Wednesday 27 October 2010

Yet Another Mine



Yes I have been down yet another mine, ticking them off ready for assessment and even starting to get into it now!!!! Aberllyfeni slate mine was the aim of the day, which is probably the closest to home yet the most impressive out of the lot. To get deep down into the mine we had to descend a pair of ladders around 50m long into the darkness.

Saturday 23 October 2010

Cwmorthin with a hungover giant


Today Dan, Alex and myself head down into Cwmorthin slate mine. Both Dan and myself had been down this mine a few times before and were keen to explore further ground. Our plan was to head up into some of its higher levels something we did not find possible due to collapses and technical approaches. After exploring as much as we could we head down deep into the mine which was partly flooded before heading out using one of the old bridges.

Wednesday 20 October 2010

Winter Is On Its Way!!!




I awoke to the first frost of the year today and im sure along with the whole world of winter climbers I started thinking about the prospects of the coming winter, will it be as good as the last??? This frost inspired rob and myself to bring our axes and crampons out of summer hibernation and head out for some climbing!!!! I hear you asking "what"? Well it may have been cold but not that cold so we improvised using a coniferous tree. Setting a top rope up we both blasted up and down training in some hope of another good winter.

Friday 15 October 2010

Wet Mine Exploration







Lurking in Till Hill forestry in Corris Uchaf are the old workings of Tyn Y Berth mine. I have walked passed the gaping vegetated looking holes many a time and wonders what was down there. Over the past few months I have been down all 4 with Dan completing the final one today. Access into all of the 4 involved some sort of a abseil and SRT back out. Todays involved a initial 20m abseil followed by another 30m of vertical waterfall. There were addits leading off in either direction with the first being chest deep water leading to a collapse and the second leading into a fair sized chamber. Just to ensure we were wet enough the slow SRT up a waterfall gave us all a complete soaking.

Saturday 9 October 2010

Observing SPA Assessment







For the past few days I have been lucky enough to observe a SPA assessment run by Tyn Y Berth Mountain Center. On Thursday morning the course kicked off with a visit to Craig Y Tonnau situated just over the Crimea Pass where personal climbing was covered. Day 2 took us over to Barmouth slabs, a popular group venue location overlooking the stunning Mawddach estuary where more group issues were covered.