Snowdonia climbing – Flying Buttress 87m VD, Dinas y Gromlech area, North Wales
My brother David and I climbed this on the Sunday of a weekend expedition to North Wales, following an epic climb up the mighty Amphitheater Buttress on the Saturday.
Let me start by saying that there only one way to describe the walk-in to this climb… Evil! It’s actually more of a “scramble-in” (on all fours) up a super steep scree field, and will take anyone and everyone at least 30 minutes (probably more like 40 minutes). At least it starts at the roadside, there’s parking right opposite the crag, but get there early as it gets very busy.
As we could see the crag just up the hill (yeah right), we elected to travel light and left our packs (including water) in the car. Big mistake! We were parched by the time we reached the foot of the crag.
On reaching the top of the scree field we were met by a party of four at the base of the Flying Buttress climb. They were all tooled up and ready to go, climbing as two pairs. The oldest member of the group, a very well spoken gentleman wearing old school gear, told us in no uncertain terms that his group were novice climbers, that they would be moving slowly and that we should move along to another route, thank you very much.
As keen as we were to oblige, we had only brought 1 guidebook, “Scrambles and easy climbs in Snowdonia” (a fantastic book which I’ll review very soon). Flying Buttress is the only climb featured on this particular crag, so having endured the murderous ascent from the road to the foot of the crag there was no way on earth that we were going to go back down until we had made the climb! We sat down, dug in and waited for our turn.
By the time we were able to get started on the first pitch, another party of four had gathered behind us. We agreed that I would climb first (which is almost always the case – I’ll explain why in another post). In the wait for the climb I had already decided that I would maintain a brisk pace and place the minimum of protection along the way. Feeling very confident, I shot up the first and second pitch in one go. I set up a belay next to the party who had set off before us, a nice young lad and lass who had just realised that they didn’t really have time to complete the climb as they were supposed to be at a wedding that day. As David joined me, they abseiled off the side allowing us to pass.
From our position on a little pinnacle, we climbed down a few metres to a new belay stance for what was to be the most exciting pitch of the climb. David lead this one, and I think it gave him quite a lot to think about. It’s a super exposed pitch and the route finding for the leader is not as straight forward as you might expect. Stood at my lonely belay stance I couldn’t see what David was up to and we couldn’t hear each other either. The rope kept pulling tight, so I would pay out some slack, then it went really slack so I would have to pull it back in. this happened several times then eventually, after what seemed like a life time, came a welcome solid tug on the rope, followed immediately by another one. I took David off belay and waited impatiently to get started.
That pitch was absolutely superb. Beautifully exposed and quite steep but with excellent (if not a bit polished) holds for both hands and feet. I worked my way around and up a sloping gangway to where David sat waiting for me with a big smile on his face. I can’t help feeling a bit envious that he got to lead that pitch, it was truly fantastic.
The last pitch is a fitting finale and one which I was lucky enough to lead. It starts with a sloping chimney with a really awkward, thrutchy start. It’s pretty easy to protect, and once you get going it’s an easy finish. I reached the top feeling completely satisfied with both the climb and my weekend in North Wales.
On the way up we had to retrieve a piece of gear that the party in front of us had left. The well spoken chap had shouted down to us and asked if we would mind collecting it as his novice climbing partner had been unable to extract it. When I reached the top of the climb he was waiting to collect. His initial frosty demeanor from when we first met at the foot of the crag had been replaced by massive enthusiasm, and we had a very enjoyable chat.
I can’t wait to climb in North Wales again, Snowdonia climbing is the most enjoyable I have done to date. The sheer quality and scale of the place stays with you long after you leave. I just cannot recommend it enough!!!
As always I would love to hear your experience. If you have been or you’re planning to go, drop me a comment.
