Next Event: Day Trip
The club trip to Snowdonia was an enjoyable weekend, with all who went having a good time either bouldering or climbing, even if a little tired and cold!
We left on Friday, the leaving time of five being more like five thirty as expected, and set off for North Wales. We stopped off in Rhayader for the chippy on the way, and after having lengthy discussions on the problems of the world, we arrived at the accommodation in time for drinks in the pub. The evening was passed with some being star-struck at seeing Johnny Dawes, whilst Laith, Connor and Caspian joined in the locals’ live music…
The four mountaineers, Tom, Tim, Gareth and I woke early on a cold Saturday morning, and set off to Tryfan, where we hoped to climb the East Face. After an interesting journey with icy roads giving us omens for the rest of the day, we arrived at the base of the mountain and headed up to heather terrace. The first set back for the day was Tom ripping his trousers and resorting to taping them up with finger tape, the second was taking ages to reach the start of our climbs! We eventually got to the rock inscribed FPR, and Tom and I headed off up First Pinnacle Rib, whilst Gareth and Tim headed up Gashed Crag.
The conditions on our route were ok, with only a few sections being icy. Climbing in boots, this wasn’t too much of a problem, and tricky bits were climbed by cheekily resorting to standing in slings. The route was good fun, with great views over the area. We had under estimated the time however, and as we finished the route, it was becoming dark. As we both had torches and warm clothing, we weren’t too worried about a walk off in the dark.
Things became more interesting, when Gareth and Tim shouted over that they were stuck 15m from the top of their route, and that they wanted a rope thrown down. After a bit of scrambling round and much cursing, we got to the top of their route threw them down a rope. They were still unable to climb up, so after more cursing, we set about hoisting them up. With a ‘Wimbledon Style’ of shouting “Come on Tim!” we eventually got them both up to the top.
After a bit of food, wrapping up in warm gear and the essential end of climb photo, we headed off the mountain. Luckily Gareth and myself knew the route off well, and we had little difficulty in getting down. The walk along the valley floor was rather tedious and icy, and we were all glad to reach the car.
We eventually got back to the accommodation late at night, to find the rest of the club. After some free food from the landlord and many drinks, we were glad to get into our beds.
Sunday was a later start, we eventually managed to pack up and leave by half nine. Sunday’s destination was Tremadog, and once we’d arrived all the climbers set off up the crag for a day’s climbing, beating Bangor uni’s climbers to many routes! Those who were too sore/lazy to climb went into Eric’s café for a fry up, we then headed of to Betws y Coed for some gear shopping. We went in five shops before getting weary of looking at gear and not spending money!. At the end of the day, everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves and looked rather tired, with only some having had some ‘interesting’ climbing. Once we’d all packed up, we set off back for Swansea. On the way we stopped in Machynlleth for some pub food, where Tom and I had monster steaks. We arrived back earlier than expected and I think most were looking forward to lie ins.