There’s always Tremadog

The initial garden pitch of Craig Dhu Wall
Whenever we’ve travelled to North Wales for climbing, there’s been the idea that if the mountain weather ever turns against us, Tremadog will be there; where the sun always shines and even if it rains, you can take the 5 minute walk back to the car and sit it out, because this famous cliff dries again pretty much instantly. So, having never planned a visit, but with the drizzle putting us off the mountain VS routes of Idwal, we arrived at Craig y Castell, which had seemingly suffered an absolute soaking just minutes earlier.






As I write this I’ve just read the blog from Anna Taylor, who was coming towards the end of her self-powered Classic Rock round at about the same time we were tackling the mighty Craig Dhu Wall. Congratulations Anna, an amazing feat to cycle between every route and climb them all in just 2 months. Seeing how much coverage you’ve received from mainstream sources as well as the climbing world makes me realise why we didn’t get our Berghaus sponsorship now (I’m still waiting for a response from Stagg Chilli, surely they need an extreme athlete to promote their brand?) 


Hollywood moment
Both sides of Anna’s challenge come out strongly in her final chapter. The pleasure; like us, she’s grateful for the guide that has led her to some amazing venues that would otherwise have been left unvisited. The pain/chore; completely unlike us, she’s soloed mountain routes in the rain with only the agenda of ticking them off to make it seem worthwhile. As if to fully illustrate this, in almost every photo beyond Cornwall, her hood is up. We might be taking decades over our challenge, but we’re patient and will tackle each route on a day we can enjoy the experience.


And in the time it took me to type those 2 paragraphs, Craig Dhu wall was dry, the slight sea breeze doing wonders for the Dolorite face.


Craig Dhu Wall - HS 4b


Ivy Chimney top - go through, round or over?
If I’m honest, watching John tackle the first 8 metres didn’t inspire me. The walk-in looked a little overgrown and pitch 1 needed a bit of gardening; it seemed like a crag that was out of fashion. But soon enough, the sounds and reports of contented and excited climbing filtered down. We know now that we traversed too early and probably made a harder, but quality job of the balancey section, adding a layback crack that shouldn’t have been there. Then the Hollywood thrill of the hand traverse and rock-over that begins the second pitch, leading to a steep and interesting finish. Pretty quickly Craig Dhu wall was living up to it’s classic status and what served as an alternative to the mountain crags to the original Scottish pioneers of Tremadog, served us well this day. 


Apparently if it’s raining in the (Llanberis) Pass, it’ll be clear here, and vice versa. I’m not sure if that’s true but climbing here on the Saturday gave us a taster enough to keep us in the area for the weekend, with Sunday seeing us up Christmas Curry (Micah), Valerie’s Rib and Oberon before the trip home. Craig Dhu wall seems an odd companion to the mountainous adventures in Classic Rock just a few miles away, but has a history and a quality that cements it’s place on the list.


Without orange trousers, you'd never know I was in Ivy Chimney
Ivy Chimney - VD

When we climbed Direct Route on Milestone Buttress, we ignored Ken’s suggestion to include the Ivy Chimney, as we were using this route as a means to start over Tryfan to get to Heather Terrace routes. What a mistake, since it actually does make a neat continuation upwards anyway. After abandoning the walk-in to Glyder Fach in drizzle, the opportunity arose lower down to squeeze Pulpit Route in, with the Ivy Chimney finish, before travelling over to Tremadog. A stunning outing full of 3D chimney climbing moves and a totally out there bold swing around the pinnacle of rock leant against the face, which forms the chimney. Don’t be like us, include Ivy Chimney if you do Milestone Direct. And definitely abseil down the gully descent, it is a slippery death trap even with a rope on.
Location: WVR3+RH Porthmadog, UK

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