Craig Rhiwarth/Craig y Mwn
Craig Rhiwarth
"Craig Y Mwn is an inspiringly essential crag. That's essential as in personally essential: "Wow that sounds/ looks so cool I gotta go there …", not the mundane socially essential: "I must tick this because it's so classic/popular/rite of passage/in a guide book …" - UKC User Fiend
"Dominating the view on the drive in, the dramatically impressive Craig y Mwn sports an unexpectedly high number of fine climbs, some of them of comparable quality to the very best on offer elsewhere" and "Rocho Crag is rarely visited, but if this crag was in the Gwynant Valley, climbers would probably be drooling over it." - Martin Crocker
For far too long, Berwynion climbing has been outside the mainstream, very much the Cinderella of North Wales climbing.
Several factors have probably contributed to this, not least the fact that Snowdonia is the undoubted big brother in this particular part of Wales. But there is also the arguably undeniable possibility that previous climbing guidebooks have unknowingly undersold the area as a viable and worthwhile climbing destination in its own right, presenting it as something of a bolt-on to other venues deemed to be both more interesting and worthy. As a result, the area has largely remained a backwater as far as the climber is concerned.
The purpose of the new, free-to-download 2019 interim supplement, written by UKC user Stu Day, is to redress the balance by providing the up-to-date information now required by climbers. It is not intended as a stand-alone guide, but is designed to be used in conjunction with the CC’s Meirionnydd guidebook (which is still in print.)
Not only could one pause here on the mad dash west, but the area’s climbing is also easily accessible for a single day visit from the Liverpool and Manchester conurbations, as well as from the West Midlands.
Hopefully this new supplement will afford a closer and clearer appreciation of what is available in these wild, friendly, relatively untouched and charmingly little visited Welsh Borderland valleys and so serve to both enthuse and inspire in equal measure.
Stu's supplement is now available on Steep Stone's website.
Post edited at 14:15
