Dinas Mot

We had a lovely leisurely start to Sunday morning. Hanging out at Ynys, drinking tea, chatting, and eventually deciding where to climb. The problem was, it was all a bit too hot. We needed somewhere reasonably shaded and not too far to walk.

The obvious choice was Dina Mot.

We started out on Gardd. I looked at it and decided it was well within my capabilities, a HVS slab. I got pretty nervous at the beginning, but felt safer after I’d got some good gear in. Then I was about to head off up a very thin crack, until I heard mention, “oh, that’s at least E1 up that way”. OMG! I decided a death defying reverse of a few steps was in order, and I made it back to the HVS line. It is a good route with an interesting layback finish – I have the rock rash to prove that I tried very hard. No photos I’m afraid. Pete was concentrating on belaying!

After that we had a go at Nexus. Well, Pete made a superb go at it, my effort was a little less to be desired. I struggled with the first roof on the second pitch and ended up taking the direct 6a line (much easier actually – with a rope above you of course – and a lot more fun). I found the whole second pitch just too hard, so I knew there was no way I could tackle the crux – a 5b traverse. I pleaded weakness and persuaded Pete to bail off. Oh dear, I must be holding him back in a big way. He’ll just have to do it with someone stronger – Jon?

After that we thought we should do something a bit easier, so we headed down to Jubilee Climb. There had been a steady stream of climbers on it all day, and now the day was turning into evening and we had the route to ourselves. The route proved to be much harder than either of us expected. The 5b pitch was brutal. I was very glad when it was all over.