Late May Bank Holiday 2025 – North Wales

Who?

This meet will be suitable for all members – there is everything on offer from bouldering to trad multi pitching. For those who have not yet broken into the trad scene we are offering training on this meet – see below.

There are plenty of non-climbing activities available in North Wales and an unlimited amount of walking.

This meet will cost £48.00 per person. This includes a bed in the bunkhouse on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night.

Please note – when booking a place on this meet you are committing to attending. We cannot offer refunds for meets where the Club has booked accommodation in advance as this leaves us out of pocket. If, after booking, you cannot attend for any reason you can recoup the cost by finding another SCC member to ‘sell’ your space to. If you do this or cannot attend, please let the committee know.

Training:

We offering training on this meet – learn to trad climb – with a fully qualified instructor. Head over to this page for more info. This is a great chance to learn trad climbing skills in an iconic setting.

What?

Although some of you will be very familiar with North Wales others may not. We are staying in Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park, perhaps a 20 minute drive from the foot of both Tryfan and Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon). Eryri obviously also offers may other mountains varying in height and contains a huge range of walking, hiking, scrambling and climbing.

This link shows the climbing available just within 10 k of Llanberis: A little bit of climbing in North Wales

The climbing in the area is almost all trad and ranges from easy scrambles to classic high E grades in the Llanberis pass. This exception is the slate quarries which have quite a few areas that are bolted as well as trad routes. The quarries are also worth an explore just for the scenery, history and atmosphere. The GMC hut is about a 10 minute drive from the quarries.

Llanberis itself has several pubs, Pete’s Eats, a Spar, and most importantly multiple gear shops so is a great place for all other essentials that you may need over the weekend.

Things to bring:

Essential:

• Sleeping stuff – Sleeping bag and pillow
• Climbing stuff (only essential if you actually plan on climbing) – Harness, rock shoes, belay device, helmet, prussik, sling and carabiner
• Clothing – Warm clothes, and spare ones if they get wet. As it will be early May it might be worth packing some shorts too
• Weather gear – Waterproofs and a good pair of boots or shoes. Suncream
• Personal – stuff for showering including a towel!
• Food – Something for at least breakfast will be handy but there is a shop in Llanberis
• Water bottle – at least one for use when out and about
• Personal First Aid kit

Desirable (bring if you have these):

• Trad rack, half ropes, single rope
• Approach shoes
• Boulder mat
• Guide books
• Maps of the area
• Walking poles
• Food for lunch and snacks for the hills / crags

The Club has a stock of guidebooks which are kept at Bouldershack. This can be accessed by asking at the front desk for the key to the SCC library. Members are welcome to borrow guidebooks for the meet but please sign then out and return them promptly.

Members are also able to borrow gear from the club. This can be done by filling out an equipment request form. Details can be found here.

Food and drink:

The hut has a fully equipped kitchen for cooking and storing food. There is a spar in Llanberis which stocks a standard range of food and drinks.

There are several pubs and cafes in Llanberis and a multitude of takeaways.

Where?

We will be staying at the Gloucestershire Mountaineering Club (GMC) Hut in Deiniolen, just outside Llanberis and right next to the slate quarries.

The hut is a classic club hut with accommodation for up to 20 people. This is provided in bunk beds across 2 rooms, and double bunk beds (4 on top, 4 on bottom) in one room. The beds are not allocated and the rooms are mixed. Bedding is not provided so you will need to bring at least a sleeping bag and pillow.

Further facilities include male and female washrooms / showers, a large communal room with a multi fuel stove, a fully equipped kitchen, and an external drying room.

There is space for approximately 7 vehicles at the front of the property with further parking on the road. The parking is up a steep slope and is not suitable for larger vehicles such as vans. PLEASE DO NOT PARK OUTSIDE THE COTTAGES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SLOPE.

The hut is set back from the main road and is accessed from this track shown here: GMC hut location

Although there is reasonable parking at the hut, please try to car share as much as possible.  A Facebook event and Discord channel has been set up to help facilitate with this, so feel free to post a message in there if you are able to offer lifts, or are still looking for one.

When?

Friday 23rd – Monday 26th May