Rock Climbing Courses in Snowdonia & further afield.
We run a range of rock climbing courses in Snowdonia, North Wales as well as rock climbing holidays in Snowdonia, The Costa Blanca, The Picos de Europa in Spain and on the Isle of Skye.
If you have never been rock climbing before I almost envy you, there is so
much fun ahead of you that you don't know about yet!
Rock Climbing Instructional Courses
The underlying theme with all of these courses is to develop your own skills to make you a self sufficient rock climber.
If you have not done any climbing before, or have perhaps done a little climbing at an indoor climbing wall then try our two day intro to climbing course. If you have more time then the 5 day learn to lead will allow you to progress to leading your own climbs.
If you fancy learning all about sport climbing outside or just like the idea of some winter sunshine then the Costa Blanca Rock Climbing course is ideal. A long weekend in the sunshine clipping bolts on beautiful limestone.
If you are wanting to progress your skills then why not join us for a 2 day rock improvers climbing course or a 2 day learn to lead course. Both courses are based in Snowdonia and will help you consolidate existing skills and acquire new ones.
Rock Climbing Holidays
Sometimes its nice to let someone else do all of the leading and to just turn up, chill out and do some great climbing. We understand that not everyone has a wealth of climbing partners to choose from and so joining a rock climbing holiday is the ideal solution. All of our holidays are run at a 1:2 ratio and all enjoy multi pitch routes in some of the best rock locations in the world.
Rock Climbing Instructional Skills Courses - designed to make you a self sufficient climber
Intro to Climbing
2 day course
5 day learn to lead
Costa Blanca Rock Climbing
2 day rock improvers
Private Guiding
Rope Skills Days
Rock Climbing Holidays/Expeditions - enjoy the climbing - you're on holiday!
Classic Rock week in Snowdonia
Classic Rock week on Skye
Ultimate Climbing Trip - Picos de Europa
Two weeks rock climbing in the Arctic - Lofoten
Rock Climbing courses and expeditions - course choice & venues
I have made the following short film that mixes photos and footage to summarise our courses and trips:
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.
