Penmaenhead climbing

Crag: Penmaenhead, Colwyn Bay
Routes: Intruder (f5+:led), Go with the Flow (f6a:led), Dead Moggy Syndrome (f6b:sec), The Double Helix (f6a+:sec), Tan y Lan Kids (f5:sec), Big up the Lizard (f5+:sec), Broken Blackbird (f5:sec), Steak Slice (f5:led)
An ideal evening venue, especially in this week's beautiful spring weather. West-facing, so the climbing was in the warm evening sunshine throughout, a nice contrast to previous visits to this crag which have almost all been freezing and sunless. I kicked off by leading the steep line of Intruder at f5+, which looks pretty unpleasant and dirty from below but which is actually a good route. It is steep, though, and not an ideal warm-up given my lack of recent climbing. It goes up blocky rock to a horizontal break, then gets even steeper up a series of small shelves on big holds: all quite pumpy for the grade. Mick and I then moved further left, where I led the excellent Go with the Flow - theoretically a grade harder, but quite slabby and technical (and very low in the grade). I've done it before, it's one of the best climbs here, up delicate flowstone features involving little pinched stalactites and fingery climbing up small pockets - delightful in the warm sunshine. The 6b to its left was tough and bouldery initially, quite sustained, and I finished rightwards. Likewise the 6a+ to its right is also much harder with a puzzling crux which is easy to get wrong. The sun began to drop a little, but continued to light up the face as we finished off with some easier routes, most of which I've done before.