Mid Wales

Due to extended hangovers form the Cornish trip, the fact that it was Friday 13^th, and malicious rumours that it always rains in Wales, it was a somewhat depleted group set off towards Mid-Wales and Dolgellau. We pulled up near the campsite at about midnight to check the final directions to be met by Phil, who had been looking for the campsite in the wrong road, without any instructions for the previous hour.

The following morning saw us heading up Cader Idris towards Craig Cau aiming for the 750ft, 8 pitch Pencoed Pillar. However when we arrived, a low cloud base, and worries about getting to the pub in time to eat directed us to the other end of the crag and Marsum, a 370ft four pitch VD. The climbing was mainly easy, but the run outs were a little interesting at times – the first pitch was nearly a full rope length with two placements, one of which wasn't so good, and the final pitch was a full rope length, with a single piece of rickety gear.

All the pubs in the area seem to have strange licensing, which only permits them to serve alcohol with a meal, so cooking at the campsite was abandoned. The hotel next to the campsite was fully booked – even for bar meals, and the next nearest pub was several miles away at the far end of Tal-y-Llyn Lake so Lianne offered to drive. The pub only had a single person serving at the bar, and we arrived at the busiest point in the evening so it took some time to get served, however the food arrived quickly and was good.

The following morning we decided to go and look at Craig yr Aderyn or Bird Rock. This crag is located literally next to the road – you simply pull up, gear up, climb over the stile and start climbing. We plumped for the first climb you come to – The Buttress 3 pitch starred VD. Normally with this type of climb you would expect to find a smooth glassy sheen across each hand and foot hold making each move an adventure, however here, there was almost no polishing. The climb itself was extremely enjoyable, if somewhat steep (overhanging) in places, but as always at this level, the holds were there just as you needed them.

Overall a good weekend, and I'll definitely be going back to the area. Both days started cloudy, then cleared to beautiful sunny days. There's a whole lot of interesting looking climbs at all grades at Bird rock within two minutes walk from the car for those who don't like a walk in, and mountain routes on Cader Idris which can be walked to from the campsite in an hour or so. None of the climbs seem to be busy or polished - on Sunday, we had the entire crag to ourselves, and in fact saw no other climbers for the entire weekend. The campsite doesn't have a decent pub within walking distance, however as compensation it does allow open fires.

Jim

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.

Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)