Flying Buttress and Spiral Stairs, Dinas Cromlech - always a school day

Also known as the day the Ravens ate John's malt loaf.

Out of all the classics so far, Flying Buttress in The Pass holds a strange place in my logbook. I’ve climbed the route 2.67 times and never had a dull visit; learning many lessons, making mistakes and gaining experience. The Cromlech is close enough to the road that you’d be able to see someone breaking into your car in the layby, but at the same time so remote that you’d be able to do nothing about it for an hour or two. It’s kind of a roadside crag but not a place to get caught out.

In June 2004, Flying Buttress was my 6th multi-pitch lead and despite being a bit gloomy, was still a good day for climbing. Partner for the day, Hannah, was a little more experienced but we were definitely learning together and were pretty pleased with ourselves as she set up a belay at the top of pitch 3. Although a pair was ahead of us, they seemed experienced and were moving quickly. 

As JG, their leader, shouted he was safe at the top of pitch 5, I began to climb towards Hannah. Strangely, I heard the sound of a rucksack falling and then a zzziip as the rope attached to it was pulled down too. Hannah shrieked and forcefully ordered me to climb and it dawned on me that the sound had not been a rucksack but a man. Fortunately for Hannah, the climber had landed on the ledge just 1 metre away from her, otherwise we’d have had 2 casualties that day. 

I’d been told on first aid courses that traditionally CPR was unlikely to keep someone alive for long but that didn’t prepare me for the futile hopelessness that prevailed as we attempted to care for JG. The sights and sounds made it quickly apparent that this wasn’t going to end well and we stopped;  a small consolation from the coroner’s report was that he had died instantly and it wasn’t us that had failed by deciding not to keep going. In fact, ceasing treatment may have saved his partner, who was still stuck on belay 4 in a state of shock, occasionally trying to move to safety but panicking and retreating. Concentrating on helping his second safely down from the route focused our minds on something more positive while we waited for the help of mountain rescue and helicopter. 

The sound of a helicopter in the mountains still brings this day to mind, and with it the memory of the sound of a man shouting “safe” a few moments before falling off. 

Visit 2 - June 2005

A year later and a bit more climbing experience, I returned to the Cromlech to finish the route, with Rich and Stu, my best man. We nailed it, no dramas and descended, intent on trying one of the harder climbs on the crag. Half way down, we met an old chap who seemed very enthusiastic about the route and wanted to know how we’d found it. Keen to climb more, we attempted to end the conversation and find Sabre Cut, but this guy would not be shaken off. Starting to get a bit annoying, he then asked if we would consider climbing one of the easier routes, Spiral Stairs, promising that although only a Diff, it was well worth the outing. He wanted to join us on the route and take photos, but not before insisting that Rich popped on a white rugby top he had in his bag, which would apparently look much better on the photos.

Reluctant at first, we agreed he could join us and as he tied in to a classic Whillans harness we realised we’d stumbled across a real character, the legendary Ken Wilson. 

Spiral Stairs was indeed a great outing, even with 4 of us crowded on a belay ledge and the occasional second take of a move so that he could get the angle right. Ken disagreed with most of our views on climbing, religion and politics but the conversation was never dull and the odd requests ever amusing (“can you roll your trouser legs up, shorts would’ve looked better”). 

Since we were now featured in the new edition, surely this day was the seed for the Classic Rock challenge we decided to tackle 14 years later at that same venue, using the book as a guide to further climbing adventures. 

Visit 3 - Feb 2019

Main lesson learned; don’t leave your malt loaf visible on the top of your rucksack. The bright yellow branding is very eye-catching to Ravens and even though it may take them 10 minutes to find their way into the packet, there’s nothing you can do from 40 metres up while they devour it below you.