Clogwyn Du’r Arddu (The Black Cliff) holds a special place in the heart of the British climbing community, and is one of the destinations that drew me to North Wales.
It can be difficult to find climbing partners who are willing to make the two hour trek up to the crag1, as many of the climbs are quite adventurous, often wet, and the cliffs get very little sun. So I only seem to be able to get up there a couple of times a year. But whenever there’s a dry spell I’m constantly on the lookout for willing partners.
With the recent dry weather, a couple of weeks ago I was able to convince my friend Gary to head up there and try November (E3 5c) 2, a three-pitch route about 100 metres high, starting up The Drainpipe crack3, and then carrying on to the top of the crag. At the time I decided that November was my new favourite route at Cloggy.
This changed the following week when Gary and I headed back up, along with our friend Tom, to attempt Great Wall (E4 6a) 4. This climb has been high on my todo list for several years, and it didn’t disappoint - amazing moves on great rock.
Generally speaking, I’m usually on the look-out for new routes to climb, and am not so bothered about repeating climbs I’ve already done. But Great Wall was so good that I’m planning to head back up there to repeat it, as soon as we get another break in the weather. This was one of the highlights of my year - a great day out with good friends.
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About 1 hours 45 minutes from my house! ↩
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The British grading system is all over the place, but this particular climb was about Ewbank grade 20. ↩
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So named because it’s a wide crack that is nearly always seeping. In spite of this it is actually very enjoyable, as most of the hand and foot holds are on the outside of the crack. ↩