Amphitheatre Buttress, Craig Yr Ysfa

Today, Rob and I decided that we needed to bag one of those classic routes that everyone says you MUST do: Amphitheatre Buttress on Craig Yr Ysgfa. So we met at The Moel Siabod Cafe at 8am, parked up, and slogged up the waterboard road, arriving at the foot of the climb at about 9:30am - first on the route!

The rock was mostly dry, but there was a little bit of seepage on the first pitch. I decided that rock shoes were overkill so instead climbed in my 5.10 Camp Fours, which were grippy enough, but sometimes a bit more flexible than I would've liked. The route was well-polished, so we were able to follow it without reference to the guidebook (which I'd left at home anyway...).

After an excellent day's exploring, we decided to not over-extend ourselves, so left Pinnacle Wall (S) for another day. Instead we headed back to the car (1 hour) and enjoyed some light refreshment at The Moel Siabod Cafe: hot chocolate (with everything) and cake - yum!

Interesting terrain.

Doing the Pinnacle properly...

Not too busy.

Christmas Curry on May Day?

Not strictly a mountaineering day, but instead some quality and classic trad multipitching.

Today, I was joined by Rob at Bwlch Y Moch, the BMC-owned cliff at Tremadog. We were lucky enough to have Three Bears weather (not to hot, not too cold; juuuust right!) for the ascent of the exposed and bold Valerie's Rib HS 4b, followed by the original Christmas Curry S 4a route. Rob and I are both consolidating our leading and SPA skills, so we were able to share, discuss and criticise each other's placements and choices, all while bagging classic routes and with the impressive amphitheatre that is Dyffryn Glaslyn as a backdrop.

What to do when it's too wet to climb?

Sunday is the regular climbing day for Clwyd Mountaineering Club, of which I'm a member. Unfortunately, the weather this Sunday was appalling: drizzle, heavy showers, wet, and grim, with the rivers full of impressive white water. So a group of four of us instead plumped for a walk from Capel Curig, over the Crimpiau and Creigiau Gleision, returning via the north shore of Llyn Cowlyn. It actually turned into quite a nice day once the cloud lifted a bit and the sky brightened. We even had blue sky for oh... 5 minutes!

Tryfan Evening

I decided to trust the Met Office forecast completely tonight: it said Tryfan's summit would be cloudy until about 7pm, when the clouds would break. Well, what a treat!