Costa del Holyhead Yeh!

Great afternoon with Jen at Holyhead Mountain. We climbed some awesome single pitch routes in glorious sunshine! What a crag!! I led Jen up The Bruvers HVS, Breaking the Barrier E1, Andover E1 and See Emily Play HVS - all great climbs.

Cragging at Clogwyn Bochclywd

On Tuesday I met up with my good mate Jamie for a relaxed afternoon of cragging at Clogwyn Bochclwyd in the Ogwen valley. This is an awesome little crag, with a good range of grades and an easy descent. It makes an excellent afternoon/evening venue as it gets the sun from 2pm this time of year and is a short walk in from Ogwen Cottage.We warmed up on Marble Slab - a great little HS with involving moves and good gear. I then lead Bochclwyd Eliminate which is a fantastic HVS. Jamie led Waltz in Black - a nice E1 which didn't really feel much harder than the HVS. We finished the day on The Wrack E2 which definitely felt like a step up featuring steep and technical moves.

Unknown climber on The wrack

Learn to Lead Rock Climbing Course

This weekend I was working at Plas y Brenin on a Learn to Lead Rock Climbing Course. On saturday the weather was grim so we started off by looking at belay building and placing gear whilst traversing around the wall. We then headed down to Tremadog which was damp and greasy so we did a big boots ascent of Boo Boo, with Stuart building his own belay and belaying Iona up.

On Sunday the weather was perfect so we made the short drive into the Ogwen valley and walked up to Clowyn Bochlwyd. This is a great little crag for leading on if you can climb severe as the route are well furnished with holds and good gear placements. Stuart lead Five Pitch Route (in one pitch) and then stepped up a grade to Hard severe by climbing the delightful Marble Slab. A great weekend and a excellent effort from Stuart!

Walking Group Leader Assessment

On Friday I worked on the final day of a Walking Group Leader Assessment - WGL - at Blue Peris Mountain Centre. The Walking Group Leader award is for people who want to lead groups in remote but non-mountainous terrain. Areas within the remit of the award includes Dartmoor, The Peak District, Yorkshire Moors and Dales.

After a late start (night navigation until 3am the previous night) we spent the day at Moel y Ci looking at navigation, relocation, remote supervision and emergency scenarios. All the candidates did well - one passed outright and the other 2 were deferred so need to return for one more day of re-assessment.

Rock Climbing Coaching testimonial from Helen

A few weeks ago I took Helen out for a couple of days of rock climbing coaching as she wanted to improve her technique, confidence and ultimately climb harder! Helen had this to say about her course:

"As an established climber struggling to break the VS barrier I booked a couple of days with Rory and was not disappointed!  Rory was patient at all times and it felt like climbing with a friend rather than an instructor. The techniques he taught me were soon put into practice as we went outside for a couple of big routes and I have now broken the VS barrier!  If anyone was looking for an instructor who is knowledgeable, patient and willing to share their skills I would have no hesitation in recommending Rory."

Helen seconding The Chain E1 on Dinas Mot

Mountain Walking week with Wellbeck MoD College

I have spent this past week hill walking and scrambling in Snowdonia with a group from Wellbeck Military College. We had a great week with varied weather but the team always managed to step up to the challenge. The group spent a lot of time learning mountain navigation and leadership as well as tackling steep and rocky ground. For many of them it was their first experience in the hills so the North Ridge of Tryfan was an excellent eye opener! Thanks to Baggy of Blue Peris Mountain Centre for organising the week and asking me to work!

Northern Snowdonia from Moel Siabod

Smart Climbing Workshop

Yesterday I ran 2 self rescue workshops for Becks on her Smart Climbing weekend. The course is design to increase the confidence and abilities of the climbers by working on both mental, physical and technical skills. The aim behind my workshops was to give the climbers some key skills to deal with problems which would allow them to push their grades on more serious terrain safe in the knowledge that they could get themselves out of any situation. We looked at unplanned retreats by turning belays into abseil anchors in a multipitch scenario, tying of a belay plate and carrying out some hoists - a lot to pack into 2 hours. For those that want further training I can run a weekend of self rescue skills that will truly make you self sufficient in the multi pitch environment.

Tying of a belay plate

Rock Climbing Coaching with Helen

Today I met up with Helen for part 2 of a rock climbing coaching weekend that we postponed last moth due to bad weather. We spent the first day looking at a range of climbing techniques on the slate and in the indoor wall. Today the weather was amazing so we headed into the Llanberis Pass. We enjoyed the morning sun on Clogwyn y Groachan and Helen got to grips with some 5b technical moves on Kaisergerbirge wall and Wind. These are both HVS although I think wind is pretty much E1!

To avid being burned to a crisp we headed onto the shady and slabby Dinas Mot in the afternoon and climbed the first 2 pitches of Western Rib finishing up the chain to give a great E1.

Amphitheatre Buttress - the best V Diff in the country?

On Thursday I guided returning client Matt up the classic Amphitheatre Buttress in the Carneddau. As mountaineering rock climbing goes it doesn't get much better than this. It is about 10 pitches long and works its way up a buttress of perfect rock, culminating in a knife edged pinnacle section! It has been a long standing ambition of Matt's to climb this route and he was really chuffed to get it ticked. The weather was just amazing and treated us to cloud inversions, swirling mist, broken spectres and bright sunshine what and awesome day!

Matt above the clouds

Matt on the slabs of pitch 2

Crossing the knife edge section

Looking down the top section of the route

Snowdonia 15 Peaks - the 3000 footers!

Yesterday was a big day for Mike - it was time for his 15 peak challenge! I have taken Mike and his son Rab out scrambling a few times over the past 2 years and it has long been an ambition of his to complete the 15 peaks as a 50th birthday challenge! At over 30 miles long and with 4100m of ascent this is a tough walk - much harder than the more well known 3 peaks challenge!

We set off from Pen y Pass just after 4am as it was starting to get light. Mike, Mike's eldest son Rab and I made good pace up on to Crib Goch and enjoyed an atmospheric scramble along the ridge with the clouds swirling around us. As we made our way onto Carnedd Ugain (peak 2) the wind got stronger and it was really pretty cold - below freezing with the wind chill! We stopped for a 5 minute break in the shelter of the Snowdon summit cafe before heading down the start of the Llanberis track then down the steep Llechog spur to Nant Peris. This took 4 hrs 20 mins.

I left Mike here to get refuelled by his support team who also doubled as his family! Mike wanted to tackle the Glyderau by himself to get some 'spiritual' mountain time by him self. this is probably the hardest of the 3 sections as it has some fairly brutal ascents and descents and lots of rocky ground.

I met up with Mike at Ogwen cottage and Mike's youngest Sam joined us for the last leg. We plodded up the long and steep ascent to Pen y Ole Wen in beautiful afternoon sunlight. It always nice to get this out the way as it is the last major ascent of the challenge. We took our time and enjoyed the stroll across the Carneddau arriving on Foel Fras at 10.00 just as the light was starting to fade. We made it to the car and Mike family at the road head above Aber just before midnight! It was a great effort by Mike and also his family for supporting him not just yesterday but for the last few months as Mike and I planned the day!

You can find more photos on my Facebook Page.

Mike in the cloud on Crib Goch

Mike and Sam on Carnedd Llewelyn

Rock Climbing Course at Tremadog, North Wales

This weekend I was working on a Lead and Multipitch rock climbing course for the Rock Climbing Company. I took John, Eddie and Colin to Tremadog for both days to get the best of the weather. The team had done some leading outdoor on single pitch sport routes but had never done any trad climbing. By the end of the weekend they had led 2 multi pitch routes! A great effort. We finished Sunday off with a cheeky pint in the newly refurbished Heights in Llanberis, which is looking great and well worth a visit!

Colin leading the second pitch of Boo Boo

The team after climbing Oberon

Colin enjoying a Hard Severe on Tremadog Upper Tier

Eddie climbing a Hard Severe

Rory keeping a watchful eye on the team!

John enjoying Boo Boo

John leading the final steep crack of Oberon

Eddie belaying John on Fallen Block Crack

Lead Rock Climbing Course

Today I finished up a rock climbing course by taking Alex and Ger to Tremadog. We started by climbing Yogi by the tree start which has some beautiful climbing up a crystal filled crack. Alex and Ger then abseiled off, this time without a safety rope, using a prussik knot as a back up. After lunch they got on the sharp end and led a route called Oberon. A nice sunny and warm day for a change. This week I have been working for Plas y Brenin.

Snowdonia Slateman

I've been a bit slack with the blogging in the past few weeks - mainly because the weather has been so bad so I've no nice photos to post. Yesterday I took part in the Llanberis Slateman Triathlon as a team with good mate Matt Barlow and brother Hamish. It was a great event - really well organised and there was a great buzz around Llanberis. Thankfully the weather improved from Saturday so despite strong winds we had a mainly dry day! Hamish (doing is first iron man this year) gave us a great start and was first into transition. However Matt and myself couldn't quite live up to this high standard but managed to drag ourselves round the bike and run sections in a reasonable time!

Puutting in some pain in the quarries!

Jen also took part and unlike Matt and I she had the courage to do the whole thing - an awesome effort for her first Triathlon, especially as she hates the cold and the water temperature for the swim was less than 11 degrees!

Helen's Rock Climbing Coaching Weekend

Last weekend client and good friend Helen came up from down South with the aim of having a weekend of rock climbing that would challenge her technique and hopefully increase her confidence and ability. With the forecast looking a bit ropey we headed into the slate quarries to work on her slab technique. The ability to move confidently over slabby terrain and trust your feet is essential for progressing through the grades. Many people will focus on trying to climb steeper routes on indoor walls and while this does get you stronger it will not improve your ability to climb a HVS slate slab!

We started at Bus Stop quarry and Helen warmed up by seconding Solstice VS. I got her to start thinking about placing her feet as accurately as possible and maintaining good body position. Helen then down climbed the route - an excellent way to get people to think a little more about their climbing! Being a hard task master I then got her to climb up it for a 2nd time asking Helen to get into a position where she could take both hands off the rock after every move!

Helen on Fresh Air 6a

We then walked up to the Sidings Level in Australia and had a play on a couple of the grade 5c sport routes there. We really focused on the 'rock over' move which is the standard move on harder slate slabs. Helen even managed to top rope one of the 5c's one handed demonstrating the importance of trusting your feet and using momentum to shift your centre of gravity.

Unfortunately the threatening clouds fulfilled their promise of rain so we scarpered off to the Beacon Climbing Centre for a couple of hours to focus on bridging techniques.

Helen approaching the tricky move on Looning the Tube

The rain cleared through quickly so we decided to head back into the quarries to grab a couple of routes before we finished up for the day. We climbed Fresh Air - a really nice sport climb at 6a and the classic Looning the Tube HVS/E1. A great way to end the day.

Near the top of Looning the Tube

Unfortunately in rained very hard all night and into the morning so we decided to just go for a fun climb at The Beacon and rearrange another day in June when hopefully we will get some better weather!

North Wales Crack Climbing

There is something uniquely satisfying about pure crack climbing... a combination of brutality combined with technicality and that need to just keep on questing! I got into crack climbing in Indian Creek Utah... where like most Brits we took a bit of a spanking. Here in the UK we don't have that many pure crack climbs - especially ones which go on for 40 meters with no deviation in the width of the crack or face holds to rest on! I remember the first crack I got on was graded the equivalent of HVS and by 8 meters I had placed nearly all the cams I had and was pumped out of my mind. I managed to finish it after a couple of rests though! Jon, an 8b sport climbe,r managed to get defeated by a VS crack called chocolate corner so I didn't feel too bad!

Climbing Scarface 5.11 Indian Creek

These past few weeks I've climbed a couple of good crack numbers in Snowdonia that are definitely worth seeking out. On Friday I headed into the quarries with Greg with the intention of taking on The Dinorwig Unconquerables. We climbed a few routes on the Skyline Buttress of Australia before slogging up to the top of The Lost World. A short abseil in takes you to the bottom of The Unconquerables - a 26 metre splitter crack. Its graded E3 which I think is a little generous if you know how to Jam and you have 5 size 2 friends!
I really enjoyed climbing it and as I started to get a little tired a few helpful foot holds appeared! Well worth its 3 stars.

Approaching the roof of The Dinorwig Unconquerables

So if you are inspired here is a little crack tick list to get stuck into:

Cobweb Crack VS - Dinas Cromlech. A few different jamming skills required here
Herfords Crack HVS - Clogwyn y Tarw. Beautiful hand jamming crack... if only it was 50 meters long!
The Grond E1 - Dinas Cromlech (more like E2!). Awesome and steep corner crack - thin hands to start
Ferdinand E2 - Clogwyn y Wenallt. Ring Locks and thin hands to better hand jams and a couple of face holds
The Dinorwg Unconquerables E3 - Lost World, Dinorwig Slate. Soft for the grade as long as you have enough cams! Awesome line.
Fear of Infection E4 - Llanberis Pass. An infamous man eating offwidth. I've not done this one yet....

Herfords Crack - awesome hand jamming!

Evening Sun on Comes The Dervish

Just back from an evening hit to Vivian Quarry. Its a great venue in the evening as its gets the sun and it is sheltered from the strong Easterly wind that is blowing hard through the mountains at the moment. I climbed one of my all time favourite routes - THE classic slate route Comes The Dervish E3 that follows a thin crack line up an immaculate slab. It has a reputation for a bold start but a couple of tiny rp's provide some comfort before the good slot is reached. From there excellent sustained and well protected climbing leads to a resting foothold beneath an overlap. This isn't as hard to surmount as you think it might be but the thin and bold slab above provides interest until the sanctuary of big holds and the top is reached. A must do for all extreme leaders and a good first E3 if you like slate slabs!!

The immaculate Dervish Slab

Chilling out on the resting foothold

What a line!

Day Off!!! - Rock Climbing in the Llanberis Pass

Just back from a great relaxed afternoon of climbing in the Llanberis Pass with Jen. The weather continues to be sunny although a strong wind from the East is just taking the edge of the temperatures. We decided to head to Craig Ddu - the black crag near Nant Peris which is wet for most of the year. After this spell of dry weather it is in good condition so we wanted to get some routes done there before the monsoon arrives!

We started up Orpheus E2, which has a deceptively steep and pumpy first pitch and linked this to the direct finish to Rift wall which is a sandbag at HVS!! This gives a good 3 pitch combo at 5b, 4c, 5b/c.

Next I went and sampled the awesome Sea Panther E1 - a great route on lovely warm, black rock. Get on it now before it gets wet again for another 10 months!!

Heaven - Llanberis Pass in the Spring

Jen enjoying the sun!

Kath and Linda's first rock climbing lead!!!

Yesterday I took Kath and Linda down to the Moelwyns to introduce them to some multi pitch climbing. They had both just passed their Climbing Wall Award (well done!!) and were keen to improve their outdoor climbing skills. We climbed the first 2 pitches of a severe called Block then joined onto the super classic Kirkus Direct for a bit more of a challenge. Linda and Kath built their own belays at the top of each pitch and belayed each other in preparation for lead climbing.

After lunch we decided that it was time for them to try their first trad lead climb - not a decision to be taken likely. Kath led the first pitch of a severe called Bent and, apart from a slightly exciting moment when she kicked out a runner, climbed it very well. Linda then took over for the second pitch and climbed confidently and smoothly to the belay. We then looked an abseil retreat from half way up the cliff - an essential skill for multipitch climbing.

Another fantastic day working in the sunshine of North Wales!! Kath had this to say about the day:

"Just to say a huge thanks for taking us out yesterday, we had an absolute blast and were as high as kites all the way home...We'll definitely head back that way, and be in touch again for another day as soon as our schedules match."

Kath and Linda on stance change over

Kath seconding the fine slab on Block

Kath abseiling off

An Evening on Snowdon

I've just finished up the week with Worcester Uni on their Mountain Leader Training Course at Blue Peris Mountain Centre. Yesterday we walked over Yr Aran, looking at navigation on 1:50,000 scale maps, then dropped into Cwm Tregalan to set up camp. We chilled out for a few hours in the afternoon sun before heading up the Watkin Path to Snowdon. We summited at 8pm, cooked some dinner and watched the sun set over Anglesey. It was a little chilly up there due to the NE wind but it was well worth the effort. As darkness approached quickly we dropped back down to Bwlch y Saethau then spent a few hours perfect night navigation techniques.
This morning we walked out, enjoying yet another sunny spring day. I really can't believe the weather we are having!
Best of luck to all the team - I'll see you in a couple of years for assessment!

Looking North West from Snowdon Summit

The Team on Snowdon

Mountain Leader Training Course

For the past two days I have been working on a Mountain Leader Training course for Blue Peris Mountain Centre. Snowdonia is again treating us to amazing weather and it is a real joy to be working in the mountains with a great group of enthusiatic people. Today we scrambled up the North Ridge of Tryfan looking at managing a group up and down steep and rocky ground. Yesterday we headed into the Northern Carneddau to look and advanced navigation techniques.