Slate Questing

Enjoyed a pleasant outing this week on North Wales Slate. Despite arriving by early afternoon and having only my floppy boots (not wanting to squash my still nipped toes) we set off on a link up recommended by the superb new (ish) guide from Ground Up. Dubbed the West Face of Australia it climbs a mixture of trad and sport lines on each of seven tiers emerging at the top of quarries.Tier One: Looning the Tube HVS 5b (no pic of Tier Two which is climbed via Surprise, Surprise a 6a)Tier Three: Jon leads Sodor a 5cTier Four: M.I.L Arete an E1 and supposedly the psychological crux of the link up.Tier Five: Razorback (HVS 5a) this had the toughest and scariest climbing of all the pitches Tier Six: Act Naturally VS 4b superb 40m pitch and felt more like a mountain route than a quarry climb

Tier Seven: Goblin Party (VS 4b) to finish - better than it looks and perhaps worth a star.

After spending much of the afternoon in cold mist, it was nice to top out to blue skies and sunshine over Snowdon.

Happy Bunnies. There are quite a few similar links in the guide - I can't wait to get back.