Long time ago, back in April, Istvan and Dalma planned a trip to England to visit friends and relatives and sample some superb English rock. After exchanging couple of emails with Pete and Terry we decided that our destination would be North Wales. Thanks to the hospitality of Terry and John Hollands we stayed in the Ynys Ettws CC hut. We were very impressed by how cozy and comfortable the hut was.
The warm hospitality of Terry and John was not coupled up by the weather that seemed decidedly hostile. My friends in London had warned me about the weather in Wales and unfortunately they were just too right! So not much climbing was done during the 5 days we spent there together but somehow Terry always seemed to find a dry place to visit. As we learned from him: „If you are with Terry your hands will touch rock!â€
We spent our first day at Holy Head mountain and accomplished a route in very strong wind. After that John and me decided to call it quit for the day but tough Istvan and Terry did one more route!!! They said it wasn’t as windy as the first one but I know they only wanted to make us feel bad! :sarcy:
The next day was hopeless so we only walked up to the Idwal Slabs in pouring rain and strong wind just to have a look. Surprisingly, some people were climbing (maybe Tennis Shoe but I’m not sure any more)!!! Even more surprisingly (or not surprisingly at all knowing how tough guy he is) Istvan is still sorry that we didn’t take gear to climb because he would have fancied one of the routes but perhaps not on Suicide Wall.
Monday found us at the Moelwyns (Ffestiniogg) in high winds again. As we were approaching the climb the sensible part of the team (John & me) voted for the caf and walked back leaving the crazy ones to the elements. When they came back they stated they’d had a good time but that certainly cannot be seen on Istvan’s face!!!
Unfortunately Istvan’s last day arrived too soon so Terry was looking for something that would make this day memorable. His choice was Tremadoc which proved to be an excellent one! Sunshine, not much wind, beautiful route, what more could we have wished as a finish? We did PMP, Istvan climbing with John and myself with Terry. The route was very spectacular, especially the last part, and easy enough to give me a feeling of success and confidence. This was certainly our best day.
We finished it in Eric Jones’ cafe where we could meet him in person! Here you can see our team in the café.
After the boys of our team had all left I still had 3 days on my own before Rachel’s birthday party to explore North Wales a bit more. So I used the only really nice day to climb Snowdon which was a perfect ending for my Wales adventures. I just couldn’t close my mouth I was so impressed by the wild beauty of the area! I took hundreds of pictures I share the two I like the most.
We definitely will return!!!
Oh, and before I forget: a friendly cat in Dolgellau for Anna and Terry!
Lovely cat, Dalma!
Glad you had a good couple of days in Wales. You’ll have to do the Lake District on your next visit.
Sure, the Lake District is definitely on the agenda next time!
I forgot to mention that all the climbing shots are courtesy of Terry who, unlike me, was not lazy to carry his camera with him.
Well the weather is no better up here in the Lakes than in Wales, it wasn’t that week. But you would get to stay at the Wayfarers’ Robertson Lamb Hut 🙂
It’s the Alpine trip reunion there this weekend – I rahter expect to meet some people there I never found on the campsite!
Hmm, one of the three classics on the Idwal slabs would have been “exciting” in those conditions! I’m surprised Terry wasn’t up for it though; one winter he, Laetitia, and I climbed the classic Diff, The Ordinary Route, in mountain boots and with only three pieces of rock-gear after we’d descended from a ice climb higher up Cwm Idwal. It was dry, but boy it was cold!
I’m glad you enjoyed your trip to North Wales, it is a contender for the best traditional climbing venue in the world. Next time think about May, I think this is the most reliable month in the UK weather wise…
Well Pete, we were about eight years younger then and Tish eight years foolisher :sarcy: But the Hungarians picked the foulest week of weather imaginable – mainly the high winds. It was an achievement just to step outside Ynys :freeze:
As Dalma said, walking up to Idwal, with crowds of others, ‘In Hungary people just wouldn’t go out in this kind of weather’. I hope they won’t be put off visiting again:???:
Of course we are not put off, see title of post, we are tough as you could experience! And this is why I’m practising all the new expressions for rain, I can feel I’ll need them soon! 😉
All the huts were heaving this weekend, despite the dodgy forecast. North Wales remains ever popular.