Climbs 150
Rocktype Slate
Altitude 100m a.s.l
Faces all
Autocrat F6b, Gideon. © Duncan Campbell
Crag features
A collection of quarries containing some fantastic routes and some not so fantastic. Adventurous, committing, big, out of fashion, off-widths, loose rock and some undeniably brilliant classics. Glyn Rhonwy has it all and days spent here are not going to be easily forgotten.
Notable routes include Gideon (HVS) (the first recorded slate route), Giddy Variations on a Theme (E2), Cracking Up (E2), Gender Bender (E3), the Bone People (E4), the Second Coming (E4), The Bridge Across Forever (E5), Synthetic Life (7a+) and Senior Citizen Smith (E6).
The bouldering is featured in the new Mountain Crags volume of North Wales Bouldering by Ground Up.
More recently a new power scheme has been given the go ahead for the area and the future access of the quarries is unknown. It sounds like Mancer Quarry will become totally restricted, so if you want to climb the famous off-widths Mancer Direct and Liquid Armbar then do them now before its too late.
Approach notes
Not owned by Gwynedd County Council. Essential to keep a low profile. Seasonal bird ban of The Bone People and dry tooling area of Gideon Quarry from 1st March to 30th June.
Take the road opposite Pete's Eats in Llanberis out of town and up the hill. Layby parking next to the gate on the uphill side of the road.
Restricted Access
There have been serious problems here in the past but access appears less problematic providing climbers keep a low profile. The quarries are owned by Gwynedd Council who make it clear that there is no offical access due to public safety reasons - there are high fences and signs prohibiting access, but there have not been any reports of practical access problems for many years.
In early 2017 planning permisson was granted for a new hydro-electric power station on the site. When works starts on this (unkknow time-scale) its likley that access to some of the quarries will be permenently lost, especially to Mancer and Film Set Quarries as these will become flooded to produce a holding reservoir.
Seasonal Restrictions
Dates: 1 March to 30 June
Reason: Nesting Birds
- Due to nesting Peregrines and Choughs (both species have legal protection under the Wildlife & Countryside Act), some climbing in the Gideon Quarry (all routes on Gideon Terrace and Cracking up areas) is restricted from March 1st until the end of June.
| Went to do Clippopotamus last week. 5 of the 8 bolts are without hangers. What is it with the slate?
Also did Uhuru for Mandela, which was great fun, but... the top bolt and one of the belay bolts are without hangers.
edwardwoodward - 29/Jul/16 |
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| The hangers on the ab/belay bolts on Near Dark and Kenny's Wall are missing. Good tree 10m back for Near Dark, 30m ab from tree to ledges at the bottom. Thought it was E3 5c, bottom slab is 5c, top slab is very bold.
Good fence posts for Kenny's Wall 10m back.
Also did Pandora Plays Sax. Thought it was harder than Gideon and close to E1. Decent gear close to the belay on P2, but then nothing worthwhile for about 20m.
Also went to do Cabin Fever, but it is now mossed over. If you see any sunglasses up there, they're mine! edwardwoodward - 02/Aug/15 |
Climbs at this crag
| Name | Grade | Stars | Type | Logs | Partner Ascents |
|---|
These climbs you have climbed by seconding or top-roping.
These climbs you have Dogged.
These climbs you Did not Finish.
Climbs are waiting to be checked by a crag moderator, and may not be accurate. Climbs can't be verified by a crag moderator, and they need more information to confirm it. Climbs are no longer climbable.
Moderators Updates to this page are checked by UKC volunteers Ben2004 and Osian Parry