Rock Climbing Courses in Snowdonia

Rock Climbing in Snowdonia

For me Snowdonia offers the best concentration of rock climbing of anywhere in the UK. Each area of the park is easily accessible and walk-ins take in some of the most beautiful scenery in the UK.

The History
The pioneers first tackled Lliwedd and the Ogwen Valley and as they devloped their skills and increased in courage they moved onto the crags of the Llanberis Pass and then onto Clogwyn Du'r Arddu on the back of Snowdon.

The end of the second World War saw an dramatic increase in the popularity of climbing and famous names like Joe Brown, Don Whillans and fellow climbers from the 'Rock and Ice' club pioneered many new lines across Snowdonia. By 1960 the main lines on almost every cliff had been climbed and climbers began to look elsewhere for challenges. Tremadog became the new stamping ground, and had the advantage that it was often dry when it was too wet to climb in the mountains. In the 1980's local climbers were again craving new potential, and this time found it in the Llanberis slate quarries and on the limestone cliffs of the Orme at Llandudno - the only local area to offer bolted sport climbing routes.

Our courses are based around Llanberis and Capel Curig which each have a good selection of pubs, gear shops and cafes. That caters for breakfast, post climbing shopping and evening entertainment!

The choice of rock climbing venues in Snowdonia is vast and our local knowledge means we will often be able to find somewhere dry even when it is raining heavily in the mountains.

Ogwen Valley
This valley contains many of the classic beginners climbs such as those on the Idwal Slabs - Hope (v.diff), Faith (v.diff) and Charity (v. diff),
Milestone Buttress - Pulpit Route (Diff), Direct Route - V Diff and the East Face of Tryfan. Tryfan stands 3000 ft high and classic routes on its Eastern face include Grooved Arete - a fantastic multi-pitch V Diff that finishes on its summit.

Milestone Butress Idwal Slabs Tryfan from Glyder Fawr

Llanberis Pass
The Llanberis Pass offers a selection of fine routes in the middle grades. Perhaps the most famous route of all is Cenotaph Corner (E1), an immaculate corner crack on the Cromlech buttress. The adjacent walls offer other superb routes such as Cemetery Gates (E1), Left Wall (E2), and Right Wall (E5). On the opposite side of the valley Dinas Mot gives more slabby climbing, Direct Route (VS) and Diagonal (HVS) being the most climbed. The finest mountain crag of all is Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, set off the Llanberis path up Snowdon. This 600ft. cliff has a wealth of routes from HVS upwards. The central feature, Great Wall, is both impressive and hard (the easiest line is E4), and has it has been the scene of several epic new routes and failures. Johnny Dawes' route Indian Face (E9) remains one of the hardest in the country, and has had only three ascents in fourteen years. In poor weather the best climbing destination in the Park is Tremadog. The rock dries quickly after rain and has plenty of quality two or three pitch routes in the VS - E2 grades.

Dinas Cromlech Dinas Mot

Clogwyn Du'r Arddu
Affectionately known as Cloggy this crag sits high on the flanks of Snowdon with the base of the crag at 700m and the West Buttress rising to almost 900 metres. The crag offers moody atmospheric climbing in a true mountain environment with grades starting at Very severe. My favourite climb is Longlands Climb VS 4a, 4b, 4b, - 4c

Tremadog
Situated to the South West of the main mountains the cliffs at Tremadog tend to enjoy a rain shadow location and be dry when the mountain crags are wet. The crags offer a variety of grades from Diff to the top extremes and are generally multi-pitch climbs. There is handy parking and also a good cafe which is always a bonus! Classic routes include Christmas Curry (S), Yogi (S) and The Fang.

Holyhead Mountain and Gogarth
Situated on the tip of Anglesey these two venues can be reached from Capel Curig in less than 45 minutes and are often a good wet weather option, and a brilliant venue in their own right. Here you can enjoy a variety of grades with routes from single to multi pitch with all of the pleasures of being at the seaside.

You can view photographs of climbing in Snowdonia on our gallery by following this link.


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		Rock Climbing in Snowdonia For me Snowdonia offers the best concentration of rock climbing of anywhere in the UK. Each area of the park is easily accessible and walk-ins take in some of the most beautiful scenery in the UK. The History The pioneers first tackled Lliwedd and the Ogwen Valley and as they devloped their skills and increased in courage they moved onto the crags of the Llanberis Pass and then onto Clogwyn Du'r Arddu on the back of Snowdon. The end of the second World War saw an dramatic increase in the popularity of climbing and famous names like Joe Brown, Don Whillans and fellow climbers from the 'Rock and Ice' club pioneered many new lines across Snowdonia. By 1960 the main lines on almost every cliff had been climbed and climbers began to look elsewhere for challenges. Tremadog became the new stamping ground, and had the advantage that it was often dry when it was too wet to climb in the mountains. In the 1980's local climbers were again craving new potential, and this time found it in the Llanberis slate quarries and on the limestone cliffs of the Orme at Llandudno - the only local area to offer bolted sport climbing routes. Our courses are based around Llanberis and Capel Curig which each have a good selection of pubs, gear shops and cafes. That caters for breakfast, post climbing shopping and evening entertainment! The choice of rock climbing venues in Snowdonia is vast and our local knowledge means we will often be able to find somewhere dry even when it is raining heavily in the mountains. Ogwen Valley This valley contains many of the classic beginners climbs such as those on the Idwal Slabs - Hope (v.diff), Faith (v.diff) and Charity (v. diff), Milestone Buttress - Pulpit Route (Diff), Direct Route - V Diff and the East Face of Tryfan. Tryfan stands 3000 ft high and classic routes on its Eastern face include Grooved Arete - a fantastic multi-pitch V Diff that finishes on its summit. Llanberis Pass The Llanberis Pass offers a selection of fine routes in the middle grades. Perhaps the most famous route of all is Cenotaph Corner (E1), an immaculate corner crack on the Cromlech buttress. The adjacent walls offer other superb routes such as Cemetery Gates (E1), Left Wall (E2), and Right Wall (E5). On the opposite side of the valley Dinas Mot gives more slabby climbing, Direct Route (VS) and Diagonal (HVS) being the most climbed. The finest mountain crag of all is Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, set off the Llanberis path up Snowdon. This 600ft. cliff has a wealth of routes from HVS upwards. The central feature, Great Wall, is both impressive and hard (the easiest line is E4), and has it has been the scene of several epic new routes and failures. Johnny Dawes' route Indian Face (E9) remains one of the hardest in the country, and has had only three ascents in fourteen years. In poor weather the best climbing destination in the Park is Tremadog. The rock dries quickly after rain and has plenty of quality two or three pitch routes in the VS - E2 grades. Clogwyn Du'r Arddu Affectionately known as Cloggy this crag sits high on the flanks of Snowdon with the base of the crag at 700m and the West Buttress rising to almost 900 metres. The crag offers moody atmospheric climbing in a true mountain environment with grades starting at Very severe. My favourite climb is Longlands Climb VS 4a, 4b, 4b, - 4c Tremadog Situated to the South West of the main mountains the cliffs at Tremadog tend to enjoy a rain shadow location and be dry when the mountain crags are wet. The crags offer a variety of grades from Diff to the top extremes and are generally multi-pitch climbs. There is handy parking and also a good cafe which is always a bonus! Classic routes include Christmas Curry (S), Yogi (S) and The Fang. Holyhead Mountain and Gogarth Situated on the tip of Anglesey these two venues can be reached from Capel Curig in less than 45 minutes and are often a good wet weather option, and a brilliant venue in their own right. Here you can enjoy a variety of grades with routes from single to multi pitch with all of the pleasures of being at the seaside. You can view photographs of climbing in Snowdonia on our gallery by following this link.