Barmouth Quarry: Guide to Sports Routes

OS 616156

This old slate quarry is in the town of Barmouth and was explored and developed by a team of climbers in 1980s including John Sumner and John Codling. It was then thought inaccessible for 30 years due to a misconception over land ownership. Now thanks to the efforts of  the BMC this has been cleared up and it is now apparent that the land is National trust land.

A footpath from the town runs along the base of the quarry and up the hillside beyond it. The walls rise to over 50 meters in places but the upper third or so of much of the quarry is loose rock and best avoided. To this end local activists have placed belay bolts at the point where the good rock ends giving routes up to 30 meters high and avoiding the dangers of having to exit the routes on unstable rock. In addition to the 1980s routes some sport routes have also appeared in 2012  and 2013 which add a further dimension to this roadside attraction.

Some interesting bouldering problems have been added to the large rocks below the central face (see the Barmouth bouldering guide )

There is a bird restriction from 1^st March until the 30^th June mainly due to a pair of choughs which nest here  but also due to the large number of seabirds such as kittiwakes which breed on the steep walls in the spring .

Like all quarries climbing here is strictly for the very experienced rockclimber and it is not a good venue for novices and top-roping. Care must be taken at all times with the rock and with the fixed gear.

The left side of the quarry has a deep step to a recess where the first routes are. Next right is a good slab bounded by a right hand corner then a slightly broken face. This has a left facing white wall at its right side. The orange slab on the right is capped by an overlap above which are 3 good slab routes. Finally the left facing orange wall has one bolt route and three traditional lines.

For the full guide click here: barmouth_quarry_right_hand_walls_with_topos