Snowdonia Mountaineering 2

Atlantic Slab Carnedd y Filiast 

We climbed slowly & steadily up the steep, bracken covered slopes to a wonderful, hidden valley well away from the popular routes in Snowdonia, yet only 3 miles from YHA Idwal. What a great place for a wild camp, if we could find a big enough flat patch, a water supply and an easier ascent route. Today's climb was on the other side of the cwm; sheer crags rising 300m from the side of the cwm to the mountain top. The slab was at a good angle to climb but to make it more awkward it also sloped left to right, with a 2 to 3 metre edge on its right hand side where it dropped to the next slab.

Atlantic slab, centre of photo. The smooth, light coloured, sloping rock with edges on the right.

We geared up, readied the rope and Andy began to climb. The rock was rough, providing good friction and the route was a mix of delicate slab climbing on small holds, bold, exposed climbing on good holds on the broken edge and the occasional scramble up broken rocks and heather.

Steep, exposed climbing

The climbing was easy, this is only a scramble afterall, 2 grades below a difficult climb. When climbing a slab, the moves can be exposed. There were few ledges or notches to hide behind, nowhere to take comfort, away from the exposed rock face. Instead we would sit on the face, looking down the slab, unable to see the bottom due to the increased angle lower down. This made the climbing easier the higher up we got but it also became more exposed. A tumble was unlikely but you wouldn't stop until you landed at the bottom of the slab.

Andy doing a great job leading

Sitting on the edge of the slab

I declined the offer to move more quickly without the rope, preferring the security of the rope despite moving more slowly. The slab continued right to the flat top of Carnedd y Filiast where we had tremendous views of a new area of Snowdonia.

Beautiful views on the descent

We took a long, winding descent which was one of the loveliest mountain descents I have ever completed. The grass underfoot was soft and spongy, great for the knees. The route gradually descended and the views up the Ogwen Valley were superb. We crossed tumbling streams and finally skirted a farm, ending up less than quarter of a mile from our car. Another fabulous day.