We have just released a new version of Adrian Berry’s Gower Sport Climbing MiniGuide which has been fully updated, including several very new venues which were only developed over the last few months.

We noticed that a lot of people appeared to be reading the last edition of this MiniGuide on their mobile phones instead of using the paper print-outs, so with this new edition we decided to adapt for the mobile user whilst stopping short of making a true App. It is still a PDF, it is just a PDF that has been designed to be used on a small screen mobile, or tablet computer, rather than printed into a paper booklet.

This is only an interim step for Rockfax; we aren’t intending on doing this for many future guides, but adapting our existing document into this mobile format in this case was a lot easier and quicker than creating a fully-fledged App. It also has the added bonus of being a free update for everyone who has already downloaded the first edition of this MiniGuide (just head to My Downloads under the View Cart menu when you’re logged in).

Download Version 2 of Gower Sport Climbing here

Liz Collyer on Jaded Locals (6b+) at Watch House.

We are working on Apps for larger guides and should have something on offer within the next 12 months.

A trip to Cwm Silyn on a perfect September weekend provided an opportunity to check some of the classic routes on Craig yr Ogof.

This isolated mountain crag tends to be less popular than other mountain crags in North Wales but has a set of superb routes that are worthy of anyone’s attention. The nature of the main slab is such that it is possible to climb virtually anywhere on the main slab. This has led to some confusion over the years over exactly where the routes, particularly Kirkus Route and its variations, actually go.

After some fairly detailed research going back to the original 1955 guidebook, I have come up with a new topo which corrects the route lines from the North wales Classics guidebook which were a little out.

Download the new NWC Update PDF here

Sam James-Louwerse seconding pitch 3 of the Central Variant on Craig yr Ogof.

It became clear while researching that the line followed by what most people now call Kirkus Route is not the line that Kirkus followed when he led the first ascent when the slab had much more grass on it. It is likely that he weaved around at the top. It is possible that the second man Macphee climbed the upper section more directly on the top-rope, as the line goes now.