Our final day on the edge of the Black Mountains started off again with some garden appreciation, even though the temperatures have started to drop back to the usual April ones.
We stayed as long as we could, listening to the birds and soaking up the suns rays, before packing up the van and heading north towards Rhayader, then turning west into the Elan Valley.
The whole valley has been dammed though an incredible system of dams and reservoirs. The scale of it all is quite impressive and believe it or not, this is where Birmingham gets most of it's drinking water from - and not only that, but it's taken there through a pipeline that only uses the force of gravity to get it there.
In the sun, it was beginning to warm up a bit, but in the shade it was much cooler. There was only a light breeze blowing, but it was baltic to be exposed to it. We wrapped off and set off over the bottom dam to see what we could find in the way of rock climbing.
Soon enough, as the guidebook suggested, we found the quarried cliff face, but most of it was still in the shade and way too cold to go near!
But one area was in the sun and sheltered from the wind, so we sat and warmed up like lizards, enjoying the views. Another couple turned up to climb as well and it was nice to have some friendly crag chat.
After a snooze and some lunch by the waters edge, we decided we had enough energy and were ready to give things a go. Unfortunately, the sunniest climbs were some of the steepest, so we had an energetic introduction to the area on a slightly overhanging, but wonderfully warm section of cliff! It had been bolted well, so it was safe enough to get on and hang off the bolts if necessary!
As the sun moved around the cliff, so did we, slowly enjoying the ambience as much as the climbs. On the far side of the reservoir, there was a very busy cycle track, but on our side it was much more chilled and thankfully sheltered from the bone freezing wind chill.
The climbs on the last buttress were 'the best' in the area and the climbing was good and it was also one of the longer routes in the valley. There are not many 'stared' routes in the guidebook (starred routes indicate the best quality climbs), but this one had two stars (a rare thing around here!)
The climbing was as good as we hoped and the route had been well bolted, but at the top, I pulled on a small hand hold and ripped off a dinner plate sized flake of rock! I just managed to keep my balance and push it back into place while I warned Clare to watch out. It landed safely to the side, with a big crash on the rocks below and left me with a much smaller handhold to complete the climb! It was a good reminder as to why the rock climbing here is not so well known or travelled and to treat it with caution.
Clare finished off the day by top roping a really hard route, then we had to scarper back to the van to avoid getting locked in the car park.
Before going to find our accommodation (a crazy conservatory with a camp bed on the side of someone's house: not our best AirBnB find!), we crossed a rickety metal bridge into Elan Village to enjoy the sunshine by the river.
Elan Valley Climbs - Craig Cnwch:
- Pancho Villa, 6a
- Simon Bolivar, 6b
- Ffydd Mewn Ffrithlant, 5+*
- Dirct Shothole, 6a
- Nevermind, 6a**
- Dophamin Delerium, 6c
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