problem 26 on the yellow circuit at Rocher des Potets.
This is how I found my knee when I unwrapped the bandages 48 hours after the operation.
A Trad Day

A Trad Day

the Severe climber

I finally got a chance last weekend to do my first trad leading since my injury and surgery. After getting frustratingly rained off Stanage a few weeks ago, it was great climb in sunshine on Tryfan Bach. A day of climbing on Tryfan Bach’s beautiful slab, its with well-protected, low-grade climbs, was just what I needed to get reacquainted with leading trad and to clear my head.

Me climbing Little Tryfan Arete on Tryfan Bach.
Gwern Gof Uchaf campsite and the Ogwen Valley seen from Tryfan Bach.
Me climbing Crack 1 on Tryfan Bach.
Tryfan Bach.
Me on Tryfan Bach.
Tryfan Bach.
Tryfan Bach (AKA Little Tryfan) and Tryfan (on the right).
My Climbing 2014 in Pictures

My Climbing 2014 in Pictures

the Severe climber
Me making the first few moves on the Slab 2 problem on Blister Slab.
The Roaches.
Me climbing Classic Arete on The Big Block.
Me climbing the boulder problem Goat’s Gruff on the base of The Roaches’ Upper Tier.
Valerie and Leo on the beach at Bude.
Hound Tor.
Me bouldering on Top Hat boulder at Hound Tor.
Me climbing Groove on the Perched Block at Hound Tor.
Flowering heather on the edge of the Burbage Valley
Me climbing The Crook on The Lamb boulder at Burbage South Valley.
Valerie and Leo below the Leaning Block at Higgar Tor.
Me standing on limestone pavement.
Limestone pavement above Thwaite Scars near Clapham in the Yorkshire Dales.
Pen-y-ghent in the Yorkshire Dales.
Leo, Valerie and Me on the descent from Snowdon.
Leo and Valerie on Mynydd Mawr.
Me walking up Mynydd Mawr in Snowdonia.
Me, Valerie and Leo on the summit of Craig Wen.
Leo asleep as Valerie and I walk across country to get down from Craig Wen.
Me climbing yellow problem number 5 at Le Cul de Chien.
Me climbing problem number 2 at Le Cul de Chien, Fontainebleau.
Valerie climbing at Mont Aigu, Fontainebleau.
Valerie climbing problem number 1 at Rocher des Potets.
Valerie climbing The Final Boulder at Fairlop Waters Boulder Park
Me climbing on The Prominent Prow boulder at Fairlop Waters Boulder Park.
Valerie climbing on The Arches boulder at Fairlop Waters Boulder Park in London.
Me standing on an outcome of Castle Rock.
The South West Coast
Me standing by the trig point on Kinder Low.
The waterfall at Kinder Downfall being blown upstream by the wind.
Climbing on Bamford Edge on a wet day in the Peak District.
Me by Aira Force waterfall in the Lake District.

First Peak

the Severe climber

My son, Leo, got to the top of his first peak today.  Snuggly wrapped on his mummy’s back, he got to the top of Craig Wen in Snowdonia.  Summiting a 608m peak is pretty impressive when you are eight months old, can’t walk yet and have to battle cold winds and rain.  I’m proud of how well he did.  It feels good to be introducing him to the mountains and I’m really looking forward to going with him to the tops of many more peaks.

Valerie and Leo going up the trail from Rhyd Ddu.
A disused quarry below Yr Aran.
Me walking past a wall of stacked slates in a disused quarry below Yr Aran.
Me, Valerie and Leo on the summit of Craig Wen.
Leon wrapped snuggly on his mummy’s back as she walks down Craig Wen.
Leo and Valerie at our stop for lunch.
Leo asleep as Valerie and I walk across country to get down from Craig Wen.
Disused slate quarries.
Slates stacked in a disused quarry.
Valerie and Leo heading back down to Rhyd Ddu.

Be Seen on the Mountain

the Severe climber

I couldn’t see where the cries for help were coming from.  The rocky hulk of Tryfan was almost black in the twilight and was shrouded in cloud.  I could tell the shouts of help were definitely coming from high on Tryfan’s west face, but they were just disembodied voices in the growing dark.

The Moon over the west face of Tryfan in Snowdonia National Park, Wales.
The Moon over the west face of Tryfan in Snowdonia National Park, Wales.

I was in a group that had climb Tryfan earlier in the day before moving on to climb Glyder Fach next door.  It was November and we had decided to head down by the Y Gribin ridge as the light dimmed.  Cutting cross-country to get back to the cars, we heard cries of “help!” and headed in their direction to see what we could do. Read more →

Learning to lead

the Severe climber
Libby teaching me about placing gear.

Guest Blogger – a post by my fiancee

Well, after two years following Robin up crags and cliffs, we decided that 2012 would be the year I would learn to lead.  Aside from the fact that it’s frankly rather cool, I had several reasons I wanted to progress to leading.  Firstly, I wanted to start pulling my own weight in our climbing partnership, we both want to have a stab at longer multi-pitch routes where leading through is necessary, and lastly, you haven’t really experienced trad climbing until you’ve been reduced to a quivering wreck…

Women usually climb very differently to men, so I decided I wanted a female guide to help me through my first foray into leading.  As we climb mostly in North Wales, Robin contacted Libby Peter, and we hired her for two days at the end of July 2012. Read more →

Turning Around the Men in Pyjamas

the Severe climber

There are times when there is no doubt that you should tell someone that they’re not properly equipped for a day in the mountains and should turn back.  One example of this happened earlier this month when a stag party attempted to climb Snowdon dressed in pyjamas and trainers, in a storm and by the scrambling route of Crib Goch. Unsurprisingly, this stag party got into trouble and had to be talked down by phone by mountain rescue.

A back-clipped quickdraw; a potentially dangerous mistake that is a little too easy to make and to not notice.  Would you point this mistake out to someone you didn’t know?

According to the Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team, this stag party was just one recent incident of groups heading up Snowdon without suitable clothing and equipment.  Although trying to climb a mountain in nightwear is an extreme example, my experience is that it’s not uncommon to come across people hiking, scrambling, rock climbing or doing via ferrata who look like they don’t have the right clothes, equipment or skills.  These people can be putting themselves at risk and can take up the valuable time of mountain rescue if they get into trouble.  What I wonder is whether there is a moral obligation on all of us to tell these people to turn around or change what they are doing. Read more →