Llanberis Pass

Clogwyn Y Grouchan

Another of the great crags of the Llanberis Pass, this crag has route after route that is worth doing. Situated a short walk from the road, this is a popular venue for visitors and locals who the later often frequent the crag after work during British Summer Time hours. There are a few 'test-piece' routes on this crag.

The Climbing

The Grouchan as it is know by most locals, has two main buttress, separated by a large damp and unappealing gully. The left hand buttress centres around the open corner of Nea, whereas the right hand buttress focuses around the Brant routes.

The Nea Buttress has several quality lines the VS's of Nea and the even better Phantom Rib are real joys to climb. Whereas the slightly harder Spectre HVS, features a great off-width section, and the direct version of this Spectrum E2 is a tough but enjoyable E2.

The Brant section of the crack has even more great routes, although the climbing is generally steep and harder. SS Special being a great E2, Brant Direct being a benchmark HVS, that many people have real battles ascending, Wind and Keiserberge Wall are also HVS that are no walk overs. The real testpiece for the E3 climber is Stroll On, and sees it fair number of heroic failures. The classic sandbags though for E1 are Slape Direct and Hangover, to the extent that Hangover is now E2, whereas you'll have to make that one really hard move on Slape Direct in the belief that it is only E1.

Approach Map

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