GOWER STUART LLEWELLYN Stu is Swansea born and bred, an engineer, RHOSSILI OXWICH adventurer and rock climber. Back in 2009 he FALL BAY TOR BAY kicked off the first Gower Climbing Festival, MEWSLADE THREE CLIFFS BAY leading to the creation of this very guide. R Since the first edition, he’s spent most of his RAMSGROVE SOUTHGATE OCK time overseas, exploring and having adven- PAVILAND VALLEY PENNARD tures over seven continents. Volunteering PORT EYNON PWLLDU in rural communities in Latin America, in GOWER Nicaragua supporting access to clean water MUMBLES S S ELECTED LIMB and in Peru providing renewable electricity ROCK C with Engineers without Borders. FEATURING: NEW IN THE 2ND EDITION: R OCK To read about some of the adventures and • Trad routes from Dif to E8 • Fully revised and updated OCK R see how you can support the organisations • Single pitch sport venues • 14 new crags C DITION LIMB ELECTED visit www.citizenu.co S E • Beach-side bouldering • 208 new (mostly sport) routes ND S 2 • Full colour photo topos • 23 new full colour photo topos • Scale area maps, highlighting the • 1 new area map, highlighting the approaches approaches 2 ND EDITION Gower offers a wide variety of climbing on an enticing array of venues. On some routes you can step straight off golden sands onto classic GOWER lines; in other cases you can wend your way across peaceful cliff-top paths before dropping into some pretty demanding terrain just a ROCK Stuart Llewellyn & Matt Woodfield Stuart Llewellyn (left) and Matt Woodfield (right). stone’s throw from ice-cream-scoffing tourists SELECTED ROCK CLIMBS and pastoral picnic spots. MATT WOODFIELD 2ND EDITION Matt is a mountaineering and climbing instructor who works locally; teaching, instructing and taking people on adventures. When he is not running climbing or walking skills courses through his business Outdoor Matters, he is being a dad, going climbing or out on adventures or, most likely, combining STUART LLEWELLYN AND the two. MATT WOODFIELD He enjoys nothing more than getting out on ISBN 9781906095727 rock with people and helping them develop 90000 > their skills, confidence and experience. To find out what he can offer you go to Cover: Stuart McDowell on Blockbuster F6b+, Third Sister Lower. www.outdoor-matters.co.uk Photo: Matt Woodfield. WWW.PESDAPREss.COM 9 781906 095727 Area Crag Walk in (min) Tidal Restrictions Position Sun <S <F3 <HVS <F5+ <E3 <F6c E4 &> F6c+&> INTERNATIONAL Head 5km Mumbles Bay GRADE COMPARISON CHART A483 A4216 Trad Sport Trad Sport Trad Sport Trad Sport M4 Swansea Rhossili Shipwreck Cove 15 Tidal Sheltered pm 6 12 Swansea Castaway Cove 15 Tidal Sheltered am 3 10 2 47 Oystermouth Mermaid Wall 15 Tidal Sheltered pm 26 12 RALIAN A4067 * T Trial Wall 10 Non-tidal Birds Sheltered pm 2 9 A48 Mumbles MERICAN US IAA A4118 Retribution Wall 10 Non-tidal Sheltered pm 3 2 1 UK ADJECTIVE UK TECHNICAL FRENCH A A U Wedge Wall 10 Non-tidal Sheltered pm 4 1 M4 B4295 Killay Easy Sheepbone Wall 10 Tidal Sheltered pm 8 6 1 Moderate F1 5.1 4 I Black Buttress 15 Non-tidal Sheltered pm 1 4 6 2 B4296 Difficult F2 5.2 6 II Calcite Bay 15 Non-tidal Sheltered pm 4 5 Gorseinon Platform Area 15 Tidal Sheltered pm 3 Very F2+ 5.3 8 III Difficult F3− 5.4 III+ Poser Buttress 15 Tidal Sheltered pm 2 3 IV 0 Killay Upper Sinners Walls 20 Non-tidal pm 3 13 3 Dunvant Severe 4a F3 5.5 10 IV+ Pwll Du Carbon Slab 20 Non-tidal pm 3 5 HS 4b F3+ 5.6 12 A484 A4240 Fall Bay Lewes Castle 10 Non-tidal Windy pm 6 4 1 V− Head Pwlldu VS 4c F4 5.7 14 V Lewes Castle East 10 Non-tidal All day 1 5 2 5.8 V+ A4118 Kittle King Wall 10 Tidal All day 4 7 16 Bishopston HVS 5a F5 5.9 VI− Giant’s Cave 10 Tidal All day 1 2 3 7 F5+ 5.10a 18 VI Airport Yellow Wall 15 Tidal Birds Sheltered am 6 6 Swansea Southgate Mewslade Jacky’s Tor 25 Semi-tidal All day 2 3 2 4 E1 5b F6a E2 5c F6a+ 5.10b VI+ Upper Jacky’s Tor 20 Non-tidal Sheltered am 6 1 19 Three Crosses Block Buttress 20 Tidal All day 1 3 3 5.10c VII− Pennard Bay Catacomb Gully 20 Non-tidal Sheltered All day 3 4 5 2 Cliffs 20 Three B4271 Thurba Head 25 Tidal All day 1 4 4 F6b 5.10d VII E3 F6b+ 5.11a 21 A484 Southgate Ramsgrove Saddam’s Wall 20 Non-tidal Sheltered pm 1 2 3 r Parkmill VII+ Ramsgrove Seaward Crag 25 Non-tidal All day 10 F6c 5.11b 22 w h Sister Two and a Half 30 Non-tidal All day 1 8 3 VIII− Bay Tor E4 6a F6c+ 5.11c c Third Sister 35 Non-tidal Windy Most of the day 1 4 4 B4295 23 w Bay Third Sister Bottom 35 Non-tidal All day 3 8 1 F7a 5.11d VIII l Oxwich Penmaen Third Sister Lower 35 Non-tidal All day 6 3 L Oxwich Point E5 24 Oxwich F7a+ 5.12a Llanelli Third Sister Middle 35 Non-tidal All day 3 5 4 VIII+ n Deborah’s Zawn 40 Tidal Sheltered am 1 1 11 6b F7b 5.12b 25 o f Paviland Valley Freeluncher’s Zawn 25 Semi-tidal Sheltered Midday 1 11 IX− E6 F7b+ 5.12c 26 A Zulu Zawn 25 Tidal Sheltered Midday 2 / A4118 F7c 5.12d 27 IX Paviland 25 Non-tidal All day 4 3 h Oxwich g Juniper Wall 25 Non-tidal Most of the day 8 3 1 F7c+ 5.13a 28 IX+ u o Port Eynon Easter Buttress 45 Tidal All day 3 3 E7 6c F8a 5.13b 29 L Llanrhidian White Pillar 45 Semi-tidal All day 3 1 1 X− r F8a+ 5.13c 30 e Boiler Slab 25 Non-tidal Windy All day 4 8 3 X v Point Oxwich Oxwich in the Woods 10 Tidal (approach) Sheltered Never 19 6 E8 F8b 5.13d 31 i Port Eynon Port Eynon X+ R Tor Bay Little Tor 15 Tidal All day 7 1 F8b+ 5.14a 32 Little Star Wall 15 Tidal All day 4 1 1 7a A4118 Great Tor 20 Non-tidal All day 1 E9 F8c 5.14b 33 XI− E10 Odin’s Wall 15 Tidal Sheltered All day 2 4 F8c+ 5.14c 34 Three Cliffs Bay Three Cliffs 25 Tidal All day 11 8 XI Scurlage 7b Overton Pobbles 25 Tidal Sheltered All day 5 1 F9a 5.14d 35 Pobbles East 25 Tidal Sheltered All day 5 4 XI+ F9a+ 5.15a 36 B4247 Southgate Watch House Slab 10 Non-tidal Sheltered pm 1 3 5 3 Watch House East 10 Semi-tidal Sheltered pm 1 3 6 * Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme Foxhole Cove 10 Non-tidal Sheltered All day 1 10 4 13 Ramsgrove Port Eynon Minchin Hole 15 Non-tidal Sheltered Hardly ever 2 4 Llangennith Bowen’s Parlour 15 Semi-tidal Sheltered All day 2 14 5 Valley The UK trad grading system gives an adjective and a technical Paviland Mewslade Pennard Lower Pennard 15 Non-tidal All day 3 4 2 grade. The adjectival grade gives an idea of the overall Rhossili Uppper Pennard 15 Non-tidal Sheltered am 4 2 difficulty, a measure of how sustained the climbing is and of High Pennard 15 Non-tidal pm 2 7 Fall Bay Pwlldu Pwlldu 30 Non-tidal am 2 12 11 how well protected it is. The technical grade is difficulty of the Mumbles Crab Island 10 Tidal pm 2 10 1 hardest move or short section on the climb. Rams Tor 10 Semi-tidal pm 12 Rhossili Bay Rhossili Head Worms GOWER ROCK SELECTED ROCK CLIMBS 2ND EDITION STUART LLEWELL YN & MATT WOODFIELD Second Edition 2020 First published in Great Britain 2012 by Pesda Press Tan y Coed Canol Ceunant Caernarfon Gwynedd LL55 4RN © Copyright 2012/2020 Stuart Llewellyn and Matt Woodfield Maps – Bute Cartographic Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2012 ISBN: 978-1-906095-72-7 The Authors have asserted their rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Authors of this Work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed and bound in Poland. www.www.lfbookservices.co.uk INTRODUCTION 3 GOWER ROCK Gower Rock aims to showcase the depth and quality a breath-taking backdrop to numerous outdoor activities of rock climbing on this wild, beautiful yet somewhat including surfing and paragliding. There are miles of unknown peninsula. Whilst we love the tranquillity of fantastic coastal paths to walk along (a perfect way to the crags and the absence of queues, we also want to explore the many treats of the peninsula) and copious share this really rather special place with others. The amounts of climbing. area was longing for a modern guidebook for many years, you now hold the second edition in your hands, and we The spark that kicked this guidebook off came from hope it will lead you into new and exciting places where the creation of a dozen topos for the BMC Gower adventure, challenge and excitement are all part of the Climbing Festival, which debuted in 2009.