Stevie Haston made a return visit to his old stomping grounds in North Wales, ostensibly to visit his family and friends, but also with a view to continuing the development of one of his favourite crags, the alarmingly serious Craig Dorys down on the Lleyn Peninsular. Reunited with his old sparring partner Leigh McGinley he descended upon the cliff and set about establishing a pair of outrageous new routes.

First up was Bam, Bam E8 6b, a truly mind blowing route up the steep ground in between Bobok and The Gross Clinic on the Stigmata Buttress. The main visual feature of this impressive line is a hanging quartz groove high on the wall which is reached via a series of grooves and breaks.

“We cleaned it on an abseil rope first; we must have removed a mini skip’s worth of loose rock” explained Leigh, before adding: “This route is phenomenal, so out there; brutal thuggery and with no respite, bar one resting place. And it’s loose too! Stevie went for the lead without any prior practice and he made it to the top in one push, no falls. An amazing effort!”

Physically speaking the route is reckoned to be about F7c. There are two pegs and an in situ wire low down; the lower peg is poor and really only marks the way. Kit wise an aspirant leader will need a double set of cams, plus the usual nuts and around twenty quickdraws.

The next day, although feeling pretty battered from their efforts on Bam, Bam, the lads went back for more and produced another hard route. Harmony E7 6b/c takes a line up the wall in between Tonight at Noon and Pysgodyn Aur. It is of a similar physical difficulty to Bam, Bam, i.e. F7c, but the climbing is less serious. It does have a viciously difficult crux high on the wall though.

The description is as follows: go up a small gully, step left onto a small pinnacle and lean onto the wall. Climb up to a bulge, go left for 2m and go through a bulge on big holds (pumpy 6a) to a good break. Move right for 2m into a crozzley niche. Step left from the niche and climb up the wall on pockets until they run out. Step right and make really hard moves on crimps and sloping edges to a break. Go left for 3m and then up a hairline crack (micro wires) to a sudden mantel finish.

As for gear, the usual big rack, plus some large cams for low down and a crucial hex in a key hole shaped pocket below the crux. The route was also abseil inspected and Stevie did take a fall from just below the crux, before going back up and making a clean lead.

“This an utterly superb route, magnificent in every way.” Enthused Leigh after the ascent.

All of which is a far cry from Stevie’s recent triumphs on the sport climbing front (F8c+ at 52 is pretty damn impressive too!); either way Stevie appears to be on fine form, explaining himself with the following enigmatic quote: “I’m pretty crap at most things, but I’m brilliant at being me!” To read more about Stevie go to: dmmclimbing.com

To see a topo showing the lines of Harmony and Bam, Bam go to: Lleyn downloads

(NB. Stevie is also responsible for other hard routes on Craig Dorys: in 1990 he climbed Tonight at Noon E6 6b, and in 2004 he added the unrepeated Grandad's Challenge HXS and Melody HXS.)

Also at Craig Dorys Tim Marsh and Peter Davies have climbed Vince's Finest Pineapple Rings E4 6a, 5c on the West facing wall immediately to the right of the Golden Wall. Good steep climbing apparently with some loose rock. To see a topo, go to : climbers-club.co.uk

Elsewhere on Cilan Head Pat Littlejohn continued his new route campaign establishing an epic 5 pitch adventure on some very challenging terrain. No Country for Old Men (XS) is on the back wall of Paitsh. For the full story and pics go to: ukclimbing.com

Lleyn fans will no doubt have already availed themselves of the new Climbers’ Club update; but if not do check out this free pdf download available at: climbers-club.co.uk

Out at Gogarth rising star George Ullrich onsighted The Bells, The Bells E7 6b on North Stack Wall. There’s a pic and more details on George’s blog: planetfear.com

In Mousetrap Zawn at South Stack Nick Bullock and Tim Neill repeated Pete Robins and Will Perrin’s direct start to Death Trap Direct, a worrying E5 5c pitch which gains the main slanting chimney at the earliest available moment from a start at the right hand side of the sea cave. The main groove above was wet so the lads finished up Mantrap.

Lastly on Esgair Maen Gwyn (or Scimitar ridge as it is more commonly known) in the Llanberis Pass, Tim climbed what he calls a “Trumpet Slappers for weak people”. A Lot Less Monstrous E3 5c climbs King Wad to its thread, then takes the mottled groove steeply leftwards to reach Roc Nest Monster at its last peg. Step out left to finish on the steep arete. A safe but wild pitch.

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