Lliwedd - in the footsteps of Mallory

On Friday 7th August I set off with two of my climbing buddies - Andrew (who I met at Vauxwall bouldering wall) and Matthieu (on a mountaineering expedition to Kyrgyzstan) for a weekend of climbing and scrambling in Snowdonia, North Wales. Matthieu and I took the train up from London to Manchester where Andrew picked us up and drove the final couple of hours to Snowdonia. The first crux of the trip came when we had to decide between a) the more equipped and larger campsite or b) the simple field we could camp in but next to a pub (and therefore could just run across to make last orders). Obviously b) prevailed and we enjoyed a couple of pints / some non-descript 'french red wine' as we poured over the guidebooks for the next morning.

Andrew pointed out Avalanche/ Red Wall / Longland's Continuation, a 3 star 286m climb on the north face of Y Lliwedd. "It will take about 3 hours" he reckoned "so we have time after for Snowden and the horseshoe on the way back". Matthieu and I were more realistic about our skills and the time it would take to tackle the 12 pitch HVDiff to S/4b-graded route, but readily agreed to the challenge!

Y Lliwedd is a peak just under three thousand feet forming part of the Snowdon Round although usually eclipsed in fame by Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and the Crib Goch summit ridge. The north face of Lliwedd has been undertaken by a host of 'golden age' climbers such as Longland, Jones, Eckenstein, Young, Thomson, and Mallory and provided a superb training ground for their future achievements in the Alps and on the north face of Everest.

We got a good nights sleep in the tent and awoke at 7am ready to get to the park at Pen y Pass at 8am. However it seems 8am was not early enough as the car park was already full and we ended up parking a 20min walk away and then heading back up. Luckily we'd bought our camping gas and supplies so could make a bacon sandwich and mug of tea each before we set off. We followed the Miners Track to Snowdon, along with a seemingly endless crowd of charity walkers and tourists, taking in beautiful morning views of the tranquil waters of Llyn Teyrn and Llyn Llydaw en route.

We took a detour off the main path and scrambled through grassy fields, past some nonchalant sheep, and up onto the broken ground below the Heather Shelf and the start of the route. We saw one pair a little ahead of us and another on a route to the right, but were otherwise alone on the face on one of the sunniest (and therefore busiest) days of the year. We could spot the hoardes of people like little spikes heading up Snowden and along the Crib Goch summit.

The first pitch was straightforward, yet a little wet and slippery, up to a grassy ledge. Andrew took the lead being the most experienced out of the three of us. The second pitch was a traverse over to the right, and the third pitch although steep wasn't too technically difficult. The fourth, fifth and sixth pitches were up VD rock interspersed with vegetation. There was enough opportunity for placement although I can't admit it always stayed in - eek! After the sixth pitch we reached a grassy shelf "The Great Terrance" where we sat and had our cheese and chorizo sandwiches, some chocolate, and water to refuel us for the next half. The climb was hard going already - each pitch being 25-30m but the views and exhilaration was worth it! As we sat there we saw a rescue helicopter approach Crib Goch and take a climber off it.

We scrambled up to the 7th pitch at the base of Red Wall. Here the rock became less 'juggy' and more 'flakey'. Andrew traversed right along the wall towards a crack then over what the book described as a 'tricky bit' and up to the belay point. I had elected to do the entire climb in my La Sportiva Nepals in readiness for the Matterhorn next month and it was difficult to get my huge boots into the tiny footholds. Luckily being second helped my confidence and eventually made it up, tricky bit and all! The rest of Red Wall I found hard going, possibly due to my boots on the slabs and fatigue setting in but finally we reached the Green Gallery and the start of Longlands. It was here the midges attacked and I pulled up my hood tight over my helmet to prevent being bitten further.

The guidebook had described pitch 10 as having 'an interesting left edge' which took us a little time to identify, but we then spotted the chockstone about 4 metres up and saw the route. The next couple of pitches were over fairly steep slabby rocks (VD-HVD) with little protection and I found myself clutching at vegetation and (ashamedly) stabbing my knees into cracks to get myself up! As we reached the last pitch, my heart fell - a 15m Severe slab to finish it off. At this point I decided enough was enough with the boots and switched into my climbing shoes to get some grip. Andrew led and went off to the right and up a small crack then travered back left to the side of the slab and up over the corner to the summit. I gingerly followed and shocked myself by making it up without falling, despite a lot of reservations in my abilities by that point!

At the top we had a group hug, celebratory Pringles, and summit photo then set off for the two hour walk back over the back of the peak and along Miners Track to the car. The climb was far harder than we had anticipating that day and by the end we were all pretty tired and looking forward to a good meal and drink! We certainly wouldn't win any records for speed (taking 8 hours in total) but we had a fantastic days climbing and I'm proud to have completed my first big multi-pitch route.

To climb on Lliwedd is to pay homage to some of Britain’s best mountaineers, and knowing Mallory did these routes in preparation for Everest is a humbling thought. Hopefully we will be back on Lliwedd one day to conquer some more!