Our Adventure Diary & Blog

Catch up with our latest adventures, get inspiration and ideas for all things North Wales and find out about any last minute offers and availability. You can follow us on Facebook and Instagram:

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Another one from the long lost list of things I’

Another one from the long lost list of things I’ve written but never posted. This is from May 2024;
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Resurrected Routes - Episode 3
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🧗 Hollands Groove {e6 6b}
📖 Dave Towse & Mel Griffiths (I think?!)
📍 Tan Y Grisiau - Moelwynion
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We’re back in the Moelwyns AGAIN! Before we went to clean The Peachstone, it was a toss up on sorting that out or going to scope Hollands Groove. Peachstone has a shorter approach 😂 (turns out Hollands is actually easier to get to though…)
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When Tim Neil said he was interested I jumped at the chance. Rachel went up the with Tim and Nick, they cleaned it and she did it the same day. I was very much looking forward to joining them the following evening for a go.
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This crag is situated way up on the hill above Tan Y Grisiau; pretty much above Bodychain (the sport crag there). Access is actually really simple; I’ve written some good instructions but basically walk to Clipiau, follow the highest level rightwards to the end, follow a sheep path contouring slightly uphill to a stone shelter, bear right away from the steep ground above you for about 100m. You end up on a pyramid of rock with a small flat grassy area just above the crag. To get down use the gully on the left looking out.
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The route is really obvious even from the main road; a huge overhanging groove feature. Turns out the climbing is basically steady to a load of gear and a rest before bouldering out the steep bit. With some good info from everyone I was able to flash it. It was funny, I decided on strong Nicks method because I can’t lank it like Tim and I can’t crimp it like Rach.
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Mid crux I feel things starting to go wrong. Nicks sequence doesn’t feel so doable now and I quickly abort mission and start gastoning in to the small crimps Rachel used. Hallelujah, for some reason these feel good. I’m not sure why, they were tiny; maybe it was because they put me in a better body position? One quick chuck and you’re at the jug clipping a shoddy peg.
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CONTINUED IN THE COMMENTS >>>>>>>

Planetary Alignment 🌙 🪐 🌍 ⭐️ Keep a

Planetary Alignment 🌙 🪐 🌍 ⭐️
Keep an eye out for some clear skies! Four of them will be visible to the naked eye and be visible for a few weeks around now. The moon will be joining them too; it’s heading towards full.
On January 25, 2025, the cosmos will present a spectacular event known as a planetary alignment, where all major planets in our solar system will line up in a harmonious formation.

Im bit late to the party, as always. Inspired by M

Im bit late to the party, as always. Inspired by Misha’s top 10 climbing experiences of 2024 here is a rough snapshot of mine. Personally I didn’t do loads of climbing in between a huge 7 month DIY job on the house with dad (thanks, amazing we didn’t kill each other and dad only quite once I think (when I went to give Rach a belay on Olwen)) and doing a fair bit of work. New PB stint this summer, 71 days on the trot with a lot of decorating etc at 5am…
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Pic 1: La Mojarra, Colombia 🇨🇴 with Charlie and Dale, I love these guys. High quality but short, cruxy sandstone escarpment. Gave me a good schooling and I got in to it. Brought the year in watching the sunrise with Dale. Mega. Here he is again perfecting his “French Blow”.
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Pic 2: El Protrero Chico, Mexico 🇲🇽 multipitch Mecca. We did some good routes, some giant combined pitches, some moving together, enjoyed a lot of the grey (it’s been a while!) and got on some steep orange. We did some great thin tech wall climbs which i recon this place is best for. It was got to get way up high, even if every pair of Americans were talking to each other on radios despite being shoulder to shoulder.
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Pic 3: Home got off to a nice start when Rachel was back, we did The Tempest (f7a) at Tan Y Grisiau then rach went bouldering in the Beacon and fired off the top and broke 2 vertebrae. 11hrs in Bangor A&E before getting seen, it was a Saturday afternoon 🤦 Rach didn’t take it that well, a broken back sounds bad. Exactly 2 weeks later we were back in the Moelwyns climbing nice e2 walls. Could have been worse?
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Pic 4: The Peachstone (e4/5) - Moelwynion. I’d always wanted to do it, a magical line above the old mine I used to lead groups in. I spent a session cleaning it then we did it. Lovely pocketed rock, worth doing now it’s clean! Not too hard but a bit bold…
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CONTINUED IN THE COMMENTS 👇

Christmas Vouchers 🎄 🎁 . It’s just over t

Christmas Vouchers 🎄 🎁
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It’s just over two weeks until Christmas. That seems to have crept up on us quickly?! If you’re still scratching your head for present ideas, especially for someone who has “everything”, maybe consider one of our adventure activity vouchers.
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We’ve got vouchers for children and vouchers for adults. The vouchers can also be used as a cash equivalent if the recipient wants to use them for another person/activity etc. Basically they’re fully flexible and last 2 years!
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They’re easy to buy, it will take you less than 2 minutes. Visit our website, click “Book Online” and then “Buy Vouchers”. Select what you’d like, pay by card and your voucher is immediately sent to you via email. Simple! If you’re sailing close to the wind you could even do this at 9pm on Christmas Eve (not recommended!).
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Link in our bio or >
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www.snowdoniaadventureactivities.co.uk
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#christmasiscoming🎄 #christmasideas #christmasvouchers🎁 #visitwales #christmasadventures #christmasgifts #christmasgifts #christmastime

Autumn light. I love it; the suns low and the leav

Autumn light. I love it; the suns low and the leaves are bright gold and lime green. It seemed like the turn was late this year and the leaves were still very green way in to October!
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We did some good exploring around half-term time, ran a few good adventure activities, and did a bit of climbing here and there. This photo was taken at the top it Christmas Curry, looking west beyond the gnarly crack of Neb Direct (still not strapped in for it), over the fields towards Moel Y Gest (some fun single pitch climbing on great rock up there, especially around VS, and it gets all the afternoon sun).
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I didn’t get loads done climbing-wise this year but the days out I did have I really enjoyed; some slate, some stuff on Anglesey, a bit of Moelwyn exploring, and a bit of bouldering.
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#northwalesmountains #moelygest #snowdonianationalpark #snowdoniamountains #sunsetlovers #sunsetphotography #sunsetporn #goldensunset #mountainscapes #mountainscenery #northwalesphotography #snowdoniaphotography #autumnlight #autumnvibes🍁 #porthmadog #tremadog #tremadogclimbing

Everyone’s seen it all before but Agealis (7c) d

Everyone’s seen it all before but Agealis (7c) does make for one of the crispest profiles on Kalymnos! It really is as steep as it looks but fortunately there are about billion and one kneebars to keep you off your arms.
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Strangely, despite Rach saying she was “unfit” and us having one day off in 10 or 11, it went smoothly. Actually apparently it got easier higher up because the arms had finally got warm. Comedy.
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You can’t go up to Grande Grotta and not be impressed by that cave. It’s massive and has a whole bunch of wild 7c-8a routes in it. Surprised there’s not more to be honest! It’s a nice place to climb, lost in the tufas up there. Theres a reason Kalymnos is popular; there’s something for everyone. If you’ve not been, get it on your list 🇬🇷 ❤️
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#kalymnos #grandegrotta #grandegrottakalymnos #kalymnosclimbing #kalymnosgreece #rockclimbing #onsight_climbing #climbergirl #girlswhoclimb #girlswhoclimbofficial #rockclimbinggirls #sportclimbing #tufaclimbing #caveclimbing #climbgreece #kalymnosrocks #climbing_pictures_of_instagram #rockclimbinglife #rockclimbingwomen #rockclimbingisfun #rockclimbinggirls #rockclimbingaddict

Well, having neglected Instagram for over 6 months

Well, having neglected Instagram for over 6 months I thought I better try and get a few stories and photos out there before they’re lost in time. To get the ball rolling here’s a photo of Pete having just pulled through the crux overhang on Scratch Arete (HVS 5a).
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I’ve a feeling this was my second time taking Pete out on a teaching day, looking at how to climb trad safely. This year we must have met up for at least 4 if not 5 days together and the last couple of days Pete’s been at the helm on the sharp end 💪
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Scratch Arete if you’ve not done it takes a beautiful and perfectly positioned slab on the arete which like many of the routes around here suddenly cuts through an abrupt roof. The rock is amazingly textured and there’s some great movement plus a big jug if you can span high enough. With micro cams and some small wire ingenuity (maybe the only route where I’ve really used the lesser spotted “two wires in opposition” gear beta) plus the peg on the arete (always tie these off if poss!), it’s pretty safe.
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As you can see, the sun is always shining at Tremadog and the views out over the fields aka the old beach and estuary are nice. Like em or hate em, there’s handy abseil stations all over the place.
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A top hidden gem recommendation if you’ve not done it is Mangolesti (e3) it’s ultra safe and equally hard, through wild terrain on excellent rock 💎 ❤️ 🧗
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#tremadog #tradclimbing #tradclimb #northwalesclimbing #rockclimbing #rockclimber #tremadogclimbing #climbwales #climbnowworklater #climbnow #ukclimbing #ukclimbers #climbingcourses #amiproffesionals #learntolead #learntoclimb #tradclimbing4life #tradclimber #ukclimbingadventures #sunsoutgunsout #sunsoutgunsout☀️💪🏼

I guess it’s already half term for some people e

I guess it’s already half term for some people eg the Scottish! Yesterday we had two 10 year olds on the Canyon Xtreme trip and unlike Saturday it wasn’t all “sunsets and fairytale forests”! Instead, we had storm Ashley creating a bit of an atmosphere and although it was a very warm wind (16° again!), it was strong!
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The river was a solid (some might say perfect!) level but down in the Canyon the wind does not reach those jungly depths. We even had a few rays of sunshine, exploding through the forest in bright colours of green and yellow. It’s spectacular down there at the moment.
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Luckily both the girls were brave and capable 🙌 I like giving people “the chance” and when parents say their child is up for it in generally let them if the conditions are suitable. Fortunately I’m not let down too often! Here’s Aoife going off the big 6/7m jump in the Xtreme section.
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We have age guidelines, and that’s what they are! Everyone’s different, strict rules don’t work in this environment… the guideline is adventurous age 11/12+ for Canyon Xtreme, age 6-12 for the normal Canyon, and 4-9 for the Gorge Scrambling. The Rock Climbing and Kayaking are both age 4+.
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If you want a half term adventure we’re open every day for the next couple of weeks and the canyon trips are good no matter what the weather 🌧️ ☀️ 🌬️ 🍂 🌳
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www.snowdoniaadventureactivities.co.uk
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#snowdoniamountains #snowdonia360 #snowdoniaphotography #snowdonianationalparkwales #snowdoniaway #northwaleslife #northwalesadventure #northwalesadventures #northwalesactivities #canyoning #gorgescrbling #coasteeringuk #newadventuresahead

Well, we’re back from a short climbing trip to G

Well, we’re back from a short climbing trip to Greece and we’re still OPEN for the last few weeks of October including half term.
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Today was an absolute pleasure being down in the canyon; the sun was out, it was 16°, the water was up, and the colours were unreal. On the way out i ask everyone if they stayed warm enough and Calvin pipes up “it’s too bloody hot…” but no one’s going to believe that 🤣
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If you’re in north wales come check us out. All the gorge / canyon trips are perfect any weather. We need it to be dry for the rock climbing. Currently, the weather seems better than the summer…
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Many operators and organisers are already closed for the winter, we’ve decided to do half term this year (as we often do!) but well be closed once half term is done. Come and get your final adventure of the year, whilst you still can 🤘 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🍁 🐑 ⛰️ 💦
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#snowdonianationalpark #snowdonia #northwalestagram #eryri_cymru #eryri #llanberis #snowdon #northwalesactive #northwalesadventure #snowdoniaadventures #getoutside #pushyourlimits #exploreyourhome #exploretheuk #ukpics #ukadventures #walesneverfails #walesadventure #wales❤️ #visitwales #walescollective

Closed for 10 days; 8-18th! . Well, that didn’t

Closed for 10 days; 8-18th!
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Well, that didn’t last long! Our friend Dan sent us a photo saying he’d just landed in Greece on a climbing trip and he’s got space in his apartment if we wanted to join….
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There’s me thinking we’re busy with work and we can’t afford it but I check flights anyway. The seed was sewn, I wanted to be in the sun, by the sea, clipping bolts!
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Long story short we’re now away for 10 days between the 8-18th of October so SAA is closed for a short while before we open again for the remainder of October which will include most of half term. You can still book half term adventures online. Get it locked in 🤘
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Www.snowdoniaadventureactivities.co.uk
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#gonorthwales #halftermholiday #snowdonianationalpark #snowdoniamountains #snowdonia360 #northwalesbusiness #northwaleswalks #eryri #eryri_cymru #eryri360 #eryrinationalpark

Coffee ☕️ ❤️ . I can’t live without it,

Coffee ☕️ ❤️
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I can’t live without it, at least I don’t want to! I can’t handle much so that’s why I mix normal and decaf. I’ve really enjoyed stumbling across @cuffedincoffee earlier in the summer and I’m on my 3rd pair of 1kg bags now!
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The method is simple; weigh it, grind it, make sure the machine and cup are hot, extract it, add milk. It’s good when you can make coffee at home that’s better than a lot of shops.
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I like buying local, and I’ve tried what I think is probably every Roastery around here now. I’ll do a comparison of them all at some point! For now, Cuffed In Coffee offer the best tasting coffee for me, at the best value.
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The coffee is fairly dark, rich and strong. Just how I like it because I often have it with milk and light roasts just like get swamped. It’s good as an espresso too! The decaf is dark, as they almost always are for some reason?
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The guys roast near Holyhead on Anglesey. They’ve got a few coffee shops and there are various places to buy it but the easiest thing is to drop in to their cafe on the high street in Holyhead it’s called “Hive” @thehiveholyhead

Adventure Activities in October 🍁 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🙌
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We’re about to switch to using neoprene gloves, socks and hats on our Canyoning trips! The river isn’t actually very cold yet (i saw some ‘wild’ swimmers in the pool yesterday and their thermometer was saying 11.5°) but the air is cooling off and if there’s one thing I want people to be in the river it’s warm. For the sake of being hot the socks and gloves are back 🔥
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We don’t see many other providers with this extra gear (and it is extra, you’d survive without it!) but if you want to stay toasty, book with us. Personally I hate being cold 🤣 we’re open for the next month or so, midweek and at weekends.
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Book online or get in touch if the time / date that suits you isn’t available. We’re pretty flexible at the minute and can do trips at all hours (but it’s light late and dark early!). Remember, canyoning is the perfect rainy day activity. The only other thing that comes close is Go Below’s underground slate mine trips. I’m always recommending those guys! 🔦 ⛏️
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#northwales #octoberhalfterm #snowdonia #canyoning #gorgescrambling #explorewales #snowdoniaadventureactivities #gobelow #zipwire #snowdon #snowdoniaadventures #getoutside #pushyourself #surroundedbynature #explorenature #temperaterainforest #rainforests #ukrainforest #extremewales

The summer is over! But we are still open 🤘 we’re now open every day until the end of October. You can book all of our activities online.
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During the week we’re generally only doing the morning sessions. If you find that this doesn’t suit you or there is a restriction on one of the slots that doesn’t work for you just drop us an email; we have quite a lot of flexibility at the moment.
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Last week felt better than the summer with 23° sun all week long, this week it seems to have turned straight to winter; it was only 10° when I was driving to the Canyon this morning! Still, our wetsuits are high-quality warm winter 5/3s and the girls all said they were much warmer than they expected to be, and if anything, they were too hot (there is no such thing as too hot in the river!).
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The minimum number of people for a trip to run is generally 2, and were happy to take solo travellers if you book on to a session that’s already running (or pay for 2 places). The river trips (eg the Canyon) are perfect in all weathers. Once you’ve got a wetsuit on it doesnt matter if it’s sunny or raining! You cant get wetter than swimming 🏊 🍃 🍁
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The beach trees are turning lime green, come and experience the changing of the season deep in the temperate rainforest gorge. The most remains green, the fungus and mushrooms are all out, there’s plenty to see down there. It really is another world 🦖 🌱 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿
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#snowdoniagram #rainforest #cloudforest #uknature #ukexplore #northwales #visitwales #snowdon #getoutside #canyoning #zipline #abseil #waterfalls #octoberhalfterm #walesadventure #wales❤️

We've got some Canyoning (age 4-12) and Canyon Xtr

We've got some Canyoning (age 4-12) and Canyon Xtreme (age 9+) trips going this week. I've also just added some new last minute availability for Wednesday.
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Here's the jumps and slide early on in these trips. It's an amazing natural oasis down here and this is a great zone for children to get adventuring.
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If you'd like to come out with us you can book your trip online. As always, go get it before someone else does!
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https://www.snowdoniaadventureactivities.co.uk/book-north-wales-activities-online-today/

Bank Holiday Blowout 🎉 🥳 . Whilst we’ve g

Bank Holiday Blowout 🎉 🥳
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Whilst we’ve got a pretty jam packed weekend we’ve still got the odd place going! If anyone wants a last minute slot for tomorrow (Saturday) morning you’ll need to be in touch before 7am!
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The next space is Sunday morning; I’ve added some late availability to our Canyon Xtreme trip starting at 9am. The afternoon is fully booked!
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There’s a chance we can do a late 3pm trip for the Gorge / Canyon / Xtreme if you’ve got a reasonable sized group.
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On Monday I have space at 9am for Rock Climbing and Abseiling above Barmouth. It’s an amazing spot and literally the best beginner / intro climbing in ALL of North Wales! Huge soaring 100ft slab split by good holds and crack lines. None of this 10m boulder scraps that you get up North 💪
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Want to join us? Book online or if it’s for tomorrow, better to send me a WhatsApp (and book online if you’re still able to; the system will close shortly!)
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www.snowdoniaadventureactivities.co.uk
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#northwales #getoutside #pushyourlimits #snowdon #adventureactivities #familyactivities #snowdonianationalpark #snowdoniagram #snowdoniapics #snowdoniaadventures #snowdoniaadventures #canyonxtreme #canyoning #surroundedbynature #temperaterainforest #welshrainforest

New Availability This Week 🤘 . Myself, Richard

New Availability This Week 🤘
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Myself, Richard and Albarn had a wild day doing some rock climbing on Tryfan today. Albarn’s mega hyped to have summited but I think he would also be this excited to find out we’ve just opened up 10 places on the Canyon Xtreme trip for Thursday morning.
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This week is currently pretty much totally sold out but we’ve had a switch around and now have a few more places. If you’d like to book on you can do so via the website. Remember, conditions are great in the river at the moment so if your child is adventurous, the guide age for Canyon Xtreme is currently 8+
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https://www.snowdoniaadventureactivities.co.uk/book-north-wales-activities-online-today/
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#snowdonia #ogwenvalley #tryfan #mountaineering #alpineclimbing #scrambling #getoutside #extremeconditions #glyderau #tryfanmountain #tryfansummit #rockclimbing #climbing #northwalesclimbing #canyoning #snowdoniaadventures #snowdoniaadventureactivities

CANYON Xtreme 🤘 . We’ve got a very good fore

CANYON Xtreme 🤘
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We’ve got a very good forecast for the next week or so at least and the water levels are average to low. It’s warm, it’s friendly, and for that reason we are reducing the age guide to adventurous age 8/9 for our Canyon Xtreme trip.
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This does not mean the trip is suitable for every nine-year-old but if they’re up for it then we will allow it. The age guide is only that, a guide, and we’ve been taking plenty of small people (eg age 8-11) on the trip for the last few weeks no problems. I always say I’d much rather take an adventurous nine-year-old versus a super scared 14-year-old!
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if you’d like to join us for extreme trip this week, we’ve got a few spaces remaining although not very many at all. Remember, we do not take same-day bookings and children need to be accompanied by a parent. The meeting point for the Canyon is not very far from Porthmadog.
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Availability is very limited because every single trip is personally run by myself and Rachel we do not hire freelance instructors. This allows us to make sure that every trip is perfectly tailored to the group and is the best adventure it can possibly be. Like I always say; if you considering booking adventure you probably ought to do it right this second because our place to sell out and we don’t have a lot of space now. Even this evening, I’ve had five bookings coming after 7 pm!
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Enjoy the heatwave one of North Wales’s best preserved temperate rainforest. Not only do we do awesome slides Waterfalls et cetera but the nature down there is genuinely out of this world. You need to see it to believe it, it’s like Jurassic Park 🦖 🌿☘️☀️
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#northwales #canyon #canyoning #snowdonia #canyonxtreme #visitwales #snowdon #eryri #heatwave #summertime #snowdonianationalpark #snowdoniagram #snowdoniapics #snowdoniamountains

This weeks availability!… . I’ve closed a few

This weeks availability!…
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I’ve closed a few session and opened a few others so the availability for the week coming (29th July) is up to date and potentially slightly different to how it looked earlier.
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We’ve got a bit of space on pretty much all of our trips if you’ve some flexibility but if the trip / time you want isn’t available just drop us a message and we can often get something sorted for you.
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I’ve opened up a handful of extra 3pm late sessions so this has created up some new availability. If you’re looking to get out with us, as usual I recommend booking right now. Whatever space there is left will be gone pretty soon I think. The summer is finally getting busy for us! The forecast is also finally really good this week; 21° all week long ☀️ 🐑 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 ⛰️ 🤘
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#snowdonia #snowdoniaaccommodation #snowdoniaadventureactivities #northwales #canyoning #gorgescrambling #rockclimbing #abseiling #adventuresforkids #familyadventures #bestofnorthwales #snowdonianationalpark #visitwales #exploresnowdonia #snowdoniamountains #snowdonia360 #snowdoniaslatetrail #snowdoniaadventures

Things don’t get more Xtreme than this. We’re

Things don’t get more Xtreme than this. We’re talking XXL 🤘 we’ve had great conditions down in the Canyon recently. I often say to people even if you don’t want to send these enormous jumps, it’s well worth doing the trip just for the incredible scenery. You could avoid the jumps and just experience the beautiful and extremely rare Welsh temperate rainforest.
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We’re finally starting to get booked up for summer now so a lot of our availability will be disappearing online. If you’ve got a trip to Wales booked then I highly recommend booking your adventure with us as soon as you have your dates sorted. We can do last-minute trips, but we won’t always have space for you 😬
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If you’re going to do one adventurous thing in North Wales, the Canyon Xtreme trip has to be it. There are other cool things to do up here for sure; coasteering, white water rafting, various zipworld activities, go below etc. if you read I will Google reviews. You’ll see that most of our customers have done some combination of the above and they all agree the Canyoning is definitely the best!
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The question is, could you conquer the biggest jump in North Wales?!
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www.snowdoniaadventureactivities.co.uk

Well, it was worth getting up early and heading to

Well, it was worth getting up early and heading to Rhiw Goch for an 8am pre-work attempt at this problem (Moria 7a+/b) . I was passing the other evening (on the way to a Welsh Rainforests moss and lichen talk hosted by NRW and Snowdonia Active) and came and had a look.
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It was hot, still, hella humid and absolutely raging with midge. I did my best to warmup a bit, I brushed the holds, thought what I thought might be a doable sequence, pulled on then immediately fell off. Doh. I didn’t have a watch so I didn’t know how long I had, but I must have tried for 45 mins, minimal rests is was getting savaged. I got close, maybe 2 moves from the top but fired off. I deffo got a bit mad. I had no Deet and no midge hood, just a down jacket so I was melting down. Horrendous! I bailed, tired, a bit annoyed and skin trashed.
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We came back on Saturday and it was much nicer but there were still a few midge about! Luckily it went down after the warmup. Great little boulder this, tons to go at from 6b to 8a. Like Aiden says, cutting is for the weak. I tried to keep tension but I’d never climbed the top and when I finally got up there the wheels started to wobble a bit. It felt like trad climbing 😂
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#ukbouldering #northwalesbouldering #bouldering #boulderlife #boulder #northwalesclimbing #climbing #climbing_is_my_passion #ukclimbing #outdoorbouldering #getoutside #rhiwgoch #northwalesboulderingguide #conwyvalley #betwsycoed

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