Capel Curig - The Rocks Hostel - July 2026
Meet report by Mike Wilson
Having received Ken Wilson's 'Classic Rock' book for Christmas I had realised that I'd done very few of the classic routes described and this meet would be an ideal opportunity to put that right. With this in mind I volunteered to be meet leader and convinced Graham to join me for the full week in the bunk house. I was pretty convinced that others would extend the weekend and join us, especially fellow retirees. The campsite bunkhouse wasn't available as it was being renovated so we booked into The Rocks Hostel which is next door. Also next door is the very good Moel Siabod cafe and just a 10 minute walk down the road is the Tyn-Y-Coed pub which does excellent food and proper beer. This all makes for an easy and relaxed trip if you want to avoid camp cooking or if the weather is unkind.
Wales/Snowdonia had 'suffered' 5 weeks of hot weather and no rain. But that was due to change just as we were due to arrive. Normal service of cloud, rain, wind and low temperatures was about to resume. Typical.
Thursday
Huw and Harry arrived early enough to complete a climb on Milestone Buttress in the Ogwen Valley. Direct Route, a classic 3 star, 3 pitch HVD. They had a wonderful time with sunshine and blue skies. They stayed in the LMC club hut so were very comfy.
Richard & Teresa arrived late evening/early morning and pitched camp.
Friday
Huw and Harry returned to Milestone Buttress to climb Pulpit Route/Ivy Chimney. This time a 2 star 5 pitch VD. This didn't go so well as the last pitch proved too taxing but backed off and escaped to the descent route successfully. A climb which will be remembered and a story for the pub.
Richard and Teresa also went to Milestone buttress where they completed Ordinary Route. A 2 star 5 pitch Diff. Lots of stars being collected.
Karen arrived midday, pitched camp and zoomed up Moel Siabod.
Gill & Peter mid afternoon and went for a walk up to Crimpiau, the little craggy hills behind the campsite where they found some not very wild albino ponies.
Ann, Graham, Jose, Balls & Mike all arrived at various points during the evening.
We all met at the Tyn-Y-Coed pub in the evening where most of us ate. We shared stories of our adventures so far, especially Huw & Harry who had had a proper adventure on Pulpit Route/Ivy Chimney. The weather had been good so far but that was about to change. We talked of plans for the morning and agreed to re-group in the Moel Siabod cafe for breakfast.
Saturday
Huw and Harry left early, John B arrived and we congregated in the Moel Siabod cafe to discuss the day's activities. Rain was due lunchtime onwards so on John's recommendation the climbers opted for The Moelwyns and crag called Bodychain where there are single pitch 13-20M high sports routes with a 10 minute walk-in. John, Teresa, Ann, Karen, Jose, Graham and Mike all climbed. Only John had climbed here before so it was a nice new experience for the rest of us.
Once at the crag we split into two groups and climbed the following routes between us; Ruby 4c, Sarah 4c, Alice 5a, Dip Your Toes 5a, Bella 6a, Sophie 6a+, Big Banana 6b, Erin 6b+, Wabi Sabi 6a and Mekong 5c. The Ffestiniog railway runs just below the crag so we were able to wave at the tourists as they passed by on the steam train.
Richard & Balls drove down the Ogwen Valley with a plan to climb on Little Tryfan but Balls car was playing up then locked itself with the keys and Balls phone inside! The RAC was called and Richard left to fetch coffee while Balls waited with the car. When Richard returned, coffee in hand, there was no sign of Balls or the car. Richard started to walk back up the valley and was eventually met by Balls driving past having been rescued by the RAC. No climbing was done, Balls headed home and Richard joined the rest of us at Bodychain.
Rain curtailed our fun early afternoon so we retreated to a cafe in Blaenau Ffestiniog.
The rain petered out later so on the way back to the campsite Richard & Teresa visited Little Tryfan for some more climbing.
Gill and Peter hiked up Moel Siabod via the scrambly ridge in good weather and made in down before the promised rain.
Everyone had a good day with the weather being better than forecast.
In the evening we all ate in the Tyn-Y-Coed which was excellent. A low level walk from Betws-Y-Coed was discussed for the morning as again the forecast was for rain.
Sunday
We all met in the Moel Siabod cafe again for breakfast and discussed our plans for the day. The weather forecast included quite a bit of rain from midday onwards. Jose's tent had failed badly during the night so most of his kit was wet. The tent was retired to the campsite bin.
Gill, Peter, Karen, Ann and Jose all decided to pack up camp and go home.
John had brought his gravel bike and had found an off-road route so was off to do that.
Richard, Teresa, Graham and Mike decided on climbing at Tremadog (Pant Ifan) Upper Tier which we judged may miss the rain. A longer walk in than we had expected but the weather held. Richard & Teresa climbed Central Staircase VD and Falling Block Crack S 4a . Graham & Mike climbed Mistook VS 4c, Madog VS 4c, Quatre Fois Direct VS 4c and Meirionydd E1 6a. Obviously the E1 was lead by Graham. There was some falling off involved. A great climb to second.
Richard & Teresa left for home leaving just John, Graham and Mike to visit the Tyn-Y-Coed in the evening.
Monday
Again there was a fair bit of rain in the forecast later in the day so long multi-pitch climbs where you could be caught by a rain storm high on a crag were best avoided. I wasn't getting any of the 'Classic Rock' routes done.
Playing it safe the three of us decided the slate quarries was a good bet. Bus Stop Quarry is next to the road and has single pitch sports routes. Easy to retreat back to the car when the rain starts.
We actually did a couple of 20M, single pitch trad routes; Equinox VS 4c and Solstice HVS 5a. I was expecting a nightmare with gear placement leading Equinox but there was plenty. Graham lead Solstice and fell on the very difficult crux. Ripped a couple of pieces of gear but the rest held so all okay. Finally got up it. Seconding it was difficult enough. John toyed with doing Fools Gold E1 5c or Gnat Attack E1 5c but decided against them. The weather was not looking good with occasional drizzle. Instead we tried a sport route on the other side of the quarry which isn't in my guide book. Not sure what grade but we didn't get up it. The drizzle was worsening so we headed back to the car. Of course the rain cleared once we'd dumped our gear so we went for a walk up into the main quarry area. Firstly to Australia and through a tunnel to see Looning The Tube. Others were climbing on the adjacent routes. Then on to Serengeti to see Seamstress and Peter Pan. Both great looking routes which I've added to my list of must do's. There were more people climbing here as the rain had stayed away.
In the evening we were joined in the Tyn-Y-Coed by Jan who was also going to stay at The Rocks Hostel.
Tuesday
Now four of us and the weather had improved. A bit of rain in the morning and then clearing. At last we could look at some longer climbs in the Llanberis Pass. We waited for the rain to stop before heading to Clogwyn y Grochan. It was surprisingly dry, maybe it hadn't rained so much here. We were lucky with the parking and lucky nobody was on the route we had chosen; Nea a classic 2 star VS 4b 3 pitch climb. We climbed as two pairs. Jan & Mike followed by Graham & John. A super route with nothing too scary then an abseil back down. Great. Next Jan & Mike headed to Carreg Wastad to climb The Wrinkle. A 2 star, 3 pitch VD classic. Again lucky with parking and lucky nobody was on the route. An amazing route with 'wrinkled' rock. This time the descent was in rock shoes. Ouch. Meanwhile Graham & John finished Nea and climbed Brant Direct. A 3 star HVS 5a single pitch climb well deserving of the 3 stars.
John now headed home dropping Graham back at the hostel where Jan and Mike joined him a little later. We were now 3 again. What to do tomorrow? The weather looked similar to today with rain at first, clearing later.
Wednesday
Another trip to the Llanberis Pass this time to Dinas Cromlech. Again we had to wait for the rain to clear so didn't arrive until late morning. We parked in the lay-by below the crag so a short walk-in. First was Spiral Stairs. A 3 star VD with 3 pitches so 1 each. This route is to the left of Cenotaph Corner so a very atmospheric spot. It starts with a traverse out left over a big drop then gains the arete which leads to the top. A beautiful climb. The descent is a huge abseil down the vertical cliff to the left of Cenotaph Corner. This has the ubiquitous holly tree to get through at the top but then you are dropping down Left Wall, a 3 star E2 5c route and an absolute classic. Something to inspire.
Now a late lunch and a walk over to Flying Buttress at the far right hand side of the crag. This is another 3 star VD this time with 6 pitches. Here we found a father & son team nearing the top of the first pitch. They continued while we sorted our gear and ropes but we soon caught them up as we ran the first two pitches together. This was the son's first outside trad lead so they were taking it easy and offered to let us pass by. The next pitch was a short down-climb and the next a traverse so we also ran these together plus a bit of the next pitch so we were out of the way. The final two pitches were also run together and ended with a chimney. This was more a big off-width crack trending right which had an awkward start. Another successful day with two big routes completed.
Thursday
No rain in the forecast at last so we could have a full day of climbing. The three of us headed down the Ogwen Valley to Idwal Slabs. Here we planned to join 3 classic routes together to make one long day out; Hope – a 3 star, 5 pitch VD, Lazarus - a 3 star, 2 pitch S 4a and The Arete - a 2 star single pitch VD. Jan wanted to be heading home by 5pm but we had plenty of time. We arrived at the foot of Hope to find a couple preparing to start. The lead was in wellies and explained that he'd forgotten his approach shoes. He changed into rock shoes and started up the climb. They were doing Geography which shares the first pitch with Hope. We followed shortly after, alternating leads. To be more comfortable Jan had decided to climb in his approach shoes. We caught up with the other couple on the last pitch of Hope where the two climbs rejoin. Here we noticed that the lead was now climbing in his wellies. Well there were a lot of puddles! The star pitches were the second pitch of Lazarus and the single pitch of The Arete. That was a lot of climbing and we now had a long scramble to return to the start. By the time we arrived back at the car it was 6pm. Later then planned as usual.
A pit stop back at the hostel for a cup of tea and Jan left for home. Now we were 2. The forecast for tomorrow was sunny(ish), no rain.
Friday
Our last day and the best weather of the week. We packed the car, checked out and headed back to Carreg Wastad in the Llanberis Pass. Here we climbed Shadow Wall a 3 star, 2 pitch VS 4c followed by Crackstone Rib a 3 star 3 pitch VD. Both super routes. We abseiled from the top of the second pitch of Shadow Wall this time getting caught in the large holly tree at the bottom. On Crackstone Rib we shared the rock with two old guys (like us) that were climbing Ribstone Crack which shares the first pitch and then runs adjacent. They were just returning to trad climbing after a break of many years. It was all very relaxed and enjoyable. On the way out we stopped at Ellis Brigham's and Joe Brown's for some shopping then headed home about 6pm.
Another great trip away with the CMC.
Roll Call
In the end we had a large group attending;
Huw & Harry – Thursday to Saturday - Hut & Camping
Richard & Teresa – Thursday to Sunday - Camping
Karen, Jose, Ann, Gill & Peter – Friday to Sunday – Camping
'Balls', an old friend of Richard's – Friday to Saturday – Camping
Graham & Mike – Friday to Friday - Hostel
John B – Saturday to Tuesday - Hostel
Jan – Monday to Thursday - Hostel
The travel arrangements were complicated and shifting as is standard.