Twll Mawr: new route and The Quarryman

Twll Mawr is the most intimidating pit in the Dinowig slate quarries high above the Wlesh town Llanberis, first explored by Joe Brown in 1971 with his weaving "Opening Gambit". Although a handful of route have been added to this dark quarry since, it has never proven overly popular with climbers, but this may change soon thanks to "Supermassive Black Hole", a 4 pitch F7a recently added by local climbers Ian Lloyd-Jones and Sion McGuiness.

The route climbs the full height of the South Wall and is, according to Lloyd-Jones "a superb addition to the quarries giving a great taste of the unique atmosphere of Twll Mawr whilst being well protected by 35 bolts!" Lloyd-Jones and McGuiness invested two days in preparing the pitches which go at 7a, 6b+, 7a/6c+, 6b and Lloyd-Jones concluded "At the top I found myself thinking how much bottle Joe Brown must have had new routing in Twll Mawr all those years ago, and also by Johnny Dawes making such desperate moves in such intimidating surroundings… Respect!"

The moves referred to are of course those on the crux groove of The Quarryman, established by Dawes 1986. To get a feel for what this full-body pump is all about, check out the video of James MacHaffie below.

James MacHaffie vs The Quarryman


Rock climbing in Wales - a choice selection
- Dinas Cromlech - some of the best extreme rock climbs in the entire UK.
- Cloggy - Clogwyn Du'r Arddu - the shrine of British rcok climbing.
- Vivian Quarry - the most popular slate crag in Wales
- Rainbow Slab - arguably the jewel in the crown of Llanberis slate.
- Gogarth - one of the best sea cliffs in Britain. Fullstop.
- Lower Pen Trwyn - simply the best sport crag in North Wales.
- Huntsman's Leap - one of the most popular sea cliffs in Pembroke, South Wales.