Back in August, we had a massive mountain day in Llanberis pass. It was a taster into the world of Trad, and it was epic.
As a monkey who dwells amongst the boulders, looking up at any multi-pitch cliff sends tremors down my back. So much rock, too many holds/moves to contemplate, surely an un-holdable sloper, Or a fat double dyno is waiting for me up there.
But saying that, it’s bloody good fun.
Bad belaying… jokes, Mikeys on anchor
We had many options for lousy weather alternatives, But in the mountain hut the night before, it was agreed the day’s main focus was the six-pitch, 90m route ‘The Cracks’ at Dinas Mot. A crag classic and a very approachable grade for the team.
The day’s crew was Me, Danko, Becky, Tommy and our Trad specialist Mikey. We are confident climbers and move reasonably well, but this was breaking new ground.
We wanted to tackle the route as a team. Our method of climbing was Mikey in the lead, creating anchors as he went, with Dan and Becky seconding. Tommy and I lurked close behind on different ropes, taking turns leading the pitches, using Mikey’s pre-made anchors. This meant we ended up travelling fast. We smashed out the climb far quicker than anticipated.
Moody weather loomed on the walk-in, low lying cloud, and it felt a little colder than usual. We made the 30 min approach racked up, and started the climb. During the first pitch, the cloud came in, and visibility was low. The rock looked dry in parts but unfortunately, the first two pitches went directly through a slime trail down the cliff, some sketchy slow movement trusting the grip on our shoes against the wet algae-covered rock.
Mike and Tommy did a phenomenal job leading through the slimiest pitches. As we gained altitude, we were greeted with dry rock and some slabby suburb cracks. I led a few pitches, and before we knew it, we were at the top before lunch. A quick abseil down, and then we planned the rest of the day over a short lunch break.
Tommy on the cracks
We all decided to head towards Parsons nose (Grade 3 scramble). An hour of intense hiking put us at the foot of the dramatic steep ridge. We didn’t flinch at the scramble, great movement with lots of great foot ledges and jugs.
Parsons Nose (grade 3)
We popped out at the end of Crib Goch, so we proceeded to reverse the ridge and followed it to its natural end (Red Ridge). An absolute belter of a walk, mostly in cloud cover with the occasional break showing the glory of the hills around. (I almost completed the no hands flash of Crib Goch, but I dabbed a few times on some significant steps)
Then we picked our way down a few gullys that plopped us down next to the car. Next stop Llanberis, Chippy by the lake, then Home. Very happy team.
