Trevor Thurs 4th July – Suspect Walls

Matt welcomes the concealed bolt just over the bulge

Another fine evening at Trevor.

Nothing to difficult.....recovering from a lower back injury sustained whilst picking up a particularly heavy sock, I ask you… some 5‘s & 6a’s.

Proven Guilty (5), Plea for Leniency (6a), No Remittal (6a), Disappearing Act (5)* & Clue, So? (4)*
Just good to be outside for a stretch.

Trevor Rocks - Thurs 6th June

Great evenings climbing at Trevor. Last climb was a suffering crawl up Traction Control 6c on Compact Wall after a fine lead by Deej. Finaly headed off by headtorch about 11pm. Still made the Pub!

Its A Gully Ayit - Thurs 28th March

After the pre Easter snow storm we were determined to take some days out on the hill, after a series of ‘Mondays bad, can’t do Wed, but can do...’ texts. We settled on 3 of us managing to get the Thurs 28^th before Easter. The real problem was actually getting to North Wales. Over the weekend of 23/24^th the A5 was blocked with snow at Ogwen. Llangollen remained closed until the Mon/Tues. Not wanting to add to the emergency services statistic it did seem prudent to wait until later in the week, time for the snow to consolidate a tad and the possibilities of further improvements in the weather.

Overnight feedback from the ‘Winter Condition’ thread on the UKC forum, still had Llanberis pass closed and chocked full of snow until the Thursday morning. Weaving thru the collateral in Llangollen, some of the snow is banked so high its going to take weeks to pool.

 8am sat in the cafe in Capel, mmmm decisions, decisions. If we plum for something like Sergeants/PF in the pass, then we could lose an hour or two just trying to make it there, and probably not be able to park by the Cromlech anyway. Understandably Andy doesn’t fancy having his CMAX reshaped by a JCB. Hell... it’s got to be one of the gullies in Y Garn again then.

Met Office and MWIS had suggested that there was a potential avalanche risk and a chance of windslab.

One more time then, let’s go for A then B then C, see how the day goes. The road down to Ogwen cottage is not too bad; a couple of the lay-bys have been partially cleared. Not many folks here yet today but had we left it 10min later then no space. Chugging up to Cwn Clyd we meet a couple of chaps on their way down. They were a bit concerned about the wind slab so backed off any gullies. We press on… ahh its not so bad. Good, no tracks, so nobody has been up this morning or maybe since the day before, always nice treading new snow even if it’s old ground.

 

Heading round the East rim of Llyn Clyd, the snow is blinding and its not even full sun yet. Some deep drifts on the approach to the gully and is heavy going, the stream is around here somewhere, ahh sh…yeah there it is, err chaps don’t step here ok. As the angle increases around 700m the snow firms up slightly. OK, well the conditions look ok at the moment, apart from a 25mm crust the stuffs pretty good underneath, no significant slab and this is almost a North facing gully so it should have stayed cold. It’s a grade 1 but we’re slightly cautious due the severity of the storm the weekend before so decide to rope up from here. Deej sets off, me in the middle, Andy on the end.

 

The first 100m gained are good and we get to the junction where A, B split. Looking back down the tracks it hard to believe were in North Wales, a pure White carpet below. After a brief look at the state of each route we go for A Gully. There is a bit of unstable slab and we need to cross it to get to the right hand wall of the gully. After another 20m, things aren’t looking so solid. Ok let’s go up the dividing spur of rock at last we can get some protection in. Sounds like a plan. Deej soon finds its pretty nasty unconsolidated powder. A Straight forward Grade 1 raised its game to a 2 which feels like a 3 to us. Over the next 50m or so of mixed ground, we put in 4!!! short, but highly entertaining pitches. A couple of good flakes provide bomber-ish belays but the foot placements are shite to say the least. Andy been hanging on his axes for a few min for balance and now his hands are cold, after bashing away the ice from around a rump of rock I recon I can get a reasonable foot stance to bring him up. “Oi Andy, your on belay, get goin mate”. A big chunk of rock that made my stance look good now decides it wants to potter off down the gully. “Andy, get your head dow…sorry mate” .

 

Deej is just some 6 or so metres tucked in above me, his last pitch will take him up over what cornice there maybe. Andy comes up to my previous stance and clips in. The winds picking up near the top and we loose the sun, brrr Need to give Deej enough rope to get him well clear of the cornice, so Andy bales out some more rope to me. Deej starts off, although the last 10m or so are the steepest, the ice is now hard front point heaven. I watch his poons disappear over the top. Brrrr, now for the cold wait as Deej sets up and axe anchor and bucket seat. A few tugs on the rope and I’m off up… wow nice stuff. It’s so good to top out into a blazing sun. Dam hard to tell how big the cornice is today, the snow near the edge is hard and deep so I go way back off the lip and set up a secondary anchor on some protruding rock. All good, Andy starts on up allowing Deej a chance to get some pics.

 

It’s taken longer than expected but everyone’s safe and we have had a great day. Although it’s a route know doubt been done before we decide to call it ‘Ayit Gully’.

We head down towards the Kitchen see if we can catch anyone on the Screen and the like. The wind and ice has whipped up some stunning architecture, we find few short pitches of ice to try out Deej’s mammoth Ice Screws, bloody hell no shifting these babies once their home.



In your dreams!!

Last but not least, Andy appears to have a habit of bumping into Sarah and Bella, this time on a late run round Idwal.

Sickbed weekend to Southstone Rock

Walk down towards the treeline

A few weekends ago, after semi recovering from manflu I had 4 hrs to spare on the Sunday afternoon and just about enough energy to potter off and try and find the infamous Southstone Rock. The local venue that any West Midland climber worth his chalk, is supposed to have made a pilgrimage to at least once in his lifetime. The Sunday was a lot less sunny than Saturday; If ever I was going to witness this place then I wanted to at least give it the chance of endearing itself with some sunny weather. Sod it, this wasn’t one of those days, Sunday afternoon was grey, overcast slightly moist and getting onto early dark. It’s not on the OS map by name, only as a small rock outcrop feature buried in a forest. Most of the guides (West Mid Rock) say approach from the West i.e River. This aint so easy, after the winter and recent estate activity it’s a pretty muddy way to go. Better the top road B4204 at Sapey Common coming in from the West, you can possibly get a car in up by the phone box, and then walk down the lane. The track leads down to a cottage where some laid concrete drive ramps turn at a fence with a ROW path mark on it. Over the fence down hill through some recent forestry work, keep on the indistinct path with the stream to you right. You’ll eventually come to a small footbridge crossing the stream, go over this and head slightly uphill for 20m or so, before you come to gate you should see a rough path heading down amongst some new saplings, this eventually crosses a bubbling stream the source of which I think is the Holy Well just a few feet away.

A few metres further down the hill you get your first sight of the rock on you left, a chunky undercut of rock offers some immediate bouldering.

Right here right now, as Jesus Jones song goes, looking at the outcrop for the first time, I’m a tad underwhelmed. It’s getting dark, it’s muddy, and the undergrowth is all spiky trippy. I’ve got a sweat on as the bloody manflu is still in my system. 50/50 I’m going to sod off and come another day, and yet, there is something about this place I find strangely beguiling and defiantly not creepy. Slightly overgrown It’s a bit of a hassle to get further down the hill towards the stream, edging round a buttress a glorious grand edifice of 12 to 15m high tufa reveals itself. Its mid winter and has been raining on and off few a few days but there are still some dryish bits. This place has certainly still has possibilities. We went to Carreg-y-Byg a while ago, another local venue. Kind of sad in a way that these previously precious local outdoor spots have been neglected over the last few years, regular visits and vertical traffic used to keep the rock groomed. Like to think we do our bit by getting out during the week, but these places are now in need of some heavy duty cleaning… We’ll see

 

Not my pic but gives you some idea of scale

Below is some text extracted from the Worcester News newspaper, I think this stuff also came from a Geological pamphlet.

…………..It’s a cliff made of tufa, a strange looking grey rock formed by the precipitation of spring water containing large amounts of dissolved calcium. This causes calcium carbonate to accumulate on moss, which continues to grow, pushing through the calcium.

The new growth is then also coated and the process continues, building an ever larger rock.
Carbon dating carried out at Southstone suggests that the rock began to form about 6,700 years ago. It looks soft and spongy but in places there are smooth, hard patches – this is travertine, formed when carbon accumulates directly on existing tufa instead of on moss.
The site was apparently a medieval cell for monks from the Abbey at Evesham. No doubt the caves that form in the rock and the source of the natural spring were valuable assets to establishing a monastic presence in the locality. In Norman times the chapel of St John surmounted the rock, later to be replaced by a small cottage. The monks were noted for their eremitic garden, providing locally grown herbs for medical as well as dietary uses. Many of the formerly recorded rooms and passages in the rock unfortunately have disappeared over time.
 

http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=1066

Great start to the day on Glyders - Sunday 17th March

East face of Tryfan lit by cold premature early spring sun. This is how i remember conditions in Snowdonia, even only as far back as the mid 70's at Easter. You could almost guarantee a bit of gully hugging old snow, sometimes lasting through till June.

Lakes 17th Feb - Who needs the Alps with weather like this?

Towards Helvellyn

If you could bottle a few good days then….Sunday the 17^th of Feb and Monday 18^th were absolutely stunning. With it being half term, we took a chance of taking a couple of days off in the Lakes.

Sunday 17th Feb

Arriving early Sunday morning had a quick bit of scoff in Ambleside then headed up towards Helvellyn. The Wythburn car park allows pretty quick access to the fell. After a play in the short gullies of Comb Crags.

Helvellyn from Dollywaggon



Towards Faifield & Sunday

We soon hit the summit path then headed south towards Nethermost Pike and Dollywaggon. Plenty of snow on the eastern flanks though not much on Striding Edge, a few cold nights had provided a load bearing crust of snow and ice.

We dropped towards Grisedale Tarn then the path down Dunmail. Not a big walk but enough time to take in the breathtaking Alpine conditions and snap a few pics. The view towards Langdale and the Bowfell showed there was plenty of snow left, so head that way tomorrow.

 

Monday 18^th Feb

After a clear night, we were keen to get as high again as quick as possible setting off from Langdale we took the path up towards Gimmer and Loft Crag. Still a good amount of snow above 600m, we found a few continuous ramps of snow leading up to Harrison Sickle. After a few detours we plodded off toward Pavey Ark. Easy Gully was sparse, but the main path East up from Stickle Tarn was still chocked with snow.


Pike O Stickle & Bowfell from Harrison



Stickle Tarn Harrison & Pavey Ark

 

Stickle Tarn from below Pavey Ark 

Overall conditions, in spite of quite high temperatures in the sun, the recent overnight frosts have hardened the snow higher up to allow quite firm ground. Whereas a few days before the weekend feet were sinking into some deep drifts you could definitely kick steps last Sunday & Monday, by all accounts Tuesday held good as well. If your lucky it might hold through the week.

Frightened Rabbit - Saturday 9th Feb, The Institute Brm

Had a great night and still a tad deaf, from Frightened Rabbit http://www.frightenedrabbit.com/home/

Washington Irving

Wintersleep

last night at the Institute in Brm. Dam good value, 3 bands for £15.00 quid, opening for FR were Scotts Washington Irving http://www.washingtonirvingband.com/ and Wintersleep http://wintersleep.com/ from Nova Scotia Canada, try ‘In came the Flood’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a707ysjiB1U

Frightened Rabbit

Frightened Rabbit

Both bands kept the crowds from the bar with some excellent songs. Couldn’t put me finger on it but thought we’d seen Wintersleep before….ahh yes End of the Road Festival 2010.
Been keeping an eye on FR for while now since we heard 2008 album Midnight Organ Fight, especially my favourite track ‘Floating in the Forth’ Love the new album especially ‘Woodpile’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY4j8Ow-CTs a real anthem. Would be great to see them at the Green Man or End of the Road Fest before they get too big.

Not the full Hobbit - Saturday 26th January

Friday evening’s text Jan 25th

Me….Ok hears a plan… Bad weather due tonight about 9pm, should be gone by 3am. If roads clear leave about 6am, get to cafe for 8.30am. Eat breakfast; decide what to do when there depending on conditions. More duff weather due about 4pm Saturday….

Deej & Dog at the start

A little later text from Len on the Friday evening Jan 25th….

Good News! I’ve found me crampons in the cellar, ‘good’ that means that the spare pair I’ve got were never yours in the first place, and you can stop accusing me and everyone else of nicking them.

Saturday morning Jan 26th

We pretty much keep to the plan, the expected snow last Friday night turned out to be some cold rain with just a small amount of ice on the roads, we were lucky, further up north on the M6 cars are stuck in drifts; stranded drivers have impromptu snowball fights, & build snowpeeps.

After unloading the contents of his greenhouse, we pile into Andy’s Galaxy, It’s a strange universe, bigger on the inside you know…..Yawn 

The Full Hobbit

We pick up Deej who’s lookin a bit wired, not surprising as he’s been up since 3am with baby daisy. Len takes the front seat and is so nominated to keep Andy awake up the A5. The topic turns round to ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘Ave you seen it, I say, ave yoooou seen eeet?. says Len. In spite of saturation advertising the marketing man seems to have missed Len off there target list, the fact that they are making a trilogy out of just one book escaped him completely. Attending the cinema at great expense, he had expected to see the ‘Full Hobbit’. And consequently felt short-changed and demoralised. Mmmmm sorry Mr Jackson your decision to do this is as a red rag to a bull, we’ll never here the end of this now. This statement instantly attains legendary status. And from now on, anything less than perfect is ‘Not the full Hobbit'.

We order four Full Bilbo breakfasts and a vegetarian (or should that be an Elfy breakfast, ha ha, sorry) at the café, you get more on the plate for a veggie but the meat Bilbo is still pretty filling.

The warmth of the café reaches critical status; if we stay any longer it’ll be hard to leave.

The recent bout of Winter weather is I think on the turn, I recon there is a thaw on the way, so the decision is made to pop down the A5 to Ogwen and head up to the gullies on Y Garn. Packing back into the Galaxy, Daymo needs to pickup a pair of waterproof trousers from Joe Browns, and gets a good deal on some lightweight Sprayway Gore-Tex for £75 squid. Eventually we bundle out and up the hill.

 

 

Andy, Dog, Daymo, Deej, Len

 

 

 As we reach the top of the path we stand facing Cwm Clyd, we had been thinking of A then B then Banana Gully but were already later than we thought, so we opt for Banana then possibly A or B Gullies if we have time. Llyn Clyd is frozen over but not enough for a crossing. Looking down on this lake from Y Garn I always think it’s got the shape of a hand in a crimp move. Anyway…. Helmets on, poons and sticks ready, we head up the gentle ramp from the back of the lake. Daymo gets to use his new axe yeahhhhh! The snow is not too bad, just on the turn; it takes our weight with a steady foot sink of about 4 to 6 inches. It’s a lovely long Grade 1 which even so, warrants care and attention. Remember to tuck you gloves into your jacket if you take them off to take pic’s. We found some gully swag last year that had wriggled free of someone’s hands and slid all the way down. Met up with a couple of guys from Bristol on the way up, ‘Mayaculpa’ from UKC if you’re reading, it was good to meet you both. There’s a nice narrowing about half way, with hard packed snow can add a bit of spice, but today it’s a steady pop to the top.

Not much of a cornice today but I can hear the wind ripping over the summit. We re-wrap ourselves ready for the blast. Considering the time we push back down the ridge in the hope of getting another route in. On the way down we meet Sarah Ridgway & Bella, check out Sarah’s Blog http://sarzmountainrun.blogspot.co.uk/ Time for a photo opportunity I think, and Andy’s in his element. We get back down to Llyn Clyd and the weathers on a turn for the worse, Waddayathink then chaps another gully or pub….Pubs wins, it was a good decision. We settle for a few beers at the Tynni. Must say I quite liked being introduced to Penderyn Welsh Whisky http://www.welsh-whisky.co.uk/ Just a shame I cant remember which one it was I had, with 3 in the range I’ll have to buy all 3 bolletetesisis, hic.