Climb Guide -- Great Slab Clogwyn Du'r Arrdu, Snowdon

Grade

VS 4c 4a 4b - -

Length

600ft, 183m

Location

Clogwyn Du'r Arrdu, Snowdon

Rock

Volcanic Tuff

Attitude

North

First Climbed

C.F.Kirkus and G.G.Macphee, 1930

Approach

From Llanberis follow the main Snowdon footpath by the railway. On entering Llanberis from the south turn left next to the railway. A good place to park is right just before the cattle grid, behind a train bridge.

Follow the path past the, still yet to be completed, halfway house until a grassy path leads off towards cloggy. Follow this round past the Indians face area to the western rake.

Description

1)	Start about 50m up the western rake, at a block below a small slab with an even smaller overhang just above. Pull onto the slab by a small crack, then traverse delicately left to the bottom of a large groove (apparent crux). I have been told that it is worth placing a runner high in the initial crack, but the move to place the gear is harder than the traverse, so I find it is not worth while. Follow the crack for around 30m until it is easy to step onto the rib on the left, and round to a large ledge and thread belay.
2)	Head back over to the rib by a grassy ledge. Go up for about 15m until there is a decent spike runner. Traverse left past a slot to the grass covered wall, which is followed to a peg and belay below a corner.
3)	Climb the corner with a combination of face climbing and bridging, to a slopping ledge at the top. Thread and spike on the back wall. When wet this pitch is hard. Gear tends to slip out of the crack due to the inch thick layers of gunge, and the little foot smears and next to useless.
4)
	Follow a diagonal crack line up towards the far side of the great slab. Belay at a small grassy ledge about 35m along.
5)	Follow the groove, mainly climbing the left rib, until there is a nice almost horizontal break. Traverse delicately left along it to a niche, then diagonally left again to the edge. Go up to a large ledge and thread belay. The top can either be scrambled or added as another pitch.

Account

We had been having huge problems with the car. This had all started two days ago at Birmingham when leaking oil started to smoke. The AA relayed us to Porthmadoch. By replacing the air filter we thought that the problems were mostly over, we could not have been more wrong.

Anyway we set off for Llanberis, to have a go at cloggy. We managed to get to Eric's cafe below craig bwlch y moch, just as the smell of burning oil drifted into the car. So we stopped and had breakfast, waiting for the engine to cool down. Setting off again, this time we managed to get to a llyn just before the turn off to Llanberis before we had to stop to let it cool down again.

When we reached Llanberis we parked and walked off. It was very sunny and hot, and thus very sweaty. It took about 1.5 hours to reach the base of the climb.

The first pitch went without hitch. James set off on the second, but ended up going too high. He was stranded on a blank piece of wall about 20ft above his last placement. He found a crack and decided to belay so that I could come up and take a look. I reached the placement below him and then traversed off right, and up the grassy ledges to the base of the wet corner. James now had a very testing time of down climbing some difficult terrain, a fall would have been unthinkable.

Eventually James reached the belay, and after a bit of discussion we decided that the corner up right put us back on course, and as I was already belaying James started on the corner. About half way up he decided that it was very slippy so he retreated back to the bottom of the corner. I was not looking forward to having a go, but to abseil off was never considered. I got past his high point, but then got a little stuck when a tiny smear I needed to stand on, had a large layer of gunge on it. The gear was okay, but the amount of gunge made them slightly less solid. Anyway I eventually jumped my feet up the smear and then to the flake. Just as I was reaching the belay both my feet came off, I kind of spangled as I attempted to regain concentration and control. A couple of seconds later I was at the belay and James was following me up.

The helicopter that buzzed around us all day

The last two pitches went according to plan, and we were on top at about 1900. You would have thought that was the end, but we were not home yet. As it was starting to get dark we decided to walk up to the railway track and follow that down until it met with the path. Having had nothing to eat and very little to drink since 1000 we were very hungry. Someone had dropped some sweets which littered the path. Most were sitting on boulders and looked clean. They were very tasty.

As we neared the road, it was pitch dark, we passed a group or 5 adults and 4 very young kids. The kids were crying as they all stumbled down. This struck us as quite irresponsible. Anyway we carried on, passing a farm where they shear sheep at night for some reason. At least we presume that they were shearing!!

We got in the car thinking that it was all over, but no! Just as we left Llanberis the radio started to flicker, so did the main beams. Immediately I thought that oil must have dripped onto the alternator, shorting it out. The same thing had happened to my brothers car, but not at night, 15 miles from home.

We turned off all non essential electrical devices, radio's, fans, etc.. and drove with dipped lights. As we went right after pen y pass, the lights started to get dimmer. Visibility lessened to less than 3m. Then about 7 miles out of Tremadog the lights failed completely. With stone walls either side and no road markings it was quite dodgy. Visibility was pretty much zero. Then James had the stunning idea of using the hazard warning lights to light the way. The help they provided was more to warn other drivers, as they did not light the way at all. Just as we pulled into the close, where the flat is in Porthmadoch, the Police stopped us. After a lengthy explanation, where they kept pointing out that driving without light is dangerous, we pushed the car to the flat, actually I pushed James insisted he had to steer. Then I collapsed.