St. David’s (24th/25th September 2022)
By Adan Scotney
“Climbing at Porthclais, In autumn with sun and rain: Ice cream cone, nearby.”
Earlier in the year I spent the better part of a week on the limestone further south in Pembrokeshire, which reawoke my interest in trying some interesting climbs. I hadn’t visited the area around St. David’s for a number of years, but recalled enjoying the sandstone slab-climbing with long cracks and small, crimpy holds. I was determined to attempt something harder than my usual efforts.
With the day of the meet approaching, the weather forecast improved and off we went. Paul, Mark, Peter and I managed to squeeze into one car (emphasis on squeezed) and arrived at the Caerfai Farm campsite shortly after 9pm.
Tara and I had already discussed spending one of the days at Carreg-y-Barcud, one of the more extensive stretches of cliff in the area with an abundance of good routes. On the Saturday morning, we prepared to walk there from the campsite with Peter, only for the heavens to open as we were about to leave! After hiding in the car for a while, a consensus was reached that we may as well go and be miserable at the crag. As it happens, any misery was short-lived as the sun emerged. We abseiled into Beyond the Azimuth (E1 5b), a well-known, diagonal crack line, whereupon it immediately started drizzling.
Deciding it probably wasn’t going to stop any time soon, I set off and found the route lived up to its pumpy reputation. While no individual move was terribly difficult on its own, it is rather sustained and making progress becomes a little harder each move one makes! By the time I had reached the top of the crack, the end of hard part of the climb, the rock was very wet and I was forced to sit on gear for 15 minutes until the sun had returned and sufficiently dried the holds to allow the final easy but delicate step out of the crack. Although I’d finished the substance of the climb before being rained off, I’ve been left with the nagging feeling I need to go back and do it again.
Next up, Peter was convinced to try his first proper HVS, Ethos. Another long, diagonal crack and the near mirror image of the previous climb (it is angled in the opposite direction). Again, we abseiled to the base of the climb and had uncoiled the ropes when… rain! In spite of the inclement weather conditions, Peter successfully reached the top after a few rests.
To finish off the day, Tara led the classic twin cracks of Metamorphosis (HS 4b) which while well-protected, required some commitment in parts. In a break from the previous cycle, she managed to complete the climb in the sun! We then returned to the camp site, pleased that we’d all pushed beyond our comfortable grades, reminded that half the battle is just being prepared to start a climb.
Meanwhile, Paul and Mark headed off to the pleasant slabs near Porthclais. They were joined by Conor, Peter and Charlotte who had set off very early that morning. It was lucky they had left so early given that the M4 was closed westbound at Reading for the weekend! Alas I cannot do their day justice as my information is second hand, but a number of routes from VD to VS were climbed. I know Charlotte was excited to climb a sea cliff for the first time, hopefully it lived up to expectations.
A significant advantage of climbing so close to a tourist hot-spot at Porthclais Harbour is that the kiosk nearby sells ice cream and coffee. A positive for Paul!
After meeting up at the campsite, we all (including Mark, who had spent the day further up the coast with a guide) headed to pub then The Shed Bistro in Porthgain for various piscine suppers (the GMC meets seem to be going more up market lately, this closely following the recent meal at La Casita in Guildford).
Sunday, while cooler than the preceding day was at least dry, and we decided to climb together at Craig Caerfai directly below the campsite. The “climb of the crag” is Armorican (VS 4c), which Tara and I duly set out to climb. It provided a more exciting experience than I’d anticipated and I’m sure it must be at the top of the grade, but it certainly deserves its three-star status. Simultaneously, Mark and Paul were cursing their way up the adjacent Scorch Groove (VD) before an ascent of Burnt Arete which presumably must’ve proven more enjoyable as they climbed it twice!
We moved over to the smaller left-hand wall, where Charlotte and Peter had been ticking off most of the HS climbs (Caerfai Crack, Mildred Mindwarp and White Wall). Tara also set about leading several of these. After we had vacated Armorican, Conor took on the challenge at which he naturally succeeded – I think he would agree that it is more involved than would appear from below!
A worthwhile weekend of climbing and now feeling slightly stronger, ready for my upcoming trip to Kalymnos!