500m, 10 pitches.
Moderator note: A shorter but possibly more technical girdle traverse than ‘Gina’s Traverse’ described in the Climbers Club Ogwen guidebook. 3 stars removed as there are no further recorded ascents and no single route on the slabs receives 3 stars.
An esoteric and atmospheric climbing adventure taking a logical rising diagonal line across the full sweep of the slabs of Carnedd y Filiast, starting from near the foot of the Waved Slab and culminating in an odyssey across the huge ocean of rippled slabs (Atlantic Slab) on the left hand side of the crag. The technical difficulty of the climbing is mostly low but this is balanced out by the often sparse and/or difficult to find protection, and rock which needs careful handling in places – so some steadiness and route-finding ability is required, graded accordingly. The longest single route in Snowdonia (1,625 ft)?
Start: About 20 m down and left (looking up) from the start of Left Edge (i.e. about 20-30 m below the bottom of the Waved Slab) – a line of thin flake holds crosses a smooth looking groove.
1. 40m. Use the flake finger holds to step across the groove and move round the rib beyond. Climb the left side of the rib on hollow-sounding flakes to an inconspicuous block belay in a large heather patch.
2. 50m. Continue up the slabs on the left side of the rib in the same line, using a series of diagonal foot ledges until the slab completely blanks out. Move up to the crest of the rib and handrail along it until forced to transfer onto the rib crest. Step down into the heather on the right and move up to a stance under an overlap (cams).
3. 60m. Move up past the left side of the bulge to the next overlap (runners) then move right round the bulge to gain the broad rib on the right. Climb this until it narrows to a knife edge. Cross this and go to the back of the heather patch to search for wires to belay.
4. 50m. Scramble up rock and heather to the little col at the top of the obvious subsidiary ridge on the left. Move down slightly and traverse the slabs to an awkward step into the groove below the retaining wall of the next set of slabs. Turn the short retaining wall by an obvious grassy break and belay on the right side of the rib about 5m higher.
5. 50m. A serious pitch, loose and very poorly protected but not technically difficult. Step round left onto the big sweep of (literally) flaky slabs. Climb these trending generally up and left, choosing your holds carefully, heading towards the big heather patch in the angle of the next retaining wall (the only good runner is on the right below an old sling about half way up). Eventually tiptoe across into the grassy groove on the left side of the slab a few metres below the toe of the big heather patch. Belays hard to find, if you have enough rope the best ones are wires in a short quartzy wall just around the rib to the left.
6. 50m 4c. Fortunately the rock type now changes and solidity dramatically improves. Traverse under the quartz wall to the next set of slabs and climb up for a few metres until it is possible to traverse delicately left into the corner below the next ‘laminated’ retaining wall. This is crossed via the obvious heather step in the wall, gained by a ‘sloper’ traverse from the right (technical crux). Move up left onto the rib and climb up and then left to reach block belays out on the broad arête on the left (junction with the Atlantic Slab scrambling route).
Step down and around the blocks to the left to reach a good ledge on the edge of the oceanic slabs. Stop for a break.
7. 40m. Climb the blocks then slabs to some wide quartz cracks (runner), then launch out leftwards into the sea of slabs, initially a bit heathery but soon becoming cleaner. Belay at the first (and very unobvious) opportunity (devious wires).
8, 9, 10. 160m. Continue on a rising leftward line across the sea of slabs for two long and enjoyable pitches – protection/belays on wires and small cams are adequate. On the final pitch the climbing eases to little more than a scramble as the ‘waves’ get bigger and a direct line to the top for the final 20 m finishes a memorable and unusual outing.
Bill & Tom Parker (alt). 22 June 2019. The crag was really dry!
An esoteric and atmospheric climbing adventure taking a logical rising diagonal line across the full sweep of the slabs of Carnedd y Filiast, starting from near the foot of the Waved Slab and culminating in an odyssey across the huge ocean of rippled slabs (Atlantic Slab) on the left hand side of the crag. The technical difficulty of the climbing is mostly low but this is balanced out by the often sparse and/or difficult to find protection, and rock which needs careful handling in places – so some steadiness and route-finding ability is required, graded accordingly. The longest single route in Snowdonia (1,625 ft)?
Start: About 20 m down and left (looking up) from the start of Left Edge (i.e. about 20-30 m below the bottom of the Waved Slab) – a line of thin flake holds crosses a smooth looking groove.
1. 40m. Use the flake finger holds to step across the groove and move round the rib beyond. Climb the left side of the rib on hollow-sounding flakes to an inconspicuous block belay in a large heather patch.
2. 50m. Continue up the slabs on the left side of the rib in the same line, using a series of diagonal foot ledges until the slab completely blanks out. Move up to the crest of the rib and handrail along it until forced to transfer onto the rib crest. Step down into the heather on the right and move up to a stance under an overlap (cams).
3. 60m. Move up past the left side of the bulge to the next overlap (runners) then move right round the bulge to gain the broad rib on the right. Climb this until it narrows to a knife edge. Cross this and go to the back of the heather patch to search for wires to belay.
4. 50m. Scramble up rock and heather to the little col at the top of the obvious subsidiary ridge on the left. Move down slightly and traverse the slabs to an awkward step into the groove below the retaining wall of the next set of slabs. Turn the short retaining wall by an obvious grassy break and belay on the right side of the rib about 5m higher.
5. 50m. A serious pitch, loose and very poorly protected but not technically difficult. Step round left onto the big sweep of (literally) flaky slabs. Climb these trending generally up and left, choosing your holds carefully, heading towards the big heather patch in the angle of the next retaining wall (the only good runner is on the right below an old sling about half way up). Eventually tiptoe across into the grassy groove on the left side of the slab a few metres below the toe of the big heather patch. Belays hard to find, if you have enough rope the best ones are wires in a short quartzy wall just around the rib to the left.
6. 50m 4c. Fortunately the rock type now changes and solidity dramatically improves. Traverse under the quartz wall to the next set of slabs and climb up for a few metres until it is possible to traverse delicately left into the corner below the next ‘laminated’ retaining wall. This is crossed via the obvious heather step in the wall, gained by a ‘sloper’ traverse from the right (technical crux). Move up left onto the rib and climb up and then left to reach block belays out on the broad arête on the left (junction with the Atlantic Slab scrambling route).
Step down and around the blocks to the left to reach a good ledge on the edge of the oceanic slabs. Stop for a break.
7. 40m. Climb the blocks then slabs to some wide quartz cracks (runner), then launch out leftwards into the sea of slabs, initially a bit heathery but soon becoming cleaner. Belay at the first (and very unobvious) opportunity (devious wires).
8, 9, 10. 160m. Continue on a rising leftward line across the sea of slabs for two long and enjoyable pitches – protection/belays on wires and small cams are adequate. On the final pitch the climbing eases to little more than a scramble as the ‘waves’ get bigger and a direct line to the top for the final 20 m finishes a memorable and unusual outing.
Bill & Tom Parker (alt). 22 June 2019. The crag was really dry!
Bill & Tom Parker 22/Jun/2019.
Feedback
| User | Date | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| chalkywoods | 20 Jul, 2021 |
Show βeta
βeta: 2nd ascent (we think). We felt pitches 1-5 were nothing special, with some loose and dirty rock, though pitch 2 had some nice climbing. A fair amount of heather walking to be had on these pitches. Rock cleared up for the remainder. Gear very sparse until Atlantic ridge, though belays were solid. Worthy of a star for the second half, though this is likely better experienced via different routes. | βeta? | |
|
Show beta
βeta: 2nd ascent (we think). We felt pitches 1-5 were nothing special, with some loose and dirty rock, though pitch 2 had some nice climbing. A fair amount of heather walking to be had on these pitches. Rock cleared up for the remainder. Gear very sparse until Atlantic ridge, though belays were solid. Worthy of a star for the second half, though this is likely better experienced via different routes. |
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Guidebooks for Carnedd Y Filiast (Cairn of the Greyhound Bitch)
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Route of Interest
Original Route
Grade: VS 5a ***
(Idwal Slabs (aka Cwm Idwal))