Nant Gwrtheyrn

Years ago Mark Dicken showed me a photo of a cliff near Nant Gwrtheyrn that he had found and thought might have some potential for DWS. It was hard to say from the photo, but it didn’t look all that good. I’d been scoping out some things around there and on the hills above Trefor having thought I’d seen some boulders in the distance, but found nothing. Around the same time I even went and had a look at Mark’s wall down near the beach at Nant, and I remember thinking I wasn’t sure whether it was steep enough for DWS. Anyway, I forgot about it again for another few years.

June this year and I was in Trefor with Pete Robins, he had an idea to check out some rock in one of the quarries around there. I mentioned that there was this wall I’d looked at years ago but that might be worth checking again. This time around, maybe because it was sunny, high tide, there was two of us and we had rock boots this time, it was clear it was going to be good. We each picked a line and abbed in to have a look. They were clearly doable, and after some chalk and cleaning we climbed a 7a and 7b+ each - the two right-hand lines. 

There looked like there could be another line to the left and Pete checked and chalked it. I also wanted to do another FA so said to Pete we paper scissor stone over it. He said best out of seven or some shit, I said best out of one, so we agreed on best of three. He won the first, and as I was getting ready for round two, he fucked off and climbed the route! Classic tactics. This turned out to be another great 7a. All three routes are perfect DWSs, above deep water – maybe even at low tide – and a good 12m high.

Some video of people climbing the three routes..

Biografiz

Views from the Fiz

Our hopes of climbing at the Ratikon were quickly dashed by terrible weather on arriving in Switzerland. We could have waited it out for a week, but talked ourselves into driving to Chamonix where we could be indoors and Calum could thrash us at table tennis. After the weather improved, rather than drive back to Switzerland, we decided to check out the climbing on the Rochers de Fiz. I’d been once before, with Calum, when we’d attempted Les Yeux Dans le Bleu and retreated at about two thirds height due to problems with our forearms. This time around we had in our sights an even harder route, but with Angus as rope-gun felt we should have a good chance.

The Fiz isn’t well known amongst British climbers as far as I can tell, or not compared with cliffs such as Wendenstock or the Ratikon. There aren’t as many routes, but the climbing is of similar style and length. It’s a long hike to reach the cliffs followed by a couple of hundred meters of choss. But once the climbing starts the rock is perfect, compact blue limestone and generally slabby or vertical. We had come to try Biografiz, a 9 pitch route up to 8a in difficulty with 7 pitches of 7b+ or harder, that I doubt has seen many ascents.

The first pitch is a monster 55 meters, 7c+ and very run out that felt more like an E7 than a day out sport climbing. The technical style and apparent absence of holds also makes route finding very challenging. Angus went up this pitch bolt to bolt slowly unearthing the holds taking nearly 3 hours, an effort he described as one of his best. I was impressed and relieved, if it had been me our attempt might have ended there! The pitches after this are slightly better bolted and brilliant. The climbing is never desperate but constantly technical and very fingery.

We spent a couple of days reccying the lower pitches before attempting the whole route in a day. We had a great time climbing the 7c+, 7b+, 7c and 8a pitches we’d been on before. This was followed by a bouldery 7b+ that we didn’t on-sight. At the top of this, awkwardly perched on a lump of grass, we contemplated our arms. It had gone well, but the sustained crimping had toasted our forearms and we didn’t have enough left for the pitches still to come. Descending, I had the opportunity to pass another piece of climbing wisdom to Angus, the rope bomb. I believe he was impressed, and neither of us could think of a more efficient way of putting kinks into a rope.

Biografiz was bolted ground up and is a seriously impressive route, a classic of its type. This was my second time making it halfway up the Fiz, next year I hope to make it to the top.

P2, 7b+

P4, 8a

The Rope Bomb!

Black Mirror

Moving back to Wales just over a year ago I have been discovering the scale of the bouldering on offer. Growing up here I didn’t give the bouldering much attention, beyond the long standing classic blocs in Llanberis Pass and Ogwen. Since then the number of problems might have doubled or tripled with the development of so many new areas.

After doing Big Orange last year, at the top of my list was another spectacular highball on the same headland. I’d seen a video of Pete Robins on the first ascent of Bytilith Wall a few years ago and being high, vertical and technical it looked like my sort of thing. I went down with Simon and Pete for the first time this winter when Pete started trying Tylwyth Teg. I got another chance a month or so later with McHaffie when he made the second ascent, but still left without having climbed it and nearly got washed into the sea. It has a devious crux finale involving shitty crimps and barn-door foot moves. Third time was the one, cracked it using a combination of some slightly different beta and trying really really hard.

Left: attempting Bytilith Wall; Right: Pete on his new 7c+ right of Bytilith


Left: Tim Peck attempting Bytilith Wall; Right: Finally cracking the crux of Bytilith

Last summer on the way back from Clogwyn Gafr I walked underneath a tall wall just off the PYG track. I thought this looked good and like it could yield a couple of highball lines. I scoped out the area earlier this winter and we found that the wall was doable but hard, and did a few other cool problems in the area. Since then, over this winter, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been up to the wall at the top of the pass. It might be about 11 visits. The flaky rock provides crimps, undercuts and small footholds, but most of the footholds fell off! This left just tiny smears that have to be fully weighted when using undercuts.

I’d gotten very close on my own one evening as it was getting dark, falling from the easier finish! It still took a couple of sessions after that to finish it off. I went back with Ray and Glyn and somehow fluked my way up on one of my warm up goes with my jacket on! I pulled on a few times after doing it, for Ray to get a few shots, but could get anywhere! Great problem I think, suggest font 8a, hardest I’ve ever had to try to climb a problem.

Attempting crux moves of Black Mirror

Black Mirror topout finally

New 7b at Seaveiw Walls

Wadi Rum

Read about mine and Calum's trip to Wadi Rum on the Scarpa blog... New Routing in Wadi Rum

Gogarth New Routing

Combined Energy, E8 6b ***

A few more Gogarth new routes from early in the summer, and some absolute gems. Combined Energy takes a line scouted out by the insatiable McHaffie of course, I'm too lazy to go looking for these things. Combined Engery is in a zawn reached by walking north from Porth Dafarch, next to another route called Fishura. It’s incredibly steep, very loose, almost certain to be wet and, of course, amazing. We had a good tag-team effort going on with each of us pushing a bit higher and placing some gear before getting too pumped to carry on and falling off. Or a hold would break and we’d fall off.

A day later we had all the gear in and had managed to partially dry some of the holds. Caff went for it and managed it, but without making it look easy.. He is fitter, stronger, more skilful, and braver than me, but he had Brexit on his mind so don’t think he was performing at his best. My go went fairly well, I managed to find a few rests Caff didn’t use, or didn’t need. I arrived at a very good shake out just below the top but couldn’t recover anything I was too far gone. Anything could have happened on those last few moves, but I managed to top out feeling like I was going to puke.

Combined Energy takes the central pillar

Divided Britain, E7 6b ***

Being a big fan of knee bars, I particularly enjoyed this new route. I was very sceptical that it was worthwhile looking at this thing as it appeared to be horizontal choss. Geroge Smith had tried it apparently, and rumours were that it was going to be very tough, in the region of f8b. It wasn’t actually very chossy and it had plenty of cracks to foot jam or knee bar in, so you were rarely hanging off your arms. This was a relief as I would experience a terminal pump in seconds hanging off my arms on this angle. It was, and usually will be unfortunately, very damp and took some drying.

After putting in the gear and drying some of the holds, we both led it first ‘redpoint’. An exceptional route that deserves to become a classic, especially as there is loads of good gear and the rock quality is good too. It has seen a few repeats already I think.

Resting on Divided Britain

Stonemasonry

One of the best bits of this summer was climbing a recent new addition at Gogarth, called Stonemasonry. James McHaffie and Oli Grounsel first climbed the pitch earlier this year and were raving about it. Safe, non-tidal, fun knee bars, French 8a… sounded good. I first went to check it out with Charlie Woodburn and Ben Brasby in pretty damp conditions and got shut down. I didn’t even manage to dog my way to the top! It seemed very hard indeed, for E7?!

Muskett getting psyched

Pete Robbins on Stonemasonry

I headed back some months later with Pete Robbins and Calum Muskett who were keen to try it, Caff even turned up to heckle. With better conditions, knee pads and prior knowledge I managed to scrape my way up it, by the skin of my teeth. It’s a totally class route with about 20 knee bars on it and a lot of hanging upside down. It’s really steep and feels like roof climbing. Ludicrous at E7 though – in my opinion – more like E8. It’s tucked away in a sea cave on the headland south of Porth Dafarch.

It's steep

Very steep

An Inconvenient Tooth

In 2008 I visited my friend Es on Skye, who was working there for the summer. He had already shown me a photo of the Bhastier Tooth taken when he had climbed Captain Planet, which is a great E4 on the right-hand face. He had spotted the hanging grove and crack above the huge roof on the front of the prow and wondered whether there might be a route possible straight up the prow and through the roofs. I thought this looked amazing and have gone back and looked at that photo many times over the years. That trip, I gave it a go on-sight, not getting very far after failing to find where there is actually good protection. For some reason, we never got around to checking it out properly on abseil. 

In the 8 years since I first visited the crag I’ve always wanted to get back and give it a good go. I’ve raved to a lot of people about it and was always waiting to hear someone had a gone and climbed it! There were two more trips to Skye when I wasn’t able to have another go on the route. Once I actually hiked up there, even though it was covered in hoar frost. I abseiled down and had a very brief look and found a surprising number of holds along the lip of the huge lower roof, and the potential for small gear.

It had been a long time since I was last on Skye and plans came together this year for another visit, with Ross McKerchar, after a week on Arran. This also happened to coincide with a few weeks of fantastic weather in Scotland. We got up to the ridge straight away for some thorough abseiling and cleaning of the line. I was chuffed when I realised the route was going to be doable and really high quality. Above the roof on the right it’s fairly blank, but we found a line of holds leading along the lip and dug out some breaks for small cams at the start of the hard climbing.

After the abseils I had a reasonable idea of the sequence I was going to use, even though I hadn’t actually tried the moves yet. I almost did it on the first attempt but then screwed up on one of the last tricky moves, and I groped for a cluster crystals as I fell and trashed two tips! I had to wait 4 days until they’d healed enough to try again, luckily the weather held out! The next go it all went well and I improvised an easier sequence to get it done. 

Ross had kindly been giving me a chance to climb this pitch before throwing himself at it. I think he was champing at the bit by the time I passed him the ropes. He had a really good first go and almost got it, but also ended up testing the microcams. His second go he completely forget the sequence with heel hooks, but managed power through regardless! Ross then led the second pitch of the route which follows the striking arête of the Tooth, first on the right then on the left, topping out in evening sun. This is also a great pitch, easier than the first, and has absorbing climbing and is quite serious. For us both to succeed on the route was a great end to the trip.

We suggest a grade of E8 after trying to imagine what it would be like to on-sight. Getting the cams in well and reading the sequence along the big roof would make the route much harder than it was for us. The meat of the route is a great section of climbing along the lip of the roof on slopers, crimps and heel hooks and felt in the region of v6 to us. Given that the other route names have an eco/climate change theme, we’ve called the route An Inconvenient Tooth.

Ross having just led the first pitch

Ross leading the second pitch

Talfarach Bouldering

Psyched

Pony Prancing

Talfarach

Sleep of Faith

First day at Talfarach was with Jon and Glyn earlier this year. I’d never been there before, despite having climbed quite a bit at Porth Ysgo over the years. I was amazed by how many good boulders there are just a few hundred metres along the coast from Porth Ysgo. On the first day we went to one of the middle areas where there are a couple of great 7a+s and a 7b+ finger crack traverse. We also climbed a new problem, Pony Prancing, a really cool 6c with a bit of a spicy landing!

Warm up 6b

Two Aretes Syndrome

The next time, was an amazing day with Pete Robbins and James Doc, and I realised how extensive the area is for bouldering. We walked down past the Big Orange and I was blown away. In term of a stunning line and quality of rock this is on a par with Careless Torque and looked like a world class problem. Too hard and too high anyway, so we heading down into the boulder field to check out some classics and hunt for new problems. Solstice, Equinox and Piece of Pith are all superb problems. Surprisingly there were still some mega lines to be done so we added four 2/3* problems; Two Aretes Syndrome (7a+), Like It or Limpet (7b+), Sleep of Faith (6c) and Shrimpmaster (7a)… I still haven’t done Like it or Limpet though. 

Like it or Limpet

...Drenched

So I went back, to try Limpet, but also as I was curious about Big Orange. We tried Limpet, fell off a few times and then got swamped by a wave and had to move landward. I put a rope down Big Orange finally and not knowing anything about it, tried what was to me the most obvious sequence. It turns out that this is a bit different to what Pete had done. It seemed doable, at least worth another go. A fourth visit, with fresher arms and this time I didn’t bother to rinse my skin on the boulders beforehand. On a rope, I could get the crux move using my sequence a bit more than half the time. I tried Pete’s way and it seemed much harder. I didn’t link it on a rope but felt like I had a good chance so set the pads up and went for it. Before I had time to think I was at the top trying to reach out to a loop of rope to grab and swing back to ground.

Big Orange

Big Orange

Hunter Killer

A year old, but great photos of an amazing route that took me a few visits to finally figure out!...