Present: Colin Maddison, Duncan Lee, Andy Stratford, James Williams, Steve Graham, Bob Kelly, Gareth Williams, Lucie Crouch.

Travelling down with Andy and Duncan on Friday evening after a very wet day the cloud is low and we are just late enough to avoid the delays on the A55 due to flooding. The forecast for Saturday is dry with the possibility of rain later, but poorer for Sunday with more rain.

Saturday morning is dry and promising but Cloggy will be wet and Duncan and I think we’d quite like our next visit there to be when it’s dry! So joined by Gareth we take the bus up the Pass to Cromlech Bridge. Duncan has spotted a line to the right of Dinas Mot we’ve never done before and leads Little Benjamin (115ft, Severe) that proves to be a fine little climb on good rock.

Gareth has never done Main Wall (465ft, HS) so we head up to Cyrn Las. Rain is threatening, but it is quite warm and stays dry. We give Gareth a couple of the best pitches and he relishes the wet crux; but for the most part the rock is dry. Duncan leads the exposed top Slab because he’s, “.... never done it when I could see anything before”.

On we go to Clogwyn y Ddysgl for Gambit Climb (325ft, V Diff) that somehow Duncan and I have overlooked for decades. It’s another fine route and the wet and dirty crux finger crack quite pokey. Above we follow the Clogwyn y Person Arete and carry on over Crib y Ddysgl and down the tourist path. We stop at the cafe above Victoria Terrace for a couple of beers.

As we sup we are joined by Steve and Andy who seem a little excited. Apparently, they have been charged by a bull, but independent accounts are contradictory.

Steve, “Andy shat his pants.”

Andy, “Steve was shit scared.”

Local farmer, “Aye, bull winked at them and they ran like girlies.”

The size of the horns was something of a fisherman’s tale and the breed open to conjecture, being either a ‘Short Haired Highland’ or a ‘Welsh Long Horn’.

But they’ve had a good day. Away ahead of us they too have bussed it up the Pass and headed up to Clogywn y Person for the Parson’s Nose (250ft, Diff) then on up the Clogwyn y Person Arete and over to Cloggy for Slab Route Right-Hand (550ft, HS) which is wet on pitch one but otherwise okay. A good effort and fine training for the Alps.

Bob and James have also departed early and taken the bus to Capel, from where they follow the old Road to Tryfan. They enjoy the North Ridge and descend to Windy Gap to ascend to the Glyders. But with rain threatening they evacuate to Ogwen from where a revised plan takes them up the West Ridge of Y Garn, over Elidir Fawr and down through the quarries as the weather stays fine.

For Sunday R. Dyke forecasting services have texted a predicted dry morning with sunshine then showers in the afternoon and the day indeed dawns fine. Bob heads some with a dickie tum, suspecting the ‘Pastie of Doom’ eaten along the way yesterday. The rest of us head for the slate quarries and the ‘Looning the Tube’ area of Australia.

Looking down Main Wall

Wallace and Gromit style, Duncan (Gromit obviously) go for ‘A Grand Day Out’, a five pitch link up starting with a tricky F6b and culminating with the excellent Clash of the Titans (40m, F6a) high up on the Skyline Buttress. Nice piece of Wenslydale Gromit?

Andy leads Sad Man Who’s Sane (VS 4c) and Looning the Tube (HVS 5b) followed by Gareth and Lucie. Meanwhile, nearby, Steve and James polish off The Deceptive Dyke (F5b) and lay siege to Gadaffi Duck (F6b). Duncan leads Looning the Tube as well.

Gareth puts in a fine effort on Goose Creature (E3 6a) but apparently ‘throws a Lucie’ by standing on the bolt. Andy tries it on a top rope; he fails but clearly enjoys the experience, “My groin twitched when I was up there.”!! If this was not enough to drive folk away rain that has threatened for a while and finally hits around 2.00pm to curtail activity.

Thanks to those that came.

Clogwyn Du'r Arddu - Cloggy – the Black Cliff – what can I say about it that I’ve not said before? It is simply an awesome crag; and the finest mountain crag in Wales.

Make the effort and your reward will be an abundance of starred routes. A few I can recommend include, Shrike E1 5c, Lithrig HVS 5a (E1 5c free), Curving Crack VS 4c, The Corner HVS 5a, The Boulder E1 5a, Longland's Climb VS 4c, White Slab E1 5b, Great Slab VS 4c.

But this is a meet for everyone, so if you don’t fancy Cloggy, or the weather is a bit ify, you should still come to Ty Powdwr for the weekend anyway, make use of your hut and enjoy any of the many other opportunities Snowdonia provides for climbing, scrambling and walking from mountain top to the coast.

I'll be at Ty Powdwr on Friday evening and aiming to be at the crag by 11.00am on Saturday. The usual approach is via the tourist track from Llanberis and the crag comes into full view as you crest the rise beyond the Halfway House. Then keep right along the miners track past the old copper mines and continue along the path that contours round below the crag. It’s best to park in Llanberis and it should take you about an hour from there, though those in alpine training will, of course, want to walk from Ty Powdwr.

Weather permitting my plan is to climb on Cloggy on Saturday at least. If it is particularly fine a bivi by Llyn Du'r Arddu on Saturday night could be on the cards to get in two days on Cloggy. If conditions let us down, we’ll simply find something else to do.

Anyone fancying a big day out might consider a route on Llechog, followed by a route on Cloggy. Best approach is from Rydd Ddu. Gear up at the top of Llechog, descend and climb back to your sacks. Then over Snowdon. Gear up at the top of Cloggy. Descend and climb back up to your sacks. Walk out. Or you could try a route on Cyrn Las before toddling over to Cloggy for the evening sunshine.

This is a mountain crag, so be prepared for all that entails - multi-pitch routes up to 1000ft, sometimes tricky route finding and its share of loose rock. But also be prepared for some truly great routes. Most of the routes are VS and upwards, but there are some worthwhile routes at lower grades on the Far West Buttress; although they are still of a long mountaineering nature.

Hope to see you at the hut or the crag.