50 may–jun 2020 http://www.climber.co.uk
easy climbs
THE CLIMBING
The climbing is split into 10 areas on a
mixture of quarried and natural walls- these start at D M Walls on the far left
followed by Over Yr Wall, Fudd Wall, Dog
Wall, Flurry Wall, Compact Walls, Impact
Wall, Railway Buttress (a predominantly
trad area), the first area you come to on
the approach, Suspect Wall, and up
around to the right, Quarry Walls with
mainly trad routes. Most of the climbing is
sport and this what we will concentrate on
here. That said, there are some excellent
trad climbs, particularly those on Quarry
Walls. The routes are mostly well-bolted,
though some are a tad run-out and/or
require rebolting. None of them reach over
18m in length so, in terms of gear a 50m
single rope more than enough as is eight
or so quickdraws. It’s also worth carrying
a couple of spare karabiners that you are
prepared to leave as the odd lower-off
karabiners are showing serious wear.
If in doubt replace it.
The rock is compact limestone with
crimps, small and square-cut holds in
abundance. Some of the holds are amaz-
ing calcite formations and rugosities that
make for some interesting climbing. On
some of the walls there can be a broken
area of rock around two-thirds height
with an occasional loose hold. Most of
the loose stuff has come off but you nev-
er know so wearing a helmet is a good
idea. A good stiff rock shoe helps with
the footholds and, of course, given how
popular and convenient the crag is, some
of the routes are polished even though
I’ve not found this an issue – and I’ve
climbed there a lot over the years. It can
also be especially fingery and technical
although there are plenty of straightfor-
ward and less crimpy routes to be found.
The sport climbing starts at a modest F3
up to the hardest routes at F6c with over
100 routes to go at.
The walls face south, catching the sun
from morning onwards and given their
exposed nature, most of the walls dry
quickly with the odd exception and it is
often a sun trap on calm, sunny winter’s
days. The downside of the exposure is it
can be unpleasant on cold, windy days.
That said, windy days in the summer
can bring a welcome respite from heat
and midges.
It’s tricky to recommend routes at
Trevor given that there’s so many worth
doing with few bad ones but below are
several of my personal favourites:
INTRODUCTION
Trevor Rocks is the most southerly of venues on the limestone escarpments
clinging to the eastern side of the Eglwyseg Valley above the North Wales
border town of Llangollen. This collection of cliffs offers up a plethora of easy
angles to vertical sport climbs, with many between F4 to F6b making it an
ideal place for lower grade climbers.
From the crag you command a fine view over the town, the surrounding
hills and down the Dee valley, also looking directly across to the ruined
medieval castle of Castell Dinas Brân, built in the 1260s by Gruffudd ap Madog
within the earthworks of an earlier Iron Age hillfort.Ryan McConnell leading Borderline (F6a+) on
Compact Wall. Without doubt one of the best
routes at Trevor and a good one to aspire to.