Looning the Tube HVS 5b, Australia Quarry
Jon Ratcliffe in the upper crack of Looning the Tube HVS 5b Photo: Si Panton
As much as it pains me to admit it, the North Wales winter season might be over. The temperatures are rising and the snow fields are shrinking back.
It’s definitely time to hit the rock and there is no better place for an early season blast than the Dinorwig slate quarries.
Recent years have seen a huge number of low and mid grade sport routes added. All those shiny bolts are a welcome sight to the nervous leader, especially if you’ve spent the winter on the climbing wall.
The only thing to adjust to is the exceptionally technical climbing. You won’t be getting pumped on these slate slabs, but all that precise footwork and tiny holds malarky is quite a shock after months of standing on big blobby bolt ons or even kicking into ice and frozen turf!
Worry not though as it soon comes back; before you know it you’ll be styling your way up like a time served slatehead.
This month’s classic climb has a couple of bolts, but it is most certainly not a sport route. It is easy to forget, in the rush to gorge on the many new wave clip ups, that actually, many of the best routes in the quarries are the original 1980s ‘designer danger’ affairs.
Looning the Tube is not particularly dangerous, but it does have element of old school ‘feel’ to it. Catch it in the sun on a spring day and you will know a great climb.
(NB. Llanberis Slate – the much anticipated Ground Up guidebook to the quarries is due to be published in May/June 2010.)
Looning the Tube route card pdf.
[Stop Press: there are moves afoot by Jim Kelly to establish a direct start to the route, starting from the bottom of the slab on the lower tier - sounds great, and it gives us all another excuse to do the route again!]
