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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Staff Mine Trip

Today Pete, Dave, Anthony and myself went on a staff trip to Cwmorthyn Slate mine. The objective of the trip was to undertake a through tip from Cwmorthin to Okley slate mine and familiarise myself with Cwmothyn mine for a upcoming mine leader assessment. The trip got off to a good start but we soon run into problems due to a inaccurate mine survey. Having sorted this we continued on down into the Oakly levels and after some 3 houres daylight appeared. Heading out into the light we were all delighted to see the Crimea Pass, we had made our objective. After a quick bit to eat we climbed out of the mine admiring some of the workings on the Oakly side before heading back over the top of the hill back to the van.

Salbit

A spare week a quick few calls and Dan, Rob and myself were on a flight to Geneva for a few days Alpine climbing. On arrival in Geneva we picked a hire car up and drove over to Goschenen near Andermatt and started the long unrelenting trudge up to the Salbit Hut (one of the best alpine huts I have stayed in) Arriving at the hut in the early afternoon we had just enough time to climb Yes sir 4c out the back of the hut. Now all fired up we head out the next day to climb Morgesunna 5c which has 11 pitches of amazing granit climbing. Topping out we made the gnarly traverse across ball bearing like covered terrain before descending the gully back down to the hut for yet another fantastic meal. On Tuesday morning we were up at 05.00 well before dawn anxiously heading towards the Salbit Sudgrat. The approach was a long trek from the hut up some steep frozen turf which was interesting in trainers followed by a steep unprotectable gully to the start of the south ridge. 08.00 we set off on the ridge proper where we found the climbing slightly harder than expected. Reaching the top of the first tower at around 10.00 in a stupendous position the knife edge ridge continued on up out of the first gap. Rapping down into the first gap it was starting to dawn upon me that we were moving to slowly and beyond this point we were committed and at the current speed would end up in benightment. All agreeing we decided to escape from this gap rapping 250m down the face. Walking back to the hut although all disappointed we all knew we had made a good call. Climbing as a 3 and not relay training at the speeds required to complete such a route but we are already planning on returning next year for a second attempt. Wednesday morning was a lazy start before heading up Angelika 5C for a quick climb before trekking back down to the car to drop rob off at the train station. With a bad forecast coming in Dan and myself changed our flights to Thursday night and head over to Grimsel pass for some slab climbing. Climbing Foxie 5c which was a impenetrable smooth granit slab without a single hand hold in the entire 12 pitches before heading back to Geneva.