The Grooves

The August Bank holiday loomed and finally my good buddy Jurgen was free to climb with a promising forecast so Friday morning I decided to head to Snowdonia. Conflicting emotions were provided by going to see a potential new kitty Friday evening.

Heidi aka Ginger princess

Obviously we couldn't say no to little Heidi, She was to picked up Sat morning so with a heavy heart I drove down to Wales missing out on Heidi meeting our resident flat faced fluffballs. A steady journey was had and vanned it just past the Pen Y Grwyd hotel waking up to stunning views of the Nantgwynant valley and the Snowdon horseshoe. The hordes had already started up Snowdon by 8am and the Llanberis pass was in fine fettle as I drove through. Breakfast was sourced at Spar and I knocked on Jurgen's door.
Given the weather the plan shifted from climbing on the coast to heading up the pass. Jurgen had long coveted The Grooves up on Cyrn Las reputedly one of the finest E1's in the land. It was on my radar so decision was quickly made and with Jurgen's CC membership parking was not an issue. I was slightly apprehensive as have not managed many E points this year.
We met one other team on the way up were heading up for the classic E4 The Skull. There were about 3 teams on the HS classic Main Wall which is high up on my to do list.

Cyrn Las, The Grooves to the right of the crag in shadow

We had The Grooves to ourselves. Fortunately It was Jurgen's lead meaning I had only 1 pitch to lead out of 3 5b pitches. Less fortunately for me we were climbing with Jurgens random monochrome rack over my colour coordinated organised rack.
The first pitches crux is early on and must of been tricky as Jurgen laced it. It is a long pitch and I was getting a bit chilly by the time the rope went tight and it was my turn to climb. I soon warmed up as I jammed and udged my way through the first awkward bulge. Jurgen managed a step left at some point which I couldn't work out and kept squirming straight up. The pitch keeps coming at you with sustained, interesting climbing with searching for footholds a theme.
I arrived at the belay having considered passing on the next lead as struggled up the first pitch. An enticing groove loomed above us so I cast doubts aside racked up and headed up. The climbing was more sustained and harder than it looked. It is also well protected so I lace the rock as I ascend the superb pitch.
About a 3rd of the way up I get a little pumped at an tricky jamming section and can't see the next rest so shamefully rest on the rope rather than risk a fall. Whilst resting I realise I was failing to see a crack to the left to jam my foot into. I blast though the section on next attempt but the climb doesn't let up in quality or difficulty. I take another short rest further up and again noticed footholds I missed during the tunnel vision of leading. For the last 20 foot I had run out of quickdraws so had to improvise extending gear with cams and spare crabs. It looked messy but eventually I reached a spacious belay ledge relaxed and started to bring up a now partially frozen climbing partner. Jurgen massaged my ego by taking his time to second the pitch and claim it was harder than the first (I'm not so sure).
The last pitch involved a crouching traverse before Jurgen disappeared into a groove above.

The rope moved steadily and soon it went tight and off I went. The awkward traverse led to a position of stunning exposure.

Photo doesn't do justice to the exposure

  The steepness steps up a lot and looming above is 20 foot of overhanging groove with a lot of space beneath your feet. The holds are juggy but include some worrying looking wedged in spikes which also provide the gear. They felt more solid than they looked. The holds disconcertingly diminished near the top of the groove leaving just a shiny looking crack to use. A glance out right provides succour as an obviously decent hold is in sight but not necessarily within reach. A rearrangement of hands and trusting feet to smears and the jug is reached followed by the top of the groove and a ledge to depump.
There is still climbing to be done but much easier than what was found below. The route finding is less obvious, I am tired so take my time so mistakes aren't made. Mistakes weren't made and the climb was completed, not clean but without too much drama. We could now bask in the sun having climbed in the shade. It was bout 4pm so we wouldn't of won any speed awards and weary bodies and threatening clouds meant a jaunt up Main Wall wasn't considered.

A spectacular and incredibly sustained route, a fine day out followed by a relaxed evening at chez Dissman. Trying to sleep was less relaxing with a tremendous thunderstorm and rain as sustained as The Grooves. Some sleep was snatched before reconvening at Jurgens to come up with a plan. With an evening bbq planned we didn't risk driving an hour to the coast and instead opted for the quick drying slate. Unfortunately morning remained murky and there was water cascading out of the bottom of the crag near Bella Lugosi.

We took the rack for a walk through the always interesting quarries and back to Llanberis for lunch. We decided to gamble on the RAC boulders over the other side of the pass. This paid off as the fun and convenient boulders were bathed in sunshine. A good session was had before an excellent brai.
Despite a positive Monday forecast I was on the road before 7am to make up for lost kitten time!