Thursday, May 15, 2014

Mountain Cragging

Huw and I fancied a day of mountain cragging today and I was slightly perturbed to be driving into the Ogwen Valley with my windscreen wipers on full this morning. Miraculously (because it never happens this way round) it was sunny in the mountains and so after a brew we hatched a plan to cover some VS to HVS ground in Cwm Idwal. Our adventure started with a slightly damp East Wall Girdle, this gives 6 pitches of VS 4b but we replaced the first two with a VS4b pitch on Heather Wall as there was a party on Tennis Shoe. We then climbed Javelin Buttress (VS4c) which gave some immaculate dry rock which was very welcome after our moist girdle! A spot of lunch saw us revved up for something harder and so we climbed Continuation Crack (HVS 5a) - this was a bot of dragon slaying for me as my friend Jim broke his back last year falling off this route - Jim we were thinking of you. We then traversed over some scrambling ground to put ourselves at the foot of Grey Arete (HVS 5a) which gave 2 immaculate pitches of climbing and a suitable finale to a lovely day out in the warm sunshine.
















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