Clogwyn Du'r Arddu

Clogwyn Du'r Arddu
Cloggy
Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, showing the East Buttress (centre), The Pinnacle (triangle on top left of East Buttress), West Buttress (diagonal-striped face right of East Buttress), and Far West Buttress (opposite diagonal-striped right of West Buttress)
Location of Clogwyn Du'r Arddu
Location	Snowdonia, Wales
Nearest city	Llanberis
Range	Snowdon Massif
Coordinates	53°04′45″N 4°05′38″W / 53.0792°N 4.0939°W / 53.0792; -4.0939Coordinates: 53°04′45″N 4°05′38″W / 53.0792°N 4.0939°W / 53.0792; -4.0939
Climbing type	Traditional climbing
Height	up to 300 metres (980 ft)[1]
Pitches	mostly multi-pitch
Ratings	rock grades of Diff to E9; winter grade of II to VIII[1]
Rock type	Rhyolite[1]
Quantity of rock	+215 routes[1]
Cliff aspect	North
Elevation	707 metres (2,320 ft) a.s.l.[1]
Classic climbs	Indian Face (E9 6c), Womb Bits (E5 6c), Great Wall (E4 6a), The Axe (E4 6a), White Slab (E2 5c), Shrike (E2 5c), Llitrig (E1 5c), Great-Bow (HVS 5a) Great Slab (VS 4c)[1]

Clogwyn Du'r Arddu (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈklɔɡwɨ̞n ˈdɨːr ˈarðɨ̞], translates as the "black cliff of the black height"),^[2] or "Cloggy", is a north-facing rhyolite set of cliffs located on the northern flank of Snowdon mountain. Cloggy is considered to be one of the best traditional climbing areas in Britain,^[1][2] and has been called "The shrine of British climbing",^[3] and a "crucible for the development of most of the finest climbers in Britain and the scene of many of their finest achievements".^[2]

Structure[]

Cloggy is north-facing and a comparatively remote mountain crag, that requires a long walk-in to access from Llanberis.^[3] The cliff is broken into several large buttresses, most notably: East Buttress, The Pinnacle (above the East Buttress), West Buttress, and Far West Buttress. The cliff's circa 300 metres (980 ft) in height and mountain elevation, combined with the steepness and quality of rock, gives it the feel of a face on an alpine mountain.^[3]

Climbing history[]

The first recorded climb was the 1798 ascent of the Eastern Terrace by Peter Bailey Williams and William Bingley, botanists looking for alpine plants.^[4] However, it was not until the 1920s, that British rock climbers began to scale the main buttresses, starting with the East Buttress in 1927, and the West Buttress in 1928.^[2]

Since these early ascents, the cliff came to attract leading British rock climbers of every era from George and Ashley Abraham through to Colin Kirkus, Peter Harding, Joe Brown, Don Whillans, and John Menlove Edwards.^[4]

During the mid-1980s, it became the focus of the leading British rock climbers of the day, particularly Jerry Moffatt, , and Johnny Dawes, who were striving to free up the main face of the Great Wall (or Master's Wall), in the middle of the East Buttress,^[3] culminating with Dawes' October 1986 climb of Indian Face, which at a grade of E9 6c, was considered on the most dangerous and difficult rock climbs in the world.^[5][6]

While the cliff contains routes of all difficulties, few other crags in Britain contain such a concentration of routes above the extreme E7-grade.^[1]

Filmography[]

• Documentary: Hughes, Alun (director) (2006). Johnny Dawes & The story of Indian Face (Motion picture). Hughes Prod. Retrieved 9 January 2022.

Bibliography[]

• North Wales Classics (Jack Geldard), 2010, Rockfax. ISBN 978-1-873341-17-9.
• North Wales Climbs (Mark Reeves, Jack Geldard, Mark Glaister), 2013, Rockfax. ISBN 978-1-873341-82-7.
• The Black Cliff: The history of rock climbing on Clogwyn du'r Arddu (Peter Crew, Jack Soper, Ken Wilson), 1971, Kaye & Ward ISBN 978-0718207908.

See also[]

• Clogwyn railway station
• Dinas Cromlech, a mountain crag at Llanberis pass
• Dinorwic quarry, a slate climbing area near Llanberiss

References[]

Further reading[]

• Crew; Soper; Wilson (1971). The Black Cliff (Clogwyn Du'r Arddu). Kaye Ward. ISBN 0-7182-0790-4.

External links[]

• Clogwyn Du'r Arddu (Cloggy), UKClimbing Crag Guide (2022)
• Clogwyn Du'r Arddu (Cloggy), PlanetMountain Crag Guide (2022)