After a great day orienteering around Llanberis with some students, there wasn’t really time (and barely any energy) for a big evening adventure. Or so I thought!….

I was pretty tired by the time I arrived home at 18:00, after chasing markers, tadpoles and students around the lake all day in the sun. But the recent dry weather has meant that often damp climbs are coming into prime condition, and it seemed a wasted opportunity not to make the most of it.

The sun had well left the valley by the time we reached Ogwen Cottage to begin our speed walk up to Cwm Cnefion. Manx Wall is best done after a journey up the slabs, but speed was of the essence if we were to avoid benightment. We went direct, taking 75mins to reach the crag.

Arriving at the base of the cliff at just after 8pm, we did question if we were perhaps being a bit ambitious given the late start. Above us lay a cliff that was big, steep, cold and becoming ever darker. Was this the best choice of objective?…

We recalculated out timings, sorted the gear and set off. The first 60m is described as ‘scrambling’, but given the exposed nature, I led it roped, a full rope length to the start of the climbing proper. There was a tantalising glow of sunlight on the headwall above, but down in the shadows I belayed in gloves and with my duvet jacket on. My fingers soon lost feeling as Dave headed up the next pitch…

There was a definite sense of urgency as my gaze switched between Dave climbing and the shadows rising up the surrounding mountains. The light was fading fast.

With Dave secured to a belay, I followed up, retrieving the gear and going as quickly as I could.

The belay was terrific. A hanging stance at the end of a small grassy ledge. Below us the crag dropped away for what felt like hundreds metres, giving us some sensational exposure. On another day, I’d have taken a photo to soak up the. View and experience, but instead we made a ‘formula one’ style rapid change over, sorted the gear and re-racked the ropes.

This photo makes it look a little darker than it was, but you get the idea. With the final pitch still above us and a small overhang to negotiate, Dave employed alpine speed to get us to the top before I was going to need to turn my headtorch on!

A sharp tug at the rope and a distant call indicated my turn to get moving. I carefully took apart the belay and set off, pulling out the gear as quickly as I could, wondering if perhaps I should have attached my headtorch already.

Coming off the dark vertical wall and onto the flat of the summit was a huge relief and a super moment as the last of the light glowed in the distance. We were buzzing with delight!

We coiled up the ropes by headtorch and stuffed the remaining kit in our packs as the moon rose behind us. We walking poles out, we began the long walk home, via the Gribin Ridge. There was just enough moon light to guide us, but we kept our lamps on to speed things up.

An absolutely mega adventure and although we had over an hours walk to get down, there was a palpable sense of relief that we were on easy ground now.

We arrived back at the car at 23:00. A full evening well spent.

Clogwyn Du

• Manx Wall, HS (4b)***