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Rock Climbing in Wales UK

For more information on climbing holidays in Wales call activity Wales on 01437 766888 or email fran@activitywales.com

It was one of those wonderful winter mornings that anyone who loves the great outdoors just wants to be out enjoying. The grassy hillsides almost glowing green in the bright sunshine, topped with a clear blue sky and not a cloud in sight. It was a lovely drive along the A470 through the Glyn Tarell valley as we passed below Pen Y Fan, the highest point in the Brecon Beacons National Park.

Three of us were off for a day’s climbing in the long since abandoned Morlais Quarry just north of Merthyr Tydfil. My colleagues for the day were the Reverend Alan Kettle and his 21 year old son Edward who, under the guidance of Pete Smith from Black Mountain Adventures, were going to spend the day being taught the basics of rock climbing.

Having loaded ourselves up with warm cloths, hot drinks, climbing helmets and seemingly enough rope to get to the top of Mount Everest we set off for the short walk to the rock face. As we cleared the last of the trees on the wooded slope we had just walked up, I looked back at the wonderful view, instead of seeing those beautiful hills from inside of a car we were now on them and it was lovely just to be here enjoying the winter sun.

As we dumped our gear at the foot of the cliff Pete’s first suggestion was that we had a ‘brew’ while he went off and set up the ropes. We looked at each other and all felt quite warm enough from the walk so, after fitting us all out with climbing harnesses, Pete led us to a nearby mini cliff, no more than ten foot high, where we had a go at bouldering. Put simply this is practice climbing just a couple of feet off the ground. The idea is to get used to looking for hand and feet holds on the rock and to get your balance on the cliff and get the feel of what climbing is like. To do this we all had a go at traversing the rock face or sideways climbing. The great thing about starting like this is that you can push your luck a little and if you get it wrong and fall off, well it’s only a step backwards to the ground.

Edward was first off, his only previous climbing experience, he told me, was a few minutes on an indoor climbing wall. He did well covering maybe ten feet, Pete stood behind him ready to help if he fell, but he didn’t.

Next it was Alan, who it turned out was something of an experienced climber, not only had he done this sort of thing before but he arrived with all his own gear and stories of his last climbing holiday in Spain. After seeing we were all comfortable with bouldering Pete left us for a while to go and set up the ropes on a more challenging rock face.

I decided to have a go, it had been twenty five years since my last attempts at this so I was pleased to find that it wasn’t too difficult. For about half an hour we took it in turns moving slowly across the low cliff face. All was going fine until we reached a section of rock which to our inexperienced eyes didn’t have any hand or foot holds to let us cross. First Alan had a go and hopped back to the ground when he simply couldn’t hold on any longer, “Someone else have a go while I warm my hands up,” he said. So I stepped up and had a go, somehow by stretching up and finding a hold and almost doing the splits to find a foot hold I managed to get around it. But once across the difficult part I stepped down, that had been enough for me too. Alan went back to have another go and this time with warm hands he too got across. This only left Edward, like both of us before he took time to find the right place to put his hands and feet but after a while he was across and off to find the next awkward section.

Pete reappeared, “Anyone for a brew,” he asked again, I knew we had brought a lot of kit with us but I hadn’t noticed a stove. He meant of course a cup of chocolate from his thermos flask. This time we took him up on it as we stood looking up at the three ropes he had put down from the top of a 40 foot cliff. All next to each other, they were essentially in increasing grades of climbing.

Edward was first to have a try again with Alan belaying him. Belaying is simply pulling in the rope that goes from the climber to, in this case, the top of the cliff and back down to a buddy on the ground. The belay person keeps the rope tight enough so that if the climber slips he hardly falls any distance at all before being held by the rope, but slack enough so as not to help pull the climber up the cliff.

With maybe just a little too much enthusiasm Edward was soon at the top. Now, coming back down is a different matter. Edward had never done any abseiling so he was very uncertain about this next part. With the wonderful modern equipment now available to climbers it is possible for the person belaying to simply take the brake off the belay attachment and let the climber descend. “Lean back,” Pete called from below, but purposely letting go of the rock face takes something of a leap of faith, even when the person holding your rope is both a vicar and your father.

Edward soon got the hang of it and was down with us within a couple of minutes.

Alan didn’t find this climb too much of a problem at all and just to square things up Edward was the one to belay him and control him on the descent. The next climb proved more of a problem, even for Alan. As soon as he stepped off the ground there was a difficult section. After a few minutes Pete started offering suggestions of where to place hands and feet and, with a little bit of puffing and maybe just a small leap of faith himself, he stretched up to find a hand hold and pulled himself up.

We stopped for lunch afterwards. As we sat dangling our feet over the edge of the cliff sipping hot chocolate from Pete’s flask and admiring the view across the Brecon Beacons I asked Alan what he though about the morning’s climbing. “Seeing Pete climb up so easily you realise that it is possible and all you need to do is work out how to get up there. It’s good to find a challenge and overcome it, that is one of the things I like most about climbing.”

After our lunch break we went back to the cliff one more time where Alan and Edward had the most difficult section yet to attempt. I meanwhile had the excuse of needing to take photos so I sat at the top looking down and watched as they overcame their challenges.

Words by Andrew Marr, photographs by Liz Barry