New winter desperate in Wales

On 26/12/2010 Pete Harrison made the first ascent of the hardest winter route in Wales, Are You Having it about the Woolly Mammoths XI 10 in the Llanberis Pass.

As previously reported, conditions in Wales are truly exceptional at present and only two days ago Pete Harrison carried out the first ascent of Are You Having it about the Woolly Mammoths XI 10 on the Scimitar Ridge in the pass above Llanberis, North Wales.

The route is a summer E4 6b and climbs an overhanging wall for 15m, protected by three existing pegs and trad gear, before reaching a hanging ice-dagger. Harrison led the tenuous 28m line after having working it from the ground-up.

Harrison described the route as being "A sensational winter test piece featuring sustained strenuous and technical climbing on small holds up a continuously overhung wall." If confirmed, this is the hardest mixed climb in Wales.