Dinas Mot climbing

Crag: Dinas Mot, Nant Peris
Routes: Diagonal (HVS 5a,5a,5a,4c:led p.1), The Cracks (HS 4a,4b,4a,4c:led p.1,3)
One of the all-time Welsh classics, Diagonal has been a glaring gap in my climbing CV for years. Sadly, given my lack of climbing recently I was in no position to lead the key pitch, but I did lead the first 5a pitch. This goes between two pinnacles to traverse enjoyably past a flake up to a crack behind a pinnacle. A huge sling on this, then a lovely delicate traverse across to a small stance. The next pitch is very good - excellent moves on small holds to a nut slot, then an exciting traverse on undercuts below the obvious overhang before a tough finishing groove. I found it fairly easy apart from the last move, a delicate bridge. A small stance in a great position. The third pitch is what this route is all about: a simply stunning piece of climbing up an immaculate steep slab. A delicate traverse leads to a series of delightfully elegant moves up a vague groove on perfectly positioned small pockets and positive little holds. I barely noticed the famous mantel shelf: it was all absorbing and excellent. Incredibly we found the entire route more or less dry: incredible because it had rained very heavily all night and much of the morning. The final pitch was a bit damp, mind, and despite the fact that it is theoretically the easiest pitch (technically) on the route, most climbers would (I imagine) find it the hardest. I certainly did in my weak current state. A dynamic and very strenuous initial layback leads to a ledge and rest. Then comes a desperate finish, using jams on the left and an ungainly bridge to gain the top: it looks short and innocuous from below but really delivers a classic sting in the tail (in common with virtually all the other classic routes on this crag!). The usual tricky ab down a very wet Western Gully, before we headed up the Cracks (one of the first big routes I did in Snowdonia, 1991 perhaps?). I merged the first two pitches, which give enjoyable slabby climbing up to a final crack. A traverse (wet today) leads to a move up a steepening, then the crack left of the obvious corner taken by Lorraine (which we did by mistake in our youth). I led a short third up the tricky move off the huge pinnacle, and Vic led the nice crack and final awkward (infamous) mantel. Tiring now, we abbed down the drier (but now alarmingly debris-filled) Eastern gully, and tried to get some rest before tomorrow's Welsh Champs fell race in South Wales!