It was a great text to wake up to, even better was that the app was already in the store. If you own a climbing wall, outdoor shop or an online blog and would be happy to have a poster advertising the app, or willing to put a link to it online we would greatly appreciate the help marketing this new evolution of the guidebook.

If you haven’t already then there is a free taster version to vivian quarry.

I should emphasise that this is version one of the app and more routes and crags will be added later, as well as some more functions in the longer term.

Really exciting times!

I would also like to say a massive thanks to Steve Golley who has managed to make an incredible app from all the data I provided, whilst juggling work and coaching commitments.

If you do buy the guide please find the time to write a review for the app store.

A link to the app can be found at thesend.

Looking into Pen Y Cil,

On my way back down last night, I was asked wether I was keen for the Lleyn, Hell Yes! I have been walking around for too long, and I needed a climb like a junkie needs crack. Its just that the crack was looking for is more socially acceptable!

So we went for a VS and some V grades, in a king of V for Vendetta kind of a way, we worked out that Gullimots Groove on the VS stood for a very nice pitch follwoed by a very scarey one. I got the scarey one on a kind of medium that I can only best describe as a cross between playing giant jenga and rock climbing.

We then head to Porth Ysgo, were we reminded ourselves that we are as young as we once were. Although Llion and Katie have obviously been secret training as he flash popcorn party, and Katie did the Incredible Shacking Woman from a stand up. As for me after what seems like months without bouldering I manage to climb Jawbreaker V5. How do I feel now? sore!

LLion is up on the cliff somewhere, although a bit like stop the ball!

Llion on Gullimots Groove - Pen Y Cil

Katie powers up the Gullimots Groove

Topping out in the Sun - So unscottish it felt good!

Llion on the Porth Ysgo Classic - Closer V3?

Easy Slab at Porth Ysgo

Dirty Porth Ysgo crimpers

Classic Slopey Mantelshelf

Another Porth Ysgo Classic, I really need to dig out that old Guidebook sometime

Katie having it on The Incredible Shaking (Wo)Man

Llion on The Incredible Shaking Man

Jaw Breaker *** Classic

Funky Holds on Popcorn Party

A fine position

The Topo Crag

On our first day climbign in Bariloche we spent it at this funny topo crag. Although I had to laugh when one of my students asked what way the route they were on went?

To get there from bariloche go past the Army base which is next to the atomic reactor, and turn left to the Virgine du neve!

I thought i'd get bust taking pictures of army bases being a Brit!

I was definitiely pushing my luck with this one. Me a Brit in Chilean white van!

I know it is a little early, but I am so excited about the latest website I have been developing that I want to tell you about it. The site is still under construction, however there is enough content on there for you to see where I am heading. The site is basically the work I had managed to do so far on a selected guide to North Wales. I was very close to signing a deal with the guide, and I have to apologise to the publisher for letting them down.

The future for me seems very bright, and I am not sure whether I will return to the UK for long enough to complete the project, so rather than have a half finished book that sits on my computer, I thought that I would buy a dot com and offer it out to the public. Who knows one day it might well become a book. If not I hope it becomes an excellent resource for you guys to enjoy.

I can hear the CC, RockFax and Ground Up fearing the idea of an online guide and I await angry phone calls (please note I am working this weekend so will be unavailable to rant at until after 7pm). I however see it as a fantastic opportunity to put North Wales on the Map, as well as promote the growing number of excellent guides to the area. I also believe that an online resource is no replacement for a paper and ink guide. It is however another form of information that rather than just telling you about an area like virtually all other online resources, this site actually gives you the instruction to experience it and write your own stories. The site contains many of my favourite routes, and I will undoubtably add to the site over time.

What this site is not is a wiki, I can allow selected people to ‘author’ and ‘edit’ the site, and given my spelling and habit of meaning right and typing left, means that if you are a devoted north wales climber with a computer maybe you can help out? I am also short a few crag shots that if anybody manages to take whilst they are out and about, I would be extremely grateful for the images so I can turn them into topos’s. I am also keen to see if any manufacturers, shops, magazines, distributors or heaven forbid publishers would like to come on board and help support the running of the project by advertising on the site.

To see the content you’ll need to set up an account, and I am insisting on real names I am afraid, and will block users who don’t abide by this rule. The info is there for you print out for your own personal use only, under no circumstance should the images be replicated in anyway in print or online form, unless you want a bill for £500 per image. Basically I don’t want you cutting and pasting my work to your own site, as taking the photos and turning them to topos has taken a considerable length of time. If you want online/digital media, then look at this site as my CV, as I am available for freelance photography and writing.

I do have to give a massive thanks to Scott, who has done some amazing work, if your saw my blog post recently, then I can admit now to spending three days trying to get joomla to run on my hosting server. I was totally at my wits end and Scott offered to help, and about 30 minutes later it was up and running. About 12 hours later, and I had virtually broken the site again, and Scott clicked a button and made it work. He has probably kept me from hitting my computer with a large stick, as time after time the ‘computor says Noooo!’

The crag is one of the first in the new ogwen guide that had a new topo, so has literally been pushed kicking and screaming into this new decade. It is a lovely place, and before teh guide was published I don’t think I ever saw anyone climb there. Today there were 10 people at the crag!

However I did find it interesting that both here and on its neighbouring crag there were several errors in the topos and grades. HOALT for instance is never HVS 5a, the moves low down would warrant 5b or even 5c, and it would still be a tough E1. The topo line is way off on the top section. Direct Route HS is also undergraded, I climbed the crux on another route and it was a good VS move, interestingly the topo line for Zig-Zag the VDiff that goes up and across the crag is shown going up this step!

There are similar problems with the neighbouring crag with the VDiff being drawn on the topo going up the VS! It seems that whilst the CC guidebooks might be moving towards the 21st Century with colour topo’s, it is a shame that the lines seem to have been drawn in at random., and perhaps the route checkers were far better climber than they think they are. Despite this the crag is worth visiting, although it is the first time I have had to use the new ogwen guide, and I found it a complete disappointment to have to be adding my own correction.

Topo lines drawn at random isn’t just a CC problem to be honest. Jack’s guidebook has a couple of corkers in it. In particular you have got to check out where he drew the original top pitch of Christmas Curry going, I had to stop reading it there. Although the main reason was I did have to give my copy back to the friend I robbed it from, as I have yet to receive my free copy for supplying images for the book. To be honest I haven’t checked whether I have been paid yet either (maybe I should shut up!).

Back to slagging the CC, there latest plan, after being told by the BMC national Council that using the BMC £1 million cash surplus to loan climbing clubs money to repair their huts wasn’t a good use of money came back with a proposal that would see us lend the CC money to buy a new hut (well one they have been leasing) with BMC money. Will BMC individual member be able to stay there? Apparently not. It was one guy that has come up with this idea, he happens to be the treasurer of both the CC and the BMC, if any of you are into conspiracy theories! Someone needs to tell him its BMC not HSBC. Hopefully the national council will vote this idea down. However due to the amount of wasted volunteer time spent discussing these proposal, I am proposing that there is a fee leveed to anyone proposing to use the BMC’s money as a bank, of 50p per individual member, as I don’t want to hear it anymore!

Happy climbing any errors in guidebooks i would love to hear them. My personal favourite was the last Slate guide which saw Poetry Pink downgraded from E5 to E4, but the intro text still saying ‘Low in the Grade’.

The whole CC, Ground Up Gogarth debarcle even spurred the conception of the first of the North Wales Wiki site, which then lead onto sites for the Slate Quarries, Tremadog and Ormes Limestone. Fortunately that seems to be behind us and now what we have to look forward to is Ground Up productions first guidebook since amazing North Wales Rock. If you’d like to see a preview of the guide you can here.

Future project for Simon Panton and his ground up team are Slate and Gogarth (South) which should be enough to keep you going.