cyfrwy arete

kidsan · Joined: 15 Mar 2007 Posts: 23 Location: corwen, n. wales

Had a great day out on the arete yesterday with john and his friend astrid. Nice to climb in a 3 for a change but, not surprisingly, much slower. The whole thing took us 10 hours, car-to-car and, despite a bit of faffing around in the fog, trying to find the start, we were moving at a good rate.

But what a great day out! We took the v diff start which i would definately recommend if you're up for it. It is a pretty easy v diff with the 'crux' pitch looking far worse than it actually is. In fact, the hardest pitch for me (leading) was not this, nor even the table descent (a bit nervy but no real problems) but the last pitch of the scramble itself.

It may just have been that it came at the end of a long day and i really wasnt expecting it, but this last wall with leftward-trending crack, though well-protected, was really quite exposed and a bit fingery. It's a very nice pitch, but mod?? i think not. I found it on a par with the yellow slab on east tryfan...slightly less technical perhaps, but far more exposed. Would be interested to see how others have found it??

It must be said that it wasnt helped by having to downclimb half of it to retrieve a recalcitrant nut!! though i was amply rewarded for my efforts with a huge bottle of beer at the end!

Anyway, a great scramble, one of the finest i have done and i would like to highly recommend it.

Touching Centauri · Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 91 Location: Bangor/St Helens

Sounds like a great day. It's another on my to-do list as soon as I persuade a climbing friend to lead it.

dante · Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 23

In general I found the pitch with the leftward trending crack fine, and to be about Mod technically, however I have to admit that the way the massive flake forming the bottom edge of the crack moves caused me some worries. For me the route was solid Mod except for the steep pitch above the small pinnacle just after the gap beyond the table. That looked harder than Diff to me from below, and so we avoided it up the gully to its left. I guess its bark could be worse than its bite however...

kidsan · Joined: 15 Mar 2007 Posts: 23 Location: corwen, n. wales

oh well, maybe it was just me then. As i say, we had been climbing a long time by this point and maybe i was just tired.
As for the pitch above the flake, we didn't even consider the 'direct' route and, like you, went further round. I have heard others suggest that this is more like v.diff.
Looks like i'll have to go do it all again some time Cool

johnwakeman · Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 31

I'd agree with the current Climber's Club guide overall grading of the arete - i.e. diff. Some sections are easier, some more like v.diff (the slanting rake). Personally, I wouldn't dream of doing it unroped.

John

AdrianFagg · Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 19

TC: I'd be keen to do this route if we could manage to be in the same country at the same time. I'd need to trust your belaying though. Wink

BTW, a friend did this route last year and apparently avoided the diagonal crack by going up a gap between pinnacle and face. Mind you, since he can't tell the difference between grade one scrambling and HVS, I always take what he says with a pinch of salt. He described it as straightforward and very pleasant.

Touching Centauri · Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 91 Location: Bangor/St Helens

Tempting but think it could well be beyond me at the moment. And I don't think my belaying is up to scratch either!

AdrianFagg · Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 19

TC: No, it's not beyond you. v.diff for the table direct is followable by pretty well anybody. There's a big step up from scrambling to leading at that grade, but the thing about v.diff is that it's all fairly straightforward climbing. You don't get the sustained difficult pitches that are typical at the higher grades, and above all, each move will get you into a stable position, where 'hanging on' isn't difficult. Holds will also be positive.
It's generally accepted that most non-climbers will be able to follow about three grades harder, i.e. you might struggle on some VS 4c moves*, but 4b will be easy enough in rock shoes and Severe 4a will be easy enough in big boots.

There was a smiley after the bit about belaying because:
a) Leading someone in your position (climbing novice in these terms), one would only lead grades that one is totally confident at, i.e. you wouldn't be expected to hold a fall (but just in case - holds do break, etc...).
b) a second belaying a leader has only to feed the rope through the belay plate, keeping hold of the dead rope. It needs demonstration, but is a complete doddle. Actually holding a fall requires nothing more thasn that you keep hold of the dead rope - it doesn't need any force.
c) It's the leader's resonsibility to keep himself or herself safe and to look after the second. An experienced second knows how to look after himself, i.e. to do all the ropework that he can, but an inexperienced second is expected to not know, so the leader looks after everything.
d) If the second really can't follow a pitch, the leader will be able to organise an abseil retreat, if necessary lowering the second.

* but young, fit students will probably be OK on 5a.

I'm posting this here, because the general info might be of use to others, i.e. non-climbers knowing what to expect. Also, any other climbers can feel free to comment, naturally.
There is a tendency for climbers to think in terms of starting with single pitch routes, then graduating to multi pitch when ready. However, I think that's most applicable to indoor wall climbers going outside for the first time, whereas scramblers are as likely to get into it via easy mountaineering routes. The biggest risk to that path is people without much knowledge getting together and getting in out of their depth.

Touching Centauri · Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 91 Location: Bangor/St Helens

In that case you may well be able to convince me Smile

Looks like Skye was good by the way.