North Wales 26 Trip Report
- Millie Dobson
- May 1
- 5 min read
It’s often said that North Wales offers some of the greatest diversity of climbing in the UK, and despite an unwelcome visitor in the form of Storm Dave, we certainly put that claim to the test. Over the course of the trip we climbed on limestone, slate, rhyolite, and dolerite, and covered just about every activity going, including trad, sport, bouldering, walking, scrambling and even a bit of running. We were staying at the NLMC guest barn in Capel Curig, which proved to be a cosy base for the 20 of us.
Thursday
On the Thursday, Bessie, Jack and Vianny stopped by Trevor Quarry on their way up for some climbs in the sun, making the rest of us incredibly jealous as we scrambled to pack our bags.
In the hut, time was passed in the evening with a trivia quiz courtesy of the Horrible History of the Tudors book, so make sure to get these lot on your team for any upcoming pub quizzes!
Friday
With a good remainder of the group travelling up to North Wales on Friday, the weather was not looking particularly promising, and despite lots of talk of microclimates, few of us actually managed to find anywhere dry.
Those who had arrived on Thursday went for a slightly damp walk, rewarded with a much drier lunch in Betws-y-Coed.
Tom and Donnie made a valiant attempt on the Hyll Drem Girdle, which is famously meant to be a reliable wet weather option, but even that was much too wet and they had to concede defeat by the end of the first pitch. Meanwhile, Sophie, Joe, Elliot, Geoff and I explored the woodland by Llanberis and had a peek around the old Anglesey Barracks that used to house quarrymen (and marvelled at the weirdness of goat eyeballs), fuelled by ice cream from Georgio’s.
Lydia and David stopped at Llangollen and, in very high winds, climbed an impressively chossy VS that somehow earned two stars. Although they did not give the route a very good review, this did end up being the only complete climb of the day!
With a now nearly full bunkhouse, we got the woodfire blasting and had a very fun evening with lots of merriment, and only one small stovetop fire….
Saturday
Saturday was when the worst of Storm Dave was to land, with heavy rains and winds of up to 70 mph predicted to hit N Wales by the afternoon.
Conor and Rob set off early for Tryfan, successfully summiting and descending before the worst of the winds arrived. It was definitely not a day for jumping Adam and Eve, unless you fancied a fast-tracked descent down into the Ogwen Valley.
An incredibly intrepid contingent consisting of Bessie, Jack, Adam, Wendy, Tom, Sophie, Elliot, Geoff, Will and Jed set off for Idwall Slabs, where they were met with drizzle, that over the course of the morning evolved into horizontal rain and a whipping wind. Despite this, everyone committed to their mission, and completed their mass ascent of Idwal slabs waterfalls! Sophie and Tom must be awarded troopers of the trip for their mammoth 5 pitches and 3 abseils, spending about 5 hours completely head to toe soaked, but not giving up.
Geoff came to Elliot’s rescue when he realised at the base of the slabs he’d only gone and left his harness in the car; Geoff fashioned a harness out of slings for their scramble, saving the day. Between this and the weather, you have to wonder if Geoff had any regrets swapping sunny Aus for the British Isles….
In contrast, Lydia, David, Aidan and Donnie went over to Parisella’s Cave in where the microclimate really did deliver, and they got in some quality bouldering in t-shirt conditions!
The remained of the day was spent getting cosy in the hut, stoking the fire, and trying to dry out all of our belongings (and ourselves) as much as possible.
Sunday
Sunday finally gave us some dry enough weather to climb! Jed and Will made an early start, leaving at 7am, but somehow still managed to spend so long in the Tremadog car park that they weren’t first on their route. They were joined there by Elliot, Geoff, Rick, Wendy, Donnie, Tom, David and Lydia. Some highlights are that Elliot, Geoff and Rick ticked off Christmas Curry Eliminate and Poor Man’s Peuterey, as well as One Step in the Clouds, which was also done by Will and Jed, amongst lots of other sends by the group.
A group of us also headed to the slate quarries for a mix of sport and trad. Highlights included Fools Gold and Seams the Same (Millie), Solstice Direct(Joe), Steps of Glory (Bessie and Jack), and the 40m long 6a routes at Skyline Buttress (Adam and Sophie). Both Aidan and Vianney did some exploring of the quarries on foot, and miraculously everyone managed to stay dry!
Elsewhere, on his was home Rob bagged Cadair Idris:
and Conor scrambled up to Moel Siabod via route 76, finding snow on the summit:
Monday
With the weather really changing for the better as soon as we were due to leave (typical), Monday finally gave us some sun!
Despite the sun, Joe and I for some reason still picked out a climb in the shade, and did Direct Route on Dinas Mot, just about freezing to death before perhaps the hardest VS pitch ever on the final pitch of the route?
Donnie and Tom were smarter and actually went to the sunny side of the pass for a HVS in the warmth. Elliot and Geoff went over to the slate for Fools Gold before the journey back.
Conor enjoyed a scenic morning and did the Miners Track up to Glas Lyn and then followed the Watkins Path up to the summit of Yr Wyddfa, making for a good morning out, whilst Aidan got on some hard boulders in the Pass.
Jed, Will, Lydia and David all headed to the East Face of Tryfan, where Lydia and David had their highlight of the trip on Superdirect VS. Sophie, Adam, and Wendy went to Craig y Clipiau and ticked off Usher Dilemma, Ashel, Eagle Finish and Brys.
Even despite the less than ideal weather for the first portion of the trip, spirits remained high throughout, and evenings in the hut were as much a highlight as the climbing itself. With 20 people in total, it was a fantastic turnout and a great group to spend the weekend with.
Stats & Highlights
Simultaneous climbers on Idwal Slabs in the rain: 10
Kgs of pasta consumed: at least 1000
First-time AMC trippers: 9
Separate crags visited: 11
Mountains summited: 4
Small kitchen fires: 1
Small kitchen fires successfully extinguished: 1
Max recorded wind gust speed at Capel Curig on Saturday: 93 mph
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