The Desolation of Smaug!
The spring bank holiday loomed and with my both good buddy Jurgen and the Swaledale outdoor club heading to N Wales it was the obvious place to go. And for a change instead of the comfy confines of my van I joined the SOC in the salubrious surroundings of the Lincoln MC hut in Deinolen.
A few texts with Jurgen confirmed plan A of heading into Twll Mawr (the big hole) and trying to escape via The Desolation of Smaug! one of the new breed of multi pitch sport routes born of the hard work of Ian Lloyd Jones and others.
After feverish anticpation Saturday morning arrived and a prompt meeting at the Bus stop parking for 9am. A short gear faff ensued just a pile of quick draws and a pair of ropes were packed. Jurgen had researched the best way into Twll Mawr and we soon found Golgotha (the place of the skull!) and entered its mouth.
The tunnel led us into the big hole, after spying out landmarks we found the start of our route and made our way over the unstable scree to start racking up. The fairly straightforward approach was almost a dissappointment. The humming from the power station added to the trepidation but not as much as the wet looking first pitch (6b+).
The first pitch fell to Jurgen and more unfriendly warm up is hard to imagine. A wet, off balance groove type thing was despatched with little rest/fall at the crux. A fine effort by Jurgen. I only made it by grabbing a quick draw which didn't fill me with confidence for the next 6c pitch many believe to be the crux. The dripping start didn't add to confidence and there is a nice pillar to hit if you fluff the start.
I didn't fluff the start and soon hit some dry rock and started to remember how to move on slate. The first half of the pitch is fairly straightforward but from a tricky step left the difficulty steps up and doesn't really relent until the belay, a cracking slabby pitch.
The next pitch also weighs in at 6c. It starts off on a pleasant arete before hitting an awkward groove with a very thin crux which spat me off first go. Still not sure how I did it. There's barely an incut hold on the whole pitch which is unusal for the medium of slate and disconcerting given its paucity of friction.
The next pitch is is the easiest on the route at a mere 6a+ though with a strenous start. A few huffs and puffs and it soon eases into a fun rib type feature.
The scale of the route started to become apparent as we had now ascended above the Watford Gap (the main path into the quarries) and we still had 2 pitches to go. I also started to feel confident we would make it to the top. Jurgen had the next pitch, another 6c. It was a really innocuous looking groove but proved to be anything but. Another sterling effort by Jurgen and I also climbed it clean via a completely different method incorporating some weird layaway off nothing to nothing.
The final 6b pitch fell to me (the description warns of a sting in the tail). A different style of climbing again with a layback cracked groove which was short but sweet(strenuous) before the final gratuitous headwall(you could walk off to the left). I did try the wall direct numerous times but with tired arms, a block to hit and out of sight of belayer I forced an easier way up left as direct was desperate. Having reached the belay and looked at the final slopey mantle I would of had to contend with I feel the left variant was a prudent call.
Jurgen followed the same line to the top and the 3rd longest sport route in the UK was in the bag. Well done us. Ascent took about 4 hours so was time to keep cranking but not the will to crank. A leisurely walk down taking in the sights of Lost World, Mordor and nutty high liners before we treated ourself to an ice cream in Llanberis.
