the fortnightly faff - Mercian Mountaineering Club

THE FORTNIGHTLY FAFF The Periodical Journal of the Mercian Mountaineering Club July 2014 CAIRNGORM EASTER Munro bagging in Scotland’s glorious sunshine A TALE OF TWO KITTENS Vicki Cox does baAle with Welsh rock FOUR GO TO RHOSSILI Andy Armstrong and friends go sport climbing on the Gower BECON BEACONS Training walk for the Welsh 3000’ers HEBRIDEAN HOPSCOTCH Roland goes island hopping “HE WHO DARES…” Was any climbing actually achieved in Cornwall? Training (part 2) PEMBROKE
The annual Mercian pilgrimage to South Wales’s sea cliff climbing Mecca www.mercianmc.org.uk The second Welsh 3000’ers training walk Words from the chairman A word from the editor Hi folks, and welcome to the third Faff. It’s a bumper issue and to be honest it’s a liAle premature too. This issue wasn’t due unSl the end of June, but, as I’ve had so many arScles and photos from your good selves I thought I’d publish it. The past few months have seen meets in some great places, and if you include the ad hoc travels of some of our members the Mercian’s have cast their net wide enough to take in the far corners of the UK. Let’s start in the north and work our way south; we’ve got stories from the Hebrides, the Cairngorms, Snowdonia, the Brecon Beacons, Pembroke, the Gower and Cornwall. Hang-­‐on! we’re a Birmingham based club, don’t we climb in England anymore? Thanks to everyone who contributed Sme and material. Stew. Cover photo Adam Butler climbing Amorican (HVS (5a) at Craig Caerfai, Pembroke Photo: Harriet Stewart Cover photo -­‐ Tom Morris with Alum Pot forming the backdrop, Yorkshire Dales NaSonal Park Mike on Meall Chuaich (3120’) Milehouse CoQage, Kincraig, Cairngorm NaSonal Park words and photos by Malcolm Imhoff The forecast was for fine weather, clear skies, and lots of sun, so it was a bit odd that many of the members who had signed up for this meet cried off. In the end there were just five of us. Actually the kitchen would have been very stretched with more people, but then we probably would have cooked communally. Maggie & I travelled up via the Lakes and arrived first. The hut w a s v e r y c l e a n a n d w e l l appointed, but belonging to the Scoesh Ladies MC we were amused to find that there were no shaver sockets! Not that it maAers to me and it was a good incenSve for Mike to grow his beard back. We'd just worked out the instrucSons for lighSng the fire and got it going when Duncan turned up, having spent a week bagging Munroes. Alan arrived later that evening. Alan wanted a short easy "warm up" day so I agreed to go with him & Duncan to bag his "top", Carn Dearg South Top, conSnuing on to Carn Dearg (3093') and Carn Ban (3087'). Duncan chose the "direct" route up Carn Macoul (2625'), nasty steep thick heather & bogs and aler an eight hour marathon I was knackered! The only merit was that I got some preAy good pictures of ptarmigan. Duncan tesSng the cornice On Saturday it was Alan's turn to get punished by Duncan. They were out twelve hours bagging everything that didn't move on Craig Meagaidh. When they eventually got back I have never seen Alan looking so knackered! Aler Friday’s marathon I was fit for nothing but managed a nice 8 mile walk around the lakes of Uath Lochan and along the River Feshie. It would have been 6 miles but Maggie had given me an order for frozen chips so I had to walk into Kincraig to the general store and back. The best day for me was Easter Sunday which I celebrated with Mike by bagging Meall Chuaich (3120') which BuAerfield describes as "a boring hill with an equally drab outlook". I can only think he did it just the once when it was totally in cloud and raining, because I found it charming. An easy walk in along a track along the culvert, a faint but delighpul path up the broad east side, to a magnificent cairn with stunning 360° views, especially to Craig Meagaidh. All the way we kept encountering interesSng birds, lots of black grouse, and several mountain hare just losing their winter plumage. The descent south down short scrunchy heather to the col and a good path out was also enjoyable. On Monday Maggie and I had to head for home, calling in at the Edradour disSllery, the smallest in Scotland, for a most enjoyable, hic, tour. But it was Mike's turn to be knackered by Duncan. FF
Weekend Warriors Beth Heeney heel hooking (and showing plenty of enthusiasm) on Nose Arete Lel (F4+) at The Roaches. Photo : Vicki Weekend Warriors A mulS exposure of Vicki climbing the tricky hanging crack of Middy’s Manouver (HS 4c) at Birchen. Photo : Simon Hodgson Weekend Warriors Tom Morris taking the direct line of Ginnel Wall (E1 5b) aler Stewart Moody lead the HVS (5a) right hand variaSon. Dyffryn Mymbyr, Snowdonia Photo : Adam Butler Weekend Warriors Joe Norris gets ready to pull through the juggy flakes under the roof of The Sloth HVS (5a) at The Roaches. Photo : Vicki FOUR FRIENDS GO TO
Rhossili
Martin
(before
h
haircut is
)
by Andy
Armstrong
Andy
Pete
“I like climbing” said Martin.
The others nodded in agreement.
“Where shall we climb?” asked Jane.
“Let’s go to Rhossili” said Andy.
So off they drove, down to Rhossili.
MarSn, Andy, Pete and Jane. Four novice climbers went off to south Wales for the weekend. Whilst sieng in the living room with tea and biscuits they talked about what to do during their holiday. “I like climbing” stated MarSn. The others nodded in agreement. “Where shall we climb?” asked Jane. “Let’s go to Rhossili” suggested Andy. So off they drove, down to Rhossili, on the Gower. In Rhossili they discovered some lovely coastal climbing. With the aid of the guide book the four climbers found a spree of low level climbs where you don’t need to worry about the Sdes. “Oh jolly good, let’s start on this grade 5 route” said Pete. “Please may I go first” asked MarSn. So MarSn had the pleasure of the first climb on Wedge Dew Bin, which we all found highly manageable. Aler a flurry of climbs on the Wedge Wall the four climbers adventured over to RetribuSon Wall. Jumping with excitement Andy looked on in awe at the 25m meter climb. On seeing Andy’s obvious delight they let him have first dibs on Buckets of Bubbly, grade 5. The beginning was a tricky liAle number with small hand and foot holds. Not what you want before your first clip. Past this point you were treated with some lovely moves and the sound of waves crashing below. Once Buckets of Bubbly was conquered the four climbers returned to Wedge Wall for Pete’s first sport lead on Wedge-­‐egade Master (5+) which was quickly followed by his second on Atomic Wedgie (6a). Aler an arduous day the four climbers retreated back to their bungalow for a well deserved BBQ. Due to the weather being forecast to turn sour a day of rest was taken with a stroll along Pembroke’s stunning coast line. An easy stroll with no effort required accompanied with a perfectly placed half way cafe. Pete and the Pembroke coastline g on Andy leadin all n W
RedempSo
Pete lea
di
ng on W
edge W
all On the way to and from Wales two quarries were explored. Fridays quarry, Llanbradach, was sandstone rock. “Oh jeepers” gasped Andy at the expediSon ahead. Shock and awe was felt all around. To get to this quarry the intrepid wannabe climbers struggled up steep slopes, bypassed hobo camps, endured brambles and swamps before reaching the goal of the crag. “Oh golly gosh” said Jane in surprise as fragments of sandstone showered down on her as she belayed. Fortunately no-­‐one was harmed due to the protecSve helmets. Mondays quarry was a small quarry but with enough to engage the gang for a climbing stop. At Barland Quarry we only did two routes. Andy was shaking with fear and smiling with joy at the saSsfacSon of compleSng TelefunkenU47 is a 4+ hands free smear climb. At the same Sme Pete led Cheesy Flaps (5+) with the air of an experienced climber. On a serious note: This holiday proves you don’t need to be an experienced climber with lots of gear to find climbing in picturesque locaSons. The End. FF
WILD COUNTRY Present A FILM BY MERCIAN PRODUCTIONS
STEWART FEATURING MOODY
HIS AND BELAYER
THE VDIFF CHIMNEY SWEEPS
“Thrills and spills from one of our Country’s most mediocre climbers” UKC Mercian ProducSons WILD COUNTRY WARNING : This kitten has claws!
[ or, Vic and Stew answer a call to arms in north Wales ]
words and (most) photos by Vicki Vicki on her belay stance aler leading P2 of Hogmanay Hangover (HS), Tremadog Thermometer
Compass Main Camera
Spare camera
Lipsalve
Fluffy gloves Dry bag
Whistle
x2 huge crabs
Overstuffed pack
Bike lock key
þ þ þ þ þ þ þ þ þ þ þ Ok, lets climb… North Wales wasn’t our planned desSnaSon for Easter but with the vanishing snow in Scotland, and a last minute Thursday business trip to Brussels for Stewart, Aviemore started to seem less appealing. Where else could we go? Pembroke to gate-­‐crash Pete and Andy’s sport climbing (yes, that’s no typo, that really does say ‘sport climbing’) trip? Swanage to cosy up in CJ and Sarah’s love nest or Wales to highjack the Ceunant hut? Looking at the weather it was actually going to be best higher up the country but neither of us wanted to lock horns with the M6 over a bank holiday weekend and so the decision was made to head up to Tyn Lon and hope it wasn’t too full of enemy troops. Friday dawned bright and sunny and saw us make an early start and a trip over to Craig Y Gesail a lesser visited crag at Tremadog. I kicked off the day by leading Bramble BuAress a VDiff 3 star classic which the guide book describes as “The best Tremadog route at this standard.” Stew abseiling into Clutch (VS) at Tremadog “Stew had a few misgivings about
this climb but once you’ve abseiled
into something there is no going
back”
It was a lovely climb which has a nice variety of moves and belies its name by not actually having any brambles on it: they were to come later. BaQle Nᵒ 1 result -­‐ Vicki 1: Bramble BuQress 0 Following the guide book’s advice, we abseiled down into our next climb which was a VS corner called Clutch. Stewart had a few misgivings about this climb but once you’ve abseiled into something there is no going back and he had to commit to it. He hadn’t been put in the best of moods by the fact that the ropes had got caught whilst pulling them down and he’d pumped his arms out yanking to release them. (Please let it be recorded that I wasn’t being unchivalrous by making him pull them down but that I was deemed too weak to be able to release them!). With some expleSves that even Jodie would be proud of, Stewart fought his way to the top of the climb and instantly ruled out abseiling down to do the neighbouring climb in case the same rope faff happened again. BaQle Nᵒ 2 result -­‐ Stewart 1: Clutch 0 Right-­‐ Hogmanay Butrress gets two thumbs up from Stew aler Vicki lead P2 Back to my lead and I opted for a severe called Puki on the appealing named KiAen BuAress which turned out to be less pussy cat and more sabre toothed Sger. This Sme the baAle was to begin before we even reached the start of the climb. Due to the outlying nature of the crag, it sees less traffic than its more popular neighbours and as such it has become a veritable haven for all things green and spikey. Just trying to get to the base of the climb was a struggle and we’d have been beAer off with some agent orange and a machete than the nut key and stout sSck approach which we had to resort to. BaQle Nᵒ 3 result – Vicki and Stewart 0 : KiQen BuQress Approach 2 When we’d eventually fought our way through the overgrowth and found the start of the climb it was evident that the skirmish was far from over. The vegetaSon on the route put that outside of Sleeping Beauty’s castle to shame and seemed determined to rip my clothes enSrely off my body. For each inch I moved up the climb it was one step forward to two swipes back as I had to release my legs from the evil grasp of brambles and gorse. The only green friend I had was the ivy which was put to use as gear placements. (The climb was so overgrown that all the cracks and crannies were full of vegetaSon and so it was slinging ivy roots or nothing!) Despite a valiant effort, I gave up about a metre shy of the top and surrendered to the nearest bramble begging for forgiveness for having clearly trespassed on his ‘hood’. KiAen BuAress had shown us its claws and we were in no mood to play any more. Nursing our scratches and baAle scars, we headed to Tremadog for a forSfying drink to set us up for the following day’s mission. BaQle Nᵒ 4 result – Vicki 0 : KiQen BuQress 1 Saturday looked like the Bramble Bashing campaign was to conSnue as Stewart took the ‘short cut’ to get to the start of our chosen climb Hogmany Hangover (HS) on Craig Pant Ifan. Things soon got serious as ‘go lel’ in the guidebook was translated as ‘go right’ and Stewart found himself on a one man mission to slaughter the bramble king. My belay posiSon meant I was out of sight of all the acSon but the accompanying sound track lel liAle to the imaginaSon. The eventual outcome was that Stewart ended up being lowered off a rather slight nut placement and made the final part of the descent by swinging out and shimmying down a tree a la Tarzan! Pause. Regroup. Reconsider strategy. AAack! This Sme, actually following the advice from the guidebook, the first pitch was cleanly led without any casualSes. There was a bold pull over a bulge, which lel me glad I wasn’t leading, but other than that it was good moves and clean rock throughout. Then it was my turn… It’s been a long Sme since I’ve led anything hard on trad and despite having done a number of V Diffs and a couple of severes already this year I wasn’t sure that I was ready to have a go at HS. Stewart adopted the role of the bullying sergeant major and issued the ulSmatum that if I didn’t lead it we’d be abbing off instead. Given that, I was lel with liAle choice as I didn’t want to have to surrender to another crag and admit defeat. I girded my loins and MTFU. My pitch saw me make an awkward lelwards traverse which meant I was having to pull across at full stretch and with nothing for my feet unSl I’d made the tricky move. Aler that it was a straighporward series of moves up the crack to reach the tree belay. Stewart took over again for the final pitch and it looked like our troubles were over once he’d done the delicate and relaSvely unprotected slab traverse. But no, this was another crag that refused to give up without a fight and aler an aborSve aAempt to cross the top to reach the descent path we gave up an abseiled off (a single 50m abseil). BaQle Nᵒ 5 result – Stewart and Vicki 1 : Hogmanay Hangover 1 Stew leading Titan (4+) in the atmospheric Llanberis slate quarries The original plan for the alernoon was an aAack on Sub Ceneifon Rib in the Ogwen Valley so that Dave (Ceunant member and Climber editor) could get some pictures of us on it for his magazine but his neck injury put pay to that and instead we visited Creigiau Llynnau Mymbyr by Plas Y Brenin. How these crags never seem to have anyone on them I don’t know. They’re an ideal venue for clubs as they’ve got a great variety of single pitch grades with easy access to help new leaders set up belays. We spent a happy alernoon there and for once the baAle was going in our favour as not only did we fail to spy even a single bramble but we were rewarded with some crag swag that had unbelievably been lel in posiSon at the top of a climb. BaQle Nᵒ 5 result – Stewart and Vicki 2 : Creigiau Llynnau Mymbyr 0 By Sunday, it looked like the summer weather had been recalled and in its place we’d be sent grey skies and cold winds. When it was suggested that we go to Never Never Land to escape the weather I was rather opSmisScally thinking of taking a trip using fairy dust to an exoSc far away land but what I got was a scramble over a barbed wire fence into the dark and menacing looking Llanberis slate quarries. Never having climbed on slate before, I was a bit inSmidated by the rock that looked like it would flake away in your hands as soon as you touched it. I led the easy Titan (4+) but chose to second the rest as the rock, and the massive distances between bolts, was a liAle u n s e A l i n g . N e v e r N e v e r L a n d w a s apparently used a set for the film of the Clash of the Titans which would explain why we kept coming across polystyrene rocks. (Clearly an enSre quarry full of rocks isn’t enough for a Hollywood blockbuster and they have to import their own!) BaQle Nᵒ 6 result – Stewart and Vicki 3 : Never Never Land 0 Stew sat happily on his belay at Creigiau Llynnau Mymbyr. Moel Siabod can be seen on the skyline to the right. The forecast for Monday was looking dodgy with 60% chance of rain and cold winds predicted. Aler umming and ahhing we decided to stay and risk it and the gamble paid off. Monday dawned bright and sunny and turned out to be the best weather day that we’d had. Out came the sun cream and bikini top and back to the boAom of the bags went the fluffy gloves and solshells. We returned to Creigiau Llynnau Mymbyr as Stewart was desperate to have a go at Ginnel Chimney (Diff) the narrow squeeze of a climb that he’d eyed up on our previous visit. Having already proved victorious at this crag before we felt like we’d decidedly got the upper hand and it proved right for the most part. The only skirmish we lost was that against ParSck Thistle Nil (HVS). This parScular route turned out to rely on jamming and which massacred both of our hands and a large part of Stewart’s elbow. BaQle Nᵒ 7 result – Stewart and Vicki 8 : ParSck Thistle Nil 1 Knowing when to quit, we headed off to do baAle against the bank holiday traffic but our reputaSon as route slayers must have preceded us as there wasn’t a traffic jam to be found. BaQle Nᵒ 8 result – Stewart and Vicki 1 : Bank Holiday Traffic 0 It would have been nice to have some more troops with us to assist in the baAles but Mercian manoeuvres elsewhere meant it was only the two of us there to lay siege to the north Wales rock. I’m sure we’ll soon be heading back with fresh recruits to do baAle once more. The view from Creigiau Llynnau Mymbyr looking south-­‐west towards the Snowdon horseshoe FF
Adam leading The Crack (VDiff), Porth y Ffynnon, under the watchful eye of Carl. PEMBROKE
PEMBROKE
PEMBROKE
words by Joe Norris photos by Harriet Stewart Friday evening: a franSc rush to cram a flat’s worth of luxuries into one bursSng-­‐at-­‐the-­‐
seams bag. The Sny angel on one shoulder is telling me to take a phone charger, while the Sny devil on the other shoulder reminds me that they don’t have electricity in Wales. The angel suggests taking sun cream, the devil reminds me that there is no sun west of the M6. Eventually my worldly possessions are in the car. An hour and a half later and I’ve arrived! …at the pick-­‐up point in Stourbridge. But at least we’re making progress now. Graham, Adam and myself eventually got to Porthclais Farm, where Jim, Rab and Roland had already set up camp (Jim and Rab’s ‘tent’ consisSng of two en-­‐suite bedrooms, an integral garage, and a fully-­‐fiAed kitchen complete with Aga and double-­‐glazing). Various other Mercians trickled into the campsite in the early hours of Saturday morning – Karl and Harriet, and the delighpully bearded Pierce and Fran (that’s Pierce that’s delighpully bearded, not Fran). The forecast looked reasonable, so it was with disappointment that we woke up to some fairly strong wind in the morning. There was only an hour or so of faff in the morning – we reasoned that the worst offending faffers were probably sSll faffing with their gear at home in Brum – so Karl, Adam, Graham, Pierce, Fran and myself we were off to check out the crag by about 10am. Porth Clais crag, a gentle 2-­‐
minute stroll from the tents, was sSll under water by the Sme we got there, and unfortunately only Karl had his wetsuit with him. We decided to wander down the coast to the next crag, Porth-­‐y-­‐Ffynnon, where the routes weren’t as affected by the water. The rock here was stunning – slabs of solid, crimpy, featured sandstone – though, as we found out, the gear was fiddly and thin at best. We Scked off a few routes here; Graham led a bold VS 4c (Cracked Wall), Karl and Adam flew up and down four routes in the space of about half an hour, and Fran showed that it’s possible to conSnue smiling for the enSre duraSon of a belay and climb (bringing a new meaning to the phrase ‘posiSve holds’). The happy climber, Fran seconding on some preAy steep terrain. The crag was surprisingly sheltered from the wind, and we soon headed down the coast to the next outcrop, IniSaSon Slabs. Here it was my turn to lead Aries, a bold VS which followed a stunning arête for about 20 meters – I knew it was bold because I would periodically here Graham saying ‘maybe try using the Sny cam’, a clear confirmaSon that the gear was sketchy! Karl led the route alerwards, taking about 2 minutes from boAom to top – he later explained this, saying “there’s no point in hanging about if there’s no gear!” He then spied an unnamed line that he liked the look of. It transpired that there was a reason it was unnamed…. The next crag along was Square Bay, but it turned out that this had been completely demolished by the winter storms – most of the cliff had completely collapsed and, while this provides an opportunity for new-­‐
rouSng, it also provides an opportunity for a swil, loose-­‐rock-­‐
induced death. So we opted to head along to the next crag, the more substanSal (and less deathly) Craig Caerfai. This crag is home to a classic VS/
HVS, Armorican. Having seen the line in the guidebook, I had to climb it. We abseiled down and I set off up it – a 30m route straight up a steep cracked slab, with a liAle overlap half way up. The climbing was sublime – the moves were technical but not strenuous, the gear was abundant and the posiSon was just stunning. Karl and Adam came up the route alerwards, while Pierce and Fran checked out some different lines. Meanwhile, Ben had finally arrived on the meet aler a ride on his well-­‐endowed partner, a shiny new Harley Davidson, and came down to meet us at the crag. We wandered back to the campsite, where we met up with Roland, Harriet, Jim and Rab, who had mostly been walking along the Pembrokeshire coastal path that day. We headed on down to the pub for a pint of Farmer’s Arms and some tradiSonal Welsh entertainment, an Italian football match on Sky Sports. Harriet climbing Nameless Craig Caerfai, Pembroke. Photo by Karl Stewart. On Sunday morning the wind had picked up again, but the sun was glinSng through the gaps in the cloudy ceiling. While Roland headed off for a coastal walk, the rest of us headed off to Craig Caerfai again, and Scked off some of the other mid-­‐grade routes on the crag. Jim joined us on the crag today, while Rab was nominated as official photographer. Pierce had decided that Fran could do with some ‘character-­‐building’ experiences, and it was aler a serious conversaSon that we persuaded him that taking Fran up an E5 would not necessarily be beneficial for their relaSonship (even if it would be ‘character-­‐building’). Fran didn’t disappoint Pierce, though, and followed him valiantly up some tough VS routes. Karl had a memorable experience, leading Submarine Slab (VS 4b) with another leader taking a big fall on a nearby Diff and proceeding to accuse Karl of ‘stealing my route’ (a crime which carries a maximum sentence of four years, apparently). Aler a serious conversaSon that we persuaded him that taking Fran up an E5 would not necessarily be beneficial for their relaSonship Having exhausted the worthwhile sub-­‐E1 routes at the crag, we headed along to Carreg-­‐
y-­‐Barcud to finish off the sunny alernoon. This crag is best known for its steep E1+ routes, but there are a few quality lines in the lower grades. An ‘atmospheric’ abseil off two wobbly stakes started us off. Ben decided to get back on the sharp end, and led Adam up Agent Orange (VS 4c) and then the significantly harder Yellow Edge (‘HS’ my a***). Meanwhile, Karl, Harriet, Fran and Pierce were also finding the grading to be sSff on a route called Metamorphosis. The sun was dipping by this stage, and we headed back to the campsite for a range of drinks (and some food too). The sun had taken the energy out of most of us, and it wasn’t long unSl the snoring commenced. There was talk of climbing on Monday, but the strong winds and forecasted rain suggested otherwise. Many of us headed off home in the morning, though a few valiant souls stayed on for some walking (and even surfing! – that wetsuit came in useful aler all then, Karl). Despite the disappoinSng weather on Monday, this trip had been a cracker – cool motorcycles, nice beer and some excellent new facial hair. (Oh, and there was the stunning scenery, immaculate rock and good company). Nice one, Mercians. Top -­‐ the group shot (L-­‐R) Ben, Karl, Adam, Fran, Pierce, Joe, Graham. BoAom -­‐ Jim (L) and Karl (R) at Craig Caerfai. FF
BEN’S LENS The Mercian Pembroke meet, as seen through the camera of Ben Thompson FF
The Brecon Beacons, with Pen y Fan marking the highest point on the skyline. Photo by Stewart Moody. 23.9 miles walked 4,000 calories burned 1,800m of ascent …and this is just a training day! by Julie Taylor 14 Welsh peaks over 3000 feet (or 15 if you want to make it sound more difficult) in 24 hours. The challenge has been set. Well, really the challenge was set 12 months ago but realising the need for a bit of preparaSon, this Sme we really mean it! So, in the spirit of doing a bit of training before the big day, we planned a weekend in the Brecon Beacons, the perfect locaSon for a lot of plodding up and down hills. Huw, Sandy, Bracken and Stew on the summit of Pen y Fan. Photo by Julie Taylor. Four intrepid 3000’ers wanabees and one pooch landed late on a Friday night on a campsite that someone was heard to describe as “a liAle slice of heaven”. Not sure about heaven being next to a main road, but it was a preAy place. Aler making plans over beer, cold pizza and a hasty foot taping session, we were ready for the next day’s epic. An earlier than usual Mercian start surprised us all and spirits were high as we lel the campsite. We walked a good half a mile before the first nav blunder so we were looking strong. The beauty of Brecon, apart from being surrounded by the Beacons, is that you can be in the hills as soon as you leave town so we were quickly up to the first summit; Fan y Big at 819 metres. Rather than walk the ridge across to Pen y Fan which would be classed as a ‘pleasant’ walk, it was decided that the only approach available to us was the ‘up and down unSl your legs won’t work’ walk. We proceeded to take the next ridge back down towards Brecon only to turn around at the boAom and head up the next ridge to Pen y Fan. From there it was a long walk past our first summit and down Gist Wen back to town. Huw looking a liAle more chav-­‐tasSc than usual whilst walking in the Brecon Beacons. “It’s OK Huw, I’ve taken the photo now, you can stop clenching those abs”. Photo by Stewart Moody The sun was blazing for the enSre day and as none of us were used to this strange phenomenon, conversaSon generally revolved around what items of summer kit we had neglected to bring. Sunhats and sunglasses were high on the list although at least we h a d s u n c r e a m . H u w p r o v i e d admirably that in order for suncream to work, you have to use it… ouch. We kept up a good pace for the whole day, put to shame only by Bracken the dog who, despite being weighed down by panniers, sSll managed to run twice the distance we walked. Eventually we arrived back in Brecon, Sred, sunburnt and impressed with the distance we had covered. Total distance was 25 miles, with 1800 m of height gained, in 11.5 hours. A non-­‐too shabby effort for a training day in the heat. One more training weekend looms, this Sme in Snowdonia for some route familiarisaSon, then the main event in June. We’re ready for this one…….. FF
H H EBRIDEAN OPSCOTCH words and photos by Roland Clarke Skye from Raasay I decided I would like to visit some more Scomsh Islands and booked an organised walking holiday. We started on Skye visiSng Raasay and then moved onto South Uist and Barra.. I was grateful we stayed in hotels so I could use my CPAP machine to help me sleep at night. The first hotel on Skye was remarkable and was like a step back in history. The owners family had been there for over 200 years. The hallway had a real stuffed stags head and Sger! The bedroom which I shared was so big you could have swung a lion in it. I have been to Skye before but it was my first visit to Raasay, we had a wonderful day walking up to the liAle table top mountain with good views of the Cuillins on Skye. The next day was not so good with low cloud and rain. We took a boat around to loch Coruisk to walk over to Sligachan via the saddle below Sgurr Hain. We had a great day walking in the Quiraing. Then by boat from Uig to Lochmaddy on North Uist. From there we travelled by bus and ferry to South Uist. On South Uist we walked some the west coast "Machair Way" on a rather wet and windy day. The last few days we had walks on Vatersay and Barra, beauSful island scenery. Many wild flowers and birds. My return Flight to Glasgow was cancelled so I was transferred to Benbecula a 2.5 hour coach and ferry journey. I was looking forward to flying off Barra beach. Looking South from Heaval on Barra. Hebridean seaside. From Dun Caan on Raasay Looking south east. The Quiraing on Skye. FF
CORNWALL
Harriet, Karl and Tom enjoy the first cream tea of the trip near Bosigran. Photo by Stewart Moody Annoyingly, there are Smes when the weather forecast just can’t make up its mind what it’s going to do. The 2014 spring bank holiday was one of those Smes. On Wednesday the weekend’s forecast looks miserable, on Thursday it looks awesome. Tom Morris, a closet opSmist, posted on Facebook at 6:22pm on the Friday of our departure to Cornwall “He who dares Rodney, he who dares”. Did fortune favour the bold? Read on… The traffic was forgiving on the drive down. It took 5 hours and we reached the campsite at Treen just aler 1am. I slept well. Saturday morning saw us gathered under the ample awning of Jim and Rab’s party tent. We put up a few wind breaks and dragged a pair of picnic tables into the enclosure. Most of us wore our down jackets (except Tom who’d made a packing error) whilst we drank tea and savoured the smell of bacon grilling on Jim’s BBQ. The air felt damp but mercifully it wasn’t raining. Aler weighing up the opSons we plumped for an ascent of Commando Ridge at Bosigran. The approach didn’t prove to be trivial. Aler plenty of scrambling and two abseils we were sSll only level with the 2rd belay. The Sde was slowly coming in and it didn’t look like the base of the route was accessible. Decision Sme. I looked across the small bay towards the main cliff of Bosigran who’s routes I knew wouldn’t require an abseil, and planted the seed of muSny in Tom’s mind. As a group we weighed up who definitely wanted to climb the ridge and Pierce, who’d already climbed it twice, joined the splinter group with his mate Tim. Together we absconded. words by Stewart Moody A fine mizzle had since set in that made the rock a liAle greasy but we weren’t going to be beaten. Tom and I, being a pair of cauSous chaps, aimed for a trio of easy grade routes that included Alison Rib (Diff), a 2 pitch, Top 50 route which was a joy to climb. Occasionally I looked over my shoulder at Commando Ridge and spoAed the others making good progress around the pinnacles. At 4:00pm, seeing that they’d topped out, we too walked out and met Karl and Harriet for a cream tea. We all felt preAy chipper about our climbing accomplishments. That evening Tom, Ben and I ate fish for dinner in the Logan Rock pub in Treen, and propped up the bar. By the end of the night I wasn’t quite three sheets to the wind, but I wasn’t far off. I woke on Sunday at 7am to the sound of rain on the tent; I rolled over and went back to sleep. The rain eased off an hour later but the mizzle was omnipresent. We decided to go to Sennen and make the most of the single pitch routes it has to offer (“He who dares…” eh, Tom?). I’d been to Sennen once before, a few years back, and I didn’t recall the approach being quite so horrible. From the coastguard look-­‐out a short scramble down a gully leads to a series of wave cut plaporms that descend down and around the base of the cliff. Each plaporm was scaAered with deep pools and sea weed in the hollows and got progressively slippier. We kept well back from the edges for fear of finding ourselves in Davy Jones’ Locker. For the last obstacle we considered a short 4m abseil but felt emboldened when a couple overtook us and down-­‐climbed it. As we arrived at the Demo area the crowds were hot on our heels. In a frenzy we consulted the guide books, found a few plum routes and threw our ropes down. Moments later the crag quickly turned into a circus, and a damp circus at that. Pierce grabbed Demo Route (HS 4b), Karl went for Andrimne (S 4a), and Tom claimed Banana Flake (VDiff, but he’ll be keen to point out it is high in the grade). Call it a sixth sense, but Tom and I decided to climb out with all our gear stuffed into my ruck sack – it weighed a tonne. Tom ran both pitches together, and no sooner had I joined him at the top the heavens opened. This wasn’t mizzle, or even drizzle, this was the sort of rain that causes people to scaAer for whatever shelter they can find. We bolted for the car, baAened down the hatches, and ate our lunch. As the rain hammered the bonnet we felt smug that we didn’t need to return to the base of the crag again to retrieve gear. Others weren’t so lucky. The day was wriAen off. We drove first to a café in St. Just for a cream tea. Aler a bout of inerSa we headed to Penzance to kill the rest of the alernoon. A few of us passed a marquee in which we spied barrels of real ale and locals dressed as pirates. Nice one! Our joy was short lived; the pirate band sang a song about a girl from Clapham and a poor recital of a Mumford and son’s track, the beer wasn’t that great, and there was a disSnct lack of atmosphere. “Let’s not get too comfortable” said Ben. We drank up. To cut a long story short we met the others in a pub just off the high street for a while before heading back to Treen. Shower-­‐Nap-­‐Pub-­‐Beer-­‐Dinner-­‐Beer-­‐Tent-­‐Sleep. The forecast had always said Monday would be the best day of the bunch. At 7am it was raining. My heart sank, and I grumbled under my breath -­‐ “are you kidding me”. By 9am we had packed the cars and the sun was doing it’s very best to break through the flat grey sky. Karl and Harriet were off for a day of Kayaking whilst Ben had departed on his Harley for road he wanted to ride across Dartmoor NaSonal Park. My goal for the weekend had been to climb my first ever route at Chair Ladder; I’d heard it was one of the best mulS-­‐
pitch crags in Cornwall for the grades in the Severe – Very Severe range. Pierce, Tim and Fran were equally keen – we had an accord. Tom and I had designs on a Severe called Pendulum Chimney, whilst the others aimed for the Terrier’s Tooth at the far end of the cliff. The approach was a scramble (oh God, not again) that lead down some preAy steep terrain. It felt hard. I checked the guide book again, it described a chock stone, the same innocuous looking chock stone we’d seen from the top of the cliff. I couldn’t see it anymore. We rounded a corner, down climbed a steep crack, and found it. It was the size of a car, soaking wet, and the only bridge across the 4m span of the zawn. It would be a commieng move to launch onto it, and it looked preAy irreversible. Beyond the chock stone was the same slick sea weed covered plaporms we’d experienced at Sennen. Neither of us had the stomach for it. We could try to abseil into the route, but that’d be equally commieng and Sme consuming. We did an about face and scrambled back out of the zawn. Plan B was to climb Terrier’s Tooth with the others. It felt like a lot of things on this trip hadn’t gone to plan. The Terrier’s Tooth was no excepSon. The winter storms had ripped off a huge slab of rock that consStuted P1 of the tradiSonal route, and took the first belay ledge with it too. Where I would have expected to see good holds and was a blank quarried looking face. We had no idea what the grade was, nor were we sure how stable the face was or how reliable the holds would be. There was a fair amount of faffing and indecision, but that was ok, for the sun was now blazing, the sea was calm, and situaSon was stunning. Drinks in the beer tent with a pirate band. Photo by Stewart Moody Karl paddling along the Cornish coast. Photo by Harriet Stewart Harriet on Commando Ridge (Vdiff), Bosigran. Photo by Karl Stewart Tim decided to climb the tradiSonal route anyway – the suck it and see approach – fair play. Tom and I opted for a variaSon that came in from the right, was untouched by the rock fall, and maintained the VDiff grade. I lead P1 which was unevenpul. I met Tim on the belay and we chaAed in the sun whilst building our belays and bringing up our seconds. P2 was Tom’s for the taking. It moved up the free standing pinnacle onto very steep terrain on bomber threads, and stepped out right to finish off with a bold step onto a featured slab bathed in sunshine. “He who dares Rodney, he who dares”. FF
Tom Morris prepares to Abseil from the summit of Terrier’s Tooth (VDiff) at Chair Ladder. Photo by Stewart Moody Welsh 3000’s
Training
Part 2 -­‐ Llanberis Words and photos by Huw Davies The second 3000’s training weekend was held on the laQer part of the 3000’s route. Lodging was in and around the Ceunant hut, and the forecast was good again. Another epic. On the night of arrival we wisely prepared for the next day’s exerSons by necking a few at the local. Despite this we lel at 8.00am on the dot, and the group probably unwisely charged up the first ascent. Joe rocketed into the distance, seemingly unencumbered by the quite warm looking layer of fixed insulaSon he’s currently sporSng on his head. The first peak reached was Glyder Fawr, aler which we homed in on Glyder Fach in a bit of a spiral, and posed on it in the tradiSonal way, with a slightly uneasy Bracken amongst us. More photos were taken on the canSlever; I very much regreAed hanging off it when I realised the launch rock was out of reach and the only way down was to drop into the mess of rocks. Tom Morris makes another bid for the cover of the Faff by posing on the canSlever. Nice try Tom. We then slid and stumbled down to Bwlch Tryfan, Tom parScularly singing the praises of the ‘chossy’ terrain. On Tryfan; more rocky diversions, with Sandy taking advantage of the light wind and clearing the gap between Adam and Eve. Then another plunging descent into Ogwen valley, with the sun now well and truly out. Julie was well prepared, with her very cool looking sun hat pueng my Intelligent Power cap to shame. At the boAom we stopped to allow everybody to get their sandwiches out, and a few to eat them before heading off again. We skirted east of Llyn Ogwen, and ascended along Afon Lloer with notably less enthusiasm than the previous ascents. That said Stew sSll paced ahead with his steady looking but brisk pace, with hands clasped behind his back. Aler a water refill and a cooling head dunk in the river at Bryn Mawr, we started up the ridge towards the first of the Carneddau peaks. I struggled a liAle up this secSon, and a few others slowed down as well. Pen yr Ole Wen eventually arrived much to my relief. I suffered a bit of a sugar low for the next few Carneddau, and dropped back a distance. Through stuffing more sandwiches down my neck whilst on the move, some degree of health returned by Bwlch Cyfryw Drum where we regrouped. Here Simon elected to skip Yr Elen, and make some headway. Yr Elen is quite a demoralising spur off the main path, as the same path needs to be walked back along. The ridge also drops down and rises back up a fair bit. I definitely punctuated my uphill progress here with frequent sighs and profaniSes and chuntering, as did Tom nearby. It was a relief to get back out of the dip, and to be traversing around to meet the main path. Heading towards Carnedd Gwenllian/
Carnedd Uchaf, Bracken had a brief stand off with a wild horse, with the horse prevailing. By Carnedd Gwenllian, with the end in site and an eighth wind, the pace had quickened back up again. We bagged Foel Fras, then at Bwlch y Gwryd broke off down to the lake with the cars ‘only a few miles away’. The few miles really dragged. The aptly named Llyn Anafon would be a really good place to stash mountain bikes to cruise down to the cars. I’m sSll thinking of a way to ask Jodie if she can walk them up there for us. We reached the end at last, and met up with Simon. Then the drive back, where my head really started to pound, aler which, in my case, food and a long nap. The other fiAer members returned to the pub to rehydrate, and to be fair I did eventually join them! Here’s looking forward to the main event in a fortnight! FF
Above -­‐ Sandy soaks up the sun on the ascent of Pen Yr Ole Wen. Below -­‐ Joe, Stew, Simon and Tom near the summit of Glyder Fach. HIKE | BIKE | CLIMB