Page 26 - 2015 AMA Autumn

Crag Of The Month
Dinas Rock
Found in the Neath Valley, south Wales, in an idyllic location this beautiful gorge is home to some of our best inland limestome and really does offer something for all tastes. Over the years this has been a testing ground for locals and visiting climbers alike and many have left there mark here with some truly impressive ascents.
The Crag
Dinas Rock is situated along side the ‘Heads of the valley’ A465 just by the village of Glyn Neath, and is a major tourist draw for many recreational users. This is waterfall country! As such there are many stunning trails that lead around the steep wooded valleys that will guide you to the numerous waterfalls. Due to the relative ease of access this is extremely popular in the summer so get to Dinas early or parking can be tricky.
The waterfalls bring another outdoor activities group to the area other than climbers. This time it’s the Gorge Walkers, kitted up in wetsuits and buoyancy aids this is a popular stag and hen do activity that involves swimming and jumping around in the river, best seen as a crazy assault course. All summer hundreds of people participate in gorge walking at Dinas and as such demand on the carpark is high so it can be good to time your visit in the week when you will probably have the gorge at its best – to yourself!
Once you park up you will straight away be struck by the carpark face which is home to some great trad lines, unfortunately these do not see much traffic these days and as such are quite dirty. This car park area is often used by local activity centres for novices and is probably best left to them, for the more serious climber there are far more delights awaiting.
Following the path around from the carpark and you soon discover the tranquil gorge and notice that there are a series of cragettes dotted along its side. Each of these spots offer an abundance of sport climbing across the low to intermediate grades, although there is the odd ‘desperate’ here the majority of routes are in the 6’s.
Eventually a corner is turned and Kennelgarth wall is visible, this is home to South Wales’s most popular bouldering spot. Endless problems from V1 to V11 abound this steep wall with almost all of them requiring a cunning mind as well as steel fingers.
Opposite kennelgarth is the Lower Cave a more recent addition to Dinas rock with a few super steep climbs that unfortunately seep
most of the winter so defiantly on your summer tick list.
From here it is possible to ascend the short rock step that is guarded by a short water fall and make your way onto the upper track and in turn to the Main Face. The Main face at Dinas is an incredible sheet of limestone that is pleasure to climb on most of the classics hear are in the 7’s but there are some great 6’s found on each flack on the wall.
It should also be said that Dinas has a few brilliant trad routes and a few of these are found on this very wall. ‘Giant killer E6’ is and impressive piece of roof climbing found on the left of the massive roof that is not for the faint hearted. On the Right of this roof is one of the worlds hardest crack climbs, Dina Crac E9. This is the hardest trad route in South Wales and weighs in at around F8b+ in difficulty, add to this all the gear is placed on lead this route is a serious challenge!
The far right of the main wall is home to some slightly eaiser trad routes. Here you will find ‘Groovy tube’ which is a brilliant E1 climbing through an incredible tube of rock that feels as if you have entered the bowls of the cliff. Spain (E4) is also a classic and worth finding for those into the trad thing!
How to Get there
The crag is simple to find from the village of Glyn Neath were following the brown tourist signs for water falls will see you pass a pub ‘The Angle’. From here take the right fork in the road and at its end you will find the forestry commissions carpark (which is free at present). Once you are on foot simply follow the path on the right hand side of the carpark and the crags become apparent in a few minutes. The main crag is no more than a 10 min walk with a short scrabble once past kennelgath wall.
What’s in my pack
Dinas rock offers such a variety of climbing that a little planning is required to know what best to take. For most who intend to boulder simply a Bouldering mat, shoes and chalk and you are good to go. The landings are flat and the height insufficient to require more foam. I would suggest a good pair of aggressive shoes, such as the evolv nexxo’s, with a toe patch for the bouldering as all manner of toe and heel hooks are required to solve a lot of the problems.
If you are interested in sport climbing then a 50 mtr rope will see you safely of almost every line here although it is still best practice to tie a knot in the dead end of the rope. 12 quickdraws are enough for almost all climbs but those interested in some of the longer lines on the main face may require a few more and some longer extenders can be off great benefit to reduce rope drag.
Most or the lower crags are in the shade of the wooded hill sides so a warm jumper for the evenings is a must but the main wall can be a sun trap, so some sun block and a hat can be useful along with some water! The walk back to the car from the main crag is not one you want to do more than once a session so check you have everything before leaving!
As it’s a sport venue you will need to know how to thread a belay to get down safely along with all the normal sport climbing issues.
If your into redpointing a gri gri and clipstick could be useful as a few of the first bolts on the harder lines are quite high above the floor. A lot of the chains have Karabiners left in place so you can simply lower back down after a climb please leave them there! But
24 ARMY MOUNTAINEER