Pembrokeshire Climbing challenge – 50 in a day on the sea cliffs…
I love climbing long rock routes, Big Walls and Alpine faces, but we don’t have any of those here for Pembrokeshire climbing fans. (Aside from girdle traverses, of which we have some huge ones – future projects..!) Big days out can still be had if you are inventive and put the effort in. I’d had an idea for quite a while to see if I could climb 50 routes in a day on the Pembrokeshire sea-cliffs, but the conditions and days off work had never come together. I’ve climbed more routes than this in a day before, but on Stanage where there is no sea or tides to worry about, and all the routes were a low grade, I think it was 64 diffs in a day? I’d had bigger days overseas on routes with 1000m+ of ascent in a day, but I thought it’d be cool to have a challenge on home turf…
Overlooking St Nons bay. Not a bad spot for a climb! Pembrokeshire Climbing is some of the best in the world!
This week a day came up which I had off with no climbing partner. We had a low Spring tide early afternoon, there was no swell and the weather was set to be sunny all day. It was on! Between Caerfai and Porth Clais, an area known as St Nons bay, we have heaps of routes, both trad and DWS. Some crags can be easily accessed, most though require a scramble or abseil in, and for those seeking it, we have some truly adventurous routes away from the popular frequented crags. My plan was to start at Caerfai as the tide started to drop, and get to Porth Clais before it had come in enough to make access difficult. Along the way I’d stop at various spots where I needed low water.
First up then was Caerfai, a renowned Pembrokeshire climbing spot and routes I knew well having climbed them all many times before. A nice mellow start to the day on familiar ground. Over the bay now to Pen y Cyfrwy and the two lesser visited but lovely crags there, the sea had gone out enough to allow me to get to the bottom of the cliffs and I soon had 19 routes under my belt before a quick drink and a bite to eat.
There are a vast amount of crags along the way here, but I had decided only to go the spots where multiple routes could be easily climbed in quick succession. My next stop was Organ Pipes. Some of the routes here I hadn’t climbed before, so it was nice to tick the crag! Despite being a minor area there are some really nice routes here, and the couple of other climbers at the crag probably thought I was mad rushing around in a sweaty mess rather than relaxing and enjoying the sunshine! 34 routes down and on to the next crag.
I had intended to make Porth y Fynnon my next objective, but it was pretty busy with climbers and I don’t really like soloing near people if I can help it, so I carried on to Porth Clais. I’ve visited the crag many hundreds of times before, both for work and pleasure, but still really enjoy climbing here. Quality routes on perfect rock, a quick easy abseil in and again on familiar territory. Pembrokeshire climbing perfection! I was feeling good so got on Dreamboat Annie, a route I once felt was a tricky lead, now a steady solo, my 42nd climb of the day.
Soloing Dreamboat Annie at Porth Clais, my 42nd climb of the day.. Pembrokeshire Climbing at its best!
After several more routes at a Porth Clais, I left with only a couple to do back at a Porth y Fynnon. I was starting to feel a little tired so I took a minute to have a sit down, chatted to a friend who snapped some pics of me soloing and drank some water before heading over to do the last couple of routes back at Porth y Fynnon. With the climbers gone I enjoyed the crag to myself, aside from the Coasteerers jumping into the sea below. That seemed like a good place to be after 50 sweaty routes in the sun, so off for swim I went! Wow did the water feel good! Swimming in the beautiful clear Atlantic to cool off and soothe the sore feet was a perfect end to the days challenge…
Despite being a little tired, I was pretty happy with how easy I felt the day went. 50 routes and 850m of ascent up to HVS. A great day in Pembrokeshire climbing many classic climbs and some lesser known gems! Good training for projects later in the year!
Resting the feet near the end of my 50 in a day challenge, climbing in beautiful Pembrokeshire..