Friday brought a huge amount of rain so we enjoyed a day of tea drinking, this was delightful. Watching horizontal rain whizz passed the windows and along the Llanberis Pass whilst sitting in front of a warming fire is extremely calming, bliss.
Saturday brought sunshine and that of course meant we were going rock climbing.
After much deliberation, we opted for the Ogwen valley and the mighty Tryfan.
We started with a scrambling ascent of the Milestone Buttress on the West face of the mountain. Bumping into Stu McAleese and having him offer some very positive comments to Sam was a bit of a highlight to that part of the day. In terms of efficiency this is a man at the top of his game and notices when others are too. Top stuff Sam.
Continued scrambling led us onto the Heather Terrace on the East face of Tryfan. Our objective being the 3 star uber classic of Grooved Arete.
The climb is about 250 metres in length, so pretty long by UK standards, and even though it was well into the afternoon by the time we arrived at the base, we were both moving rapidly and knew this was going to be a slick ascent. It was.
Dampness persisted in the cracks, making the climb feel more difficult and more serious. Indeed there were other climbers making a retreat due to the damp conditions. They had managed to get their ropes stuck, but Sam was able to help retrieve them on their behalf.
By the time we were to start the final pitch the sun was off the rock and our hands feeling very cold! So we took a scrambling route around this final, easier pitch in order to reach the summit and sunshine sooner.
5pm on the summit of Tryfan and it was still busy up there!!!
A quick scrambling descent down the South ridge and walking out through Cwm Tryfan brought this mountaineering day to an end. Ace day out.
Photos:
Sam making the jump from Adam to Eve on the summit of Tryfan
A climber on pitch 1 of Grooved Arete
Sam on the 'Grooved arete' pitch
Scramblers enjoying the epic mountain scenery on Tryfan
