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Welsh Climbing Trip (December 2009)

Day 1 - Tessa Dunford

After a good night sleep in our rooms at Capel Curig, we awoke for breakfast at 7.30am, and left for a day’s climbing at 9.00am. After a short journey in the minibus we got out to go and find the VPM’s mysterious hidden crag. Having trekked up a hill for about half an hour we approached a crossroads, and after much deliberation between the VPM and our instructor, decided to carry straight on. After a further half-hour’s trek, we found the elusive crag (Clogwyn Cyrrau). While the VPM and our instructor were setting up the top ropes, Dan gave us an informative and detailed presentation on his half-rack of climbing gear and checked our harnesses, while Lauren filmed our listless faces for comedic effect. After that, our climbing trip began in earnest with the VPM giving us an introduction to leading outdoors. We split into 2 groups, and despite the rain and cold temperature a good day of outdoor climbing was had by all, including a little abseiling.

At about 2pm we came off the crag and Tom was chosen as route finder. Rather than following the well-trodden marked paths, he decided it would be much quicker and more efficient to go straight down the mountainside to the road. We eventually all got there in one piece, covered in mud and other mountainside debris. Next we made our way to the Plas-y-Brenin climbing wall to enjoy some indoor leading and bouldering. After a couple of hours Lauren suggested filming some ‘epic’ climbing shots, involving Hannah hanging upside down by her feet, Will doing pull-ups on the bouldering arch and Dan falling off. We returned to Capel Curig for dinner then watched a DVD about climbing, provided by the VPM.

Day 2 - Thomas Milton

On Thursday the 17th we donned our windproof shells, hats and gloves and tumbled out of the minibus, brave faced and ready to blow yesterday’s climbing out of the water. We then had a fifteen minute walk to the crag in question. This would probably have been closer to five minutes, but in the words of the VPM “time spent on reconnaissance is seldom, if ever, wasted”.

We scrambled to the base of the crag (Holyhead Mountain) and felt like we had reached Baltic temperatures. As we embraced our climbing shoes, we took the decision to “man up” and face the undeniable prospect of frostbitten toes. The reasoning behind a route named “Comfortably Numb” soon became all too obvious. During the hours that followed we all climbed multiple routes of varying difficulties, both leading and seconding accordingly. It was a really good day of climbing which gave us all a much greater understanding of the techniques and equipment used in lead climbing. This was a great help, and meant that we were better equipped for the climbing that was to come over the next few days.

We all had good climbs with placing gear and returned back to Capel Curig with all our toes intact and a sense of great accomplishment after a hard day.

Routes Climbed:

• Black Owen - VD
• Slab Direct - VD
• D’Elephant - VD
• Lost Hope - HS
• Comfortably Numb - VS

Day 3 - Lauren Barr

On Friday we almost made it to the crag, however we had to make a tactical withdrawal to the minibus due to adverse weather conditions. Yes, it was possible to climb but we would have got very cold, wet and miserable! Not wanting to alter our memories of Holyhead Mountain from the previous day, we took a long break in McDonalds to recover some strength and to plan our admin arrangements for the next few days. Although we had stayed at Capel Curig from Tuesday night onwards, they were closed for the winter and so we occupied a bunkhouse with basic facilities. After a big shop in Tesco and Will’s tasty meal ideas in our heads, we got back in the magic bus and headed to Beacon Climbing Centre for an afternoon on some indoor walls. We bagged some good leads and top roped routes. We also indulged in a spot of bouldering and, as boys will be boys, a pull-up competition emerged - Will being the victor! After 5 hours we left with no strength in our arms or skin on our hands. The bunkhouse was cosy, and after we found the trick to the heating was rather comfortable! Although we hadn’t done the outdoor trad, we had a good day indoors and were ready to take on the last few days with all our remaining energy!

Day 4 - Peter Briggs

We woke up in the bunkhouse to quite a bit of snow as expected, so we had planned a ‘short walk’. After a hearty cooked breakfast, including Will’s fantastic eggy bread which he insisted we eat with sugar (?!), we had a discussion about what kit we should take with us on a day in the mountains. Sifting through the interesting suggestions, we came up with a pretty definitive list.

Once we disembarked from the bus, a brief snowball fight ensued before we got down to the serious business of working out in which direction we should walk. We set off and almost immediately hit a patch of bog which, although we did not know it at the time, was a sign of things to come as the ground was so wet. Following a beautiful stream through a steep sided and boulder filled valley we progressed on towards our major goal, Moel Meirch (607m). After frequent short food stops and some slightly precarious stream crossings we made it to the summit... where, as one does, Dan decided to take his shirt off – well why not? Only -1oC with a 25mph wind chill, needless to say he was alone in this display!

Karma (if you believe in such a thing) began to play a role on the descent. The number of people mysteriously stepping into unseen bogs immediately after being rude to the person walking next to them, as well as those that fell after the fateful last words “shotgun not falling” was incredible. By this stage we were all rather tired and our navigation excellence had been reduced to “we parked next to a wood, there’s a wood over there...” and joyful exclamations of “I can see a house...” made the situation sound worse than it really was – even Lauren with her injured wrist put on a brilliant ‘man up’ face and soldiered on.

We did make it back to the bus, five hours after setting out for our ‘short walk’ just before it started to get dark. Heading back to the bunkhouse we eagerly anticipated the warm fajitas our cooks (Will, Lauren and Pete with a bit of help chopping) would be making. Once made they were enjoyed by all, and feeling thoroughly (well partly – 3 days climbing had taken its toll on us) refreshed we headed for Indy climbing wall.

Most of the team stuck to bouldering, with some very promising skill shown from Will, whilst George and Pete managed to frustrate themselves on the huge overhang, including a fantastically epic fall from George nearly resulting in Pete losing his head. After another trip to Tesco for ‘supplies’ we returned to the bunkhouse for chocolate, bananas and bed, after the obligatory cards and long chat of course.

Day 5 - Hannah Beresford

It was Sunday the 20th and the lazy Welbexians who are used to a Sunday lie in managed to heave each other out of their sleeping bags to the breakfast table for another round of eggy bread. After seeing yet again that the weather had covered the ground overnight we discussed what to do. There wasn’t much reaction to the suggestion of another mountain trek or climbing, but some enthusiasm for a trip to the shops in Llandudno. So that is where we headed, and after some extreme mini bus rallying we came across a herd of mountain goats and further up the hill was a ski slope and a toboggan run that we observed from a comfortable distance. It was by no means a wasted journey as the OC sniffed out some vast limestone mines hidden away that apparently people climb around. They were phenomenal just to see and were inspirational. We didn’t however manage to find Parisella’s cave where the country’s top boulderers hang out! More time on reconnaissance VPM!

We managed to get down into the town centre and had a break for coffee and some shopping before heading on a quest to find any dry rock. We found a coastal sport crag (Craig Dwlban near Benllech) but it wasn’t dry and the weather persisted in throwing downpours of hail at us as we approached. Eventually we gave in and returned to Indy climbing wall for another long indoor session. We had a good climb and lost the remaining slivers of our finger tips. For a warm down we watched a video about some climbing heroes doing crazy things, then it was back to the bunkhouse for pasta.

Day 6 – Daniel Heath

We awoke and tuned in to learn that Rage Against the Machine was the Christmas No.1. This put us in high spirits as we packed and left Ogwen Valley, covered in a spectacular blanket of snow.

Three hours in the minibus was ample time to contemplate the past week. Day 2 was a highlight, with every climber completing either a trad lead or second. A full day at the Beacon Centre was also memorable with plenty of top roping, leading and bouldering. Despite having few trad climbing opportunities we all developed and refined our technique on plastic at the various indoor centres. Some personal abilities were pushed up more than one grade on boulder problems and lead climbs. A tremendously worthwhile week was had by all. Many thanks go to Maj. Smith for providing the opportunity.

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