Carneddau Solitude

I had a great day out in the Northern Carneddau on Saturday with my most special client - my Mum! The weather was beautiful and it was warm enough for us to be in t shirts for most of the day. We parked up at the top car park, above the Aber Falls car park and walked up on to Drum and Foel Fras - we probably saw only 3 or 4 people before lunch! We then descended via Garnedd Uchaf and Drosgl before heading back down to Aber Falls - a great circuit especially if you want a bit of peace and quiet. Unfortunately I left my camera somewhere up in the hills - so no photos until I sort out getting a replacement!

On Friday I managed to complete a long standing boulder problem project on the Cromlech boulders. I finally managed to link the last 2 moves of the Full Roadside Traverse to get the V9 or Fr8a tick.

Busy working, busy playing....

... although sometimes its hard to separate! The awesome dry and sunny weather rolls on and I've had an awesome few days. I've been guiding scrambles over Tryfan, the Glyders and Crib Goch, had a great day ticking a load of classic HVS and E1s at Tremadog, bouldering in the Llanberis pass in the evenings so I'm having a bit of a day off today as I'm starting to ache and I need to grow some more skin on my fingers! Unfortunately I cant post any photos as my camera is in a friends rucsac!

For those of you looking to come up to Snowdonia to climb on our fantastic mountain crags now is the time - even Cloggy is dry (if still a bit chilly) and the forecast looks good for the next few days. I've got a couple of days of work then I'm headed down to Pembroke with a friend for some climbing on the amazing limestone sea cliffs found there.

Sunny Spring Continues

Just back from a quick hit in the slate quarries. Oli and I climbed Zzzooming the Tube - an E3 left of the classic HVS looning the tube. I've not climbed much on slate recently and so it felt pretty unnatural to be standing on tiny edges again!

On Monday and Tuesday I was working for my friend Bryn of Dragon Mountain Skills. I had two awesome days out in the sun with Daniel and Katie who were on their honeymoon! On the first day we scrambled up the Gribin Ridge onto Glyder Fawr - their first grade 1 scramble. Tuesday saw us wandering through the Moelwynns and concentrating on navigation skills.


Topping out on the Gribin Ridge

The weather is set fair for awhile (maybe a blip on Sunday) so get down to Snowdonia and enjoy the hills and some warm, dry rock before the monsoon hits!

The Hilltop Hussies

Today I was a very privileged man... I got to go out for a day with the Hilltops Hussies - an elite selection of walking women! Jen and I took them for a stroll in the Moelwynns and looked at their navigation skills. They all proved to be excellent students all though at times there ability to converse could be slightly distracting. The weather was excellent - sun tans all round and a great day was had out by everyone!


The Hussies and a Hunk


Shameless posers!

Max's first climbing adventure

Max Mousley, aged 6, took his first steps to becoming a fully fledged rock climber today. Jen and I took Max, his mum and dad to the Beacon Climbing Centre today and Max enjoyed it so much we had to drag him away! Watch this space!!

New Dragon Cams from DMM

DMM have recently brought out the Dragon Cam - a nice looking piece of kit that has been designed to be lightweight, strong and have a big range. Now I'm a big fan of DMM gear - it is always very well made, well designed, looks damm good and most importantly when I'm on a big runout - trustworthy!

Check out this video clip that clearly illustrates the strength of the new Dragon Cams