3 Cliffs Bay, Gower Meet

Our last day on Gower this trip and we returned to Rhossilli bay...  My shoulder was playing up so I opted out of climbing today ...  and so just ran to Worm's Head and back. However the real memeory of the day was Trevor and Nick trying a bit of aid climbing on the large cave.

then we all made our way home

3 Cliffs Bay, Gower Meet

The weather was better today and we charged down to the cliffs (the tide was going out) Dave we completed a number of routes on the main cliffs....
Inverted V
Perseverance
Arch Slab
Scavenger

Sue did similar routes with Christine and Lyn

then as the tide came in we headed over to Fall bay... where Dave and I finished the day on
Isis
The Bottle

Then in the evening we went back to the beach for a team BBQ courtesy of Adrian.. We even dragged a large tree trunk over but mainly for seating. The stagger back up the cliffs after the food and drink to get back to our tents was a struggle. However from the tents we could look out over the bay and see the embers of the fire burning in the night.

3 Cliffs Bay, Gower Meet

For the second May bank holiday we headed over to the Gower and camped at three cliffs bay site.
We woke up to rain, and a chill wind, so we headed off into Swansea, were some hardy souls went for a dip in the public baths, the rest of us just wandered the streets until it was time to head back for food and drink.

swanage, day trip

A quick day trip to Swanage, Alan, Nick, Trevor and I headed down to the south coast.

First stop from the car park .. Subliminal area, and over to Avernus in the cave for a warm up.

Then Alan and I completed Freda and First Corner.

Then as the tides came in higher and were crashing around the lower ledge, we headed over to Cattle troughs
and completed Isis

Then time to head for home, stopping off at the folks house for trout and trimmings, before continuing.

Carreg Alltrem, Mid Wales Meet

A much quieter day as we packed up from Bryn Tirion farm, and headed to carreg altrem for some pure rock climbing.

Then at the end of another great day the long drive home.

Glyder Cycles, Mid Wales meet

This trip was based at Dollweddellyn campsite, close to Snowdonia, and Dave and I wanted to use it to get some practice in for moving together as part of our Alpine preparations. My experience in prior years had shown how important it was to know your partner and how they moved when moving together.

The weather was really kind to us and we had a perfect day.

Setting off for Ogwen valley and parking below milestone buttress we headed up around the side along Heather terrace until we got to the bottom of the Munich climb.

From here up to the summit of Tryfan ...  a quick hop from Adam to Eve and down to the col below Bristly ridge.

We then cut across below Glyder Fach and  climbed the Direct Climb.

Over the top ...  along the cantilever, and down to the top of
Devil's kitchen to take the normal descent route.

We then made our way across to Idwal Slabs, and climbed Faith followed by, Grove above, before making our way across to the Sub Cneifon arete.

This scramble took us back up to the summit of Glyder Fach and from here we descended Bristly ridge, and under Tryfan and back to the road finishing up on milestone buttress.

Finishing up with a couple of the classics on Milestone Buttress.

Milestone buttress

Fontainebleau, France

Sunny days again, but the last of the bank holiday weekend, so we packed up at the campsite and returned to where we had left off last night.

A bit of a struggle to retrace the steps made in the dark, now we could see properly. but we finished it and then set off back to Dieppe.

It being a normal working day in France the roads were much busier - we had not bargained for this and soon the convoy broke up.

Dave in the MR2 taking off at warp speed, followed by Bryon, and me sweeping up the debris.

I arrived 90 mins late for check in at Dieppe and the ferry was pulling out the harbour. We did not feel so bad as we caught up with the others .. even Dave failed to make it arriving as they pulled up the gang plank.

So a long wait for the next one - the over night crossing, and this meant we arrived back home just in time to go to work.

However we all had good memories of Fontainebleau and everyone wanted to return at another date.

Fontainebleau, France

The most publicized place in Fontainebleau is Le bas Couvier - just off the A6,so convenient for Paris, but also the problems are super hard.

We headed over there, despite the fact it was looking damp and not wonderfully sunny as it had been yesterday.

After dismally failing on some blue problems near the car park we settled on trying and Orange circuit.

Before we got too far around it the rain came so we packed up and did the tourist thing around  Fontainebleau castle.

After lunch we went to an area with the name L'Elephant, after the markings on some rocks.

It was still wet, but the yellow route and the friction kept us occupied for the rest of the afternoon.

The biggest problem here was the wet sand around the bottom of the routes needed to be cleaned off the boots before ascent of a problem, otherwise it acted like ball bearings.

After dinner someone - probably Dave suggested a moonlight climb - by now the ran had gone and the skies cleared up
We headed off to an area close to yesterday's route ... at Roche de la Reine, head tourches at the ready, beer in the our pockets. 26/48 problems later and in very high spirits after 2 hours we headed back to the cars and thence to the tents knackered.  A fun end to the day.