Year of publication 1960 - Fell and Rock Climbing Club

LLANBERIS PASSG. OliverThe rainless summer of 1959 dried out even the vast dampcliffs of Cloggy, high up on Snowdon's North Face, andbrought within the capabilities of lesser climbers the ExtremelySevere and Exceptionally Severe routes—some ofwhich had to wait several years for a second ascent—madesince the early 1950's, when the group of climbers led by JoeBrown began climbing around Llanberis. The advancerepresented by these routes, which surpassed all existing onesin technical difficulty and were very often much moreexposed, with long run-outs and few belays, seems to havebeen due mainly to improved technique in hand and footjamming, sprags* and moves of this kind perfected on gritstoneoutcrops; but better equipment, notably the newclimbing footwear designed by Pierre Allain, has contributedto its development.Talcs of the wonderful conditions prevailing in 'the Pass'last summer reached us in Lakeland and we thought wewould take a trip to Wales to try our luck; so, early in September,Don Laws and I travelled overnight from Newcastle,finally reaching Llanberis in the late afternoon to find itbathed in sunshine, a most unusual sight. Pitching our lentclose under Clogwyn-y-Grochan, we immediately set aboutthe urgent business of eating prior to doing our first climb.Clogwyn-y-Grochan is ideal for the so-called rock gymnast forit can be reached from the main Caernarvon road in less thanfive minutes. Arrived at the crag, we assembled our heap ofequipment: half a dozen slings and karabiners, 150 feet ofrope, three pitons, a hammer, and, most important of all, ourP.A.s.Our intention was to attempt Sickle which was graded byBrown as Hard Very Severe, although it is now recognizedby most climbers as being as difficult as most of the Extremes.As its name implies, it follows the shape of a sickle, the handlebeing formed by the right edge of a large flake. From thetop of this the blade goes up and slightly right, then follows asweep of overhangs to the left.The first pitch proved to be rather strenuous, the crackbehind the flake being too wide for good jams and too narrowto bridge. The top of the flake did not seem very appropriatefor a belay so I put on a runner and then turned my attention* A sidehold in a crack, usually in a corner, with the thumb pushing inopposition to the fingers.