Welcome to the Dynamic Rock Blog!

This is the place to find out all the latest info, news and events at Dynamic Rock. Our old news page can be found by clicking this NEWS link. If you register as a member of the blog you will be given permission to comment on articles - and this will include articles on new routes! There are also galleries, which will contain our pics and yours (simply email any photos to info@dynamicrock.co.uk or bring in a CD!). Also keep an eye out for some special limited time offers that will give you special discounts at Dynamic Rock.

We look forward to your feedback, so let us know what you think by posting a comment now

Thanks for everyones support in making Dynamic Rock a success, and here's to another great year!

Crag Of The Month

This month we visit a crag much nearer to Swansea, it's none tidal and has sport climbing, trad climbing and bouldering it is a couple of minutes walk to the crags from the car and has a gently cascading river as a back drop. Welcome to Dinas Rock!

Last month we had a look at Pembroke and I had promised that this month we would visit the Gower. But the weather has been pretty appalling for summer and it seemed more appropriate to check out a sport venue that could offer a lot for the after-work-warrior ducking in and out of the summer showers, but also plenty for those longer days.

Dinas Rock is an interesting area and is used extensively by outdoor education centres for Gorge Walking, Rock climbing, Caving and hill walking to name a few activities. Its ease of access (being located near Glyn Neath on the A465 ) helps with its popularity for people escaping the city and exploring the countryside.

evidence of an industrial past

It has an interesting history with mining and gunpowder manufacturing to name a few of the industrial activities that have taken place here. Some evidence of this area's past is still with us from the mines visible near the top of the gorge to the train carriages seen by the path under the main crag.

But lets talk about the climbing. When you arrive in the car park you will be confronted with the 'Car Park Crag' which is home to two very different walls, one consisting of a large slab which can be climbed at about VD anywhere. This part of the crag will usually have many school children having their first experience at rock climbing. The steeper larger wall to the left has many trad climbing challenges from VS to around the E4 mark.

Liz climbing on the brilliant limestone found at Dinas Rock

Once you follow the river round the corner you will discover the so called 'Road Side Crags', this is where the sport climbing begins and grades range from F5 - F7c the climbing here is found on several isolated buttress and is often very good. Once you arrive at the first waterfall of significance you would have arrived at 'Kennelgarth Wall'. This wall is easy to identify with its undercut base and chalked holds all over as bouldering is king here. The bouldering routes range from V1 - V11 and although the floor is flat it's worth bringing a pad.

Further up river you will discover the main crag, this vast sheet of limestone is host to many fantastic three star lines.

Simon on the 3star "Berlin"

This wall hosts a variety of grades although almost extensively above the F7A mark (currently topping out at F8A last time I checked) there are also some brilliant trad lines such as 'Spain' E4 and 'Groovy Tube' E2.

"The Sharp Cereal Professor" F7b

For info of how to get there and topos of this amazing climbing area check out these web sites:

for sport climbing http://www.sportsclimbs.co.uk/mainpages/southwales/Dinas%20Rock.htm

for the bouldering http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/swbouldering/

Also check out the "Gower and South East Wales" guide available in our shop.

I'm off to Ceuse for two weeks so happy climbing and I'll see you all soon!

Donna cranking hard on the main cliff at Dinas

Happy climbing

simon

Learn to Lead Course - June

This weekend was dynamicrocks second learn to lead course, and four more climbers headed out to learn some of the dark art that is trad climbing.

As with the last course we headed to Box Bay in Porthcawl for day one. The weather was not quite as glorious as last time but with an early start the team and I uncoiled our ropes and started looking at the basic rope work systems used to keep you and your climbing partner safe on the cliff. The morning was spent discussing the use and strength of various pieces of equipment found on a climbing rack. As the day went on we started linking all the pieces together and not ending up in to much of a tangle, well not all the time any way.

Climbers at Boiler Slab

Day 2 took place at "Boiler Slab" on the Gower and with yesterdays skills fresh in mind our climbers took to leading with exceptional calmness and completed many leads on this great slab of rock high above the sea.

Lewis high up on "Dufler" at boiler slab

Stuart leading on "Pinnacle crack" at boiler slab

well done to everyone involved, i hope you go on to use your new found skills on bigger and bigger adventures, see you all out on the crag soon!

happy climbing simon

Round 1 of our Bouldering Series took place on Sunday the 6th July. There was a good turn out and plenty of the usual banter that these events attract.

By demand we included a new category this year for our more seasoned customers (45+ years), though turn out for this category was low to say the least! Hope to see more of you showing the young ones how it's done next time.

Results from the day are below, well done to all who competed. Remember prizes are awarded for highest cumulative score after all 3 events.

Summer Series Round 1 - 6th July 2008
Senior Male
Danny McCarroll	47
Adult Male
Jon Freeman	70
Simon Witcher	64
Bill Gregory	60
Dave Simpson	40
Nic Bussieres	40
Dean Murphy	37
Lewis Grainger	22
Vaughan Budd	21
Darren Russell	20
Under 17s Male (12-16)
Lewis Gardiner	60
Jordon Goldup	54
Robin Cloke	44
Chris Shepherd	37
Rowan Rumble	30
Junior Male (8-11)
Noah Broome	54
Jay Coates	20
Adult Female
Jacky Tyrie	50
Megan Beaumont	41
Nicola Taylor	41
Catrin Davies	34
Leanne Callaghan	30
Nia Haines	18
Under 17s Female
Rozie Frugtniet	60
Bethan Frugtniet	57
Kaya Blackmore	40
Rhiannon Jacob	37
Yasmin Grainger	30
Junior Female (8-11)
Naomi  Broome	50

 

The next round will be held on Sunday 27th July from 2pm, with round 3 on Sunday 31st August.

Hope to see you there!

Deep Water Soloing Day

Well the summer arrived for one day, and luckily for us it was on Sunday whilst we were all out by the sea climbing and swimming! After the endless bad weather and with lots of finger crossing it turned out nice for the first dynamicrock DWS day.

The amazing Barrel Zawn (Photo by Ron Van Heswijk)

16 climbers came with us to barrel zawn nr St Davids in north Pembroke bringing with them a variety of inflatable objects and a large amount of good humor.

The day started as all DWS days should with a check of the water temperature and to much relief it wasn't quite as cold as I had feared and climbers were jumping off from various points along the cliff top, under the watchful eye of our lifeguard Dave.

Lewis jumping into the big blue

Once the tide reached a suitable height climbing began with an unusual start, descending down a seven metre long pirate rope to the base of the crag! then climbers choosing the line they wished to ascend with varying degrees of success.

Hayley on the pirate rope

Everyone seemed a bit apprehensive at first which is very understandable but this soon wore off as the climbers started losing a lot of their fears and really started cranking, some memorable moments included any one of Harry the gunz crazy splashdowns including a great back splat which made the watching crowd wince, also dynamic rock team members Lewis and Maddy completing the epic 30m long barrel traverse graded F6c! although they were among many other brilliant efforts. Of special note was the great fun everyone had with about as much swimming taking place as climbing.

After lunch it was time for the Speed Climbing Competition. This involved climbers being timed from the starting ledge to touching the dynamic rock banner at the top of the crag with 5 seconds being deducted from their time if they lept back into the sea from a successful ascent.

Jon competing in the speed climbing event

Again great fun was had with many competitors giving their all to reach the top, and then the bottom as it were! The early leader seemed to be Richard with a good solid display but in round 2 this was all to change.

Paulette reaching the top in round 1 of the speed climbing comp

In round 2 the star of the show was Vaughan who romped to victory with a time of 13 seconds, 8 seconds when you deduct 5 for the leap as well so our first champ was crowned! a big well done from everyone involved.

Vaughan after claiming 1st place in the speed climbing comp

I'd like to thank everyone who came for giving it such a good go and I hope you all had a great time and see you in the water again soon.

happy climbing

simon

 

The next dynamicrock DWS day is on 10th Aug ask at reception for details.

DWS in Mallorca

The weather in south Wales has been absolutely rubbish if you're a climber with the forecast being wet, wet and wet oh yeah and really wet on occasions! But I've been away to the Spanish island of Mallorca and they are currently in the middle of a heat wave woo hoo! Sorry not meaning to rub it in.

The Island is famous for many reasons including drunken antics around Palma, hard core road cycling and sport climbing, and is justifiably famous for all, good and bad! The island has been a sport climbing winter sun destination for many a year with great conditions late in the season when the UK is wet and miserable (like now I guess) and with a wide variety of cragging destinations for climbers of all grades. It is possible to get great deals on flights and villas outside of the main holiday season which has added to the popularity of climbing here.

But as I pointed out earlier I went last week, July, and it was very hot 37 degrees most days. After one day of attempting to climb at an inland venue we discovered that the heat was just to much to bear making climbing almost impossible, so as far as a climbing holiday goes it was not looking good but luckily we had a back up plan.

The island has also become very famous for its deep water soloing with world class venues doted along its south east coast. There are many reasons that DWS is great here, the main one being that there is very little tide around 40cm so you can climb pretty much any time at most venues, unlike Pembroke with its huge tidal swings of over 10m!

So with guide book in hand we headed of to CALA BARQUES and after an interesting walk in, through several 'Private! Keep Out' signs we arrived at an idyllic beach with a rocky coast line leading out to sea. 5 minutes later and we were awe struck at the most amazing sight, a perfect cave set above crystal clear blue water. On closer inspection it just got better and better as the cave is dripping with stalactites, and covered in big pockets giving many amazing possibilities of grossly overhanging lines leading out over the big roofs!

The first climb attempted was graded 6b locally, but overhung its entire 15m in length,  and for the majority it was almost horizontal! The Rock Fax guide give a grade of 7a but grades here just don't matter as a mixture of fun and fear take over not matter what the grade is. The route mentioned was brilliant! The holds were all huge and it is just so much fun that you wish you could climb this route every day.

The day carried on and eventually I fell in and discovered the next best thing about DWS here, the water is about as warm as your bath so you can really go for it knowing that if you drop your not going to freeze your N*?ts off, and you dry out pretty quick too!

 

 

The week continued with many areas explored and tons of climbing and falling completed, but I will go as far as saying that it was one of the most fun climbing trips I have done in years and I will definitely be heading back later in the year as with late season water temps in the mid 20's there is no excuse not to go!

There are routes of most grades but to get the most form these venues you will want to be climbing at least F6b although there is probably enough scope around F5 if you search around, but like i said grades here are not what its all about as with a go for it attatude you could really surprise yourself!

So if your unsure where to go on a late season trip grab a cheep flight, leave your rope behind, and get to Mallorca!

Happy climbing

simon

If you fancy a go closer to home check out DYNAMICROCK DWS day in Pembroke, the next course is the 10th August.

Keep your eyes peeled for a possible DYNAMICROCK DWS Mallorca trip later in the year!

Wales represented well in BMCYCS final at Edinburghs International Climbing Arena   more »

Dynamic Rocks Sport Climbing Course   more »

Gorge walking this summer with dynamic rock

Gorge Walking

This summer with DynamicRock

Here is your chance for an action packed wet, wild and exhilarating day. Come and experience some of Wales' hidden delights as we explore the gorges of South Wales. This will involve swimming, jumping, climbing and caving as you pit your nerves against various challenges along the way.

We will explore hidden caves, swim across dark pools, crawl behind mystical waterfalls and leap into deep plunge pools.

 

 

Dynamic Rock Adventures will supply all specialist equipment (helmet, buoyancy aid, wetsuit) and your guide for the day. All you need to bring is a swimming costume, towel, old trainers, a pair of old shorts and a sense of adventure.

For an unforgettable day out in the Welsh countryside the you probably didn't know exist, book youself in for a groge walk today.

No previous experience necessary.

two special offer date are availible for £20 per person

5th July and 2nd August

places are limited and restrictions apply: ask at reception for details

happy climbing

simon

7th & 8th June Learn to Lead Course

Well, the first Learn to Lead course of the year took place this weekend, with glorious weather forecast four eager climbers headed of to Porthcawl. 

A great day was had with plenty of time being spent placing anchors and building belays. For most it was their first time placing wires and cams but this was overcome quickly with lots of enthusiasm. As the tide went out the team descended into box bay and started climbing some of the great lines the crag has to offer using anchors and rope systems that they had learned in the morning. The day finished with everyone completing a simulated lead, placing runners on the lead and creating a belay to bring their second up the climb.

Day two took place at Great Tor on Gower with the best summer weather of the year so far! After a warm up scramble in above the high tide, an assault on east ridge commenced with all climbers completing their first lead climb. Well done to everyone involved see you out at the crag.

Paul "Cam Man" completing his first lead

Deb enjoying the stunning scenery whilst on the sharp end completing her first lead

 

Not quite enought water to deep water solo so trad is the way. Here Claire complete her first lead in fine style

 

Ron "Mr lasso the biggest block posible" for once opting to use some wires instead of his beloved slings completing his first lead

 

The next Learn to Lead course will be run on the weekend of the 26th & 27th of July. There are limited places so please book in reception to avoid disapointment.

see http://www.dynamicrock.co.uk/learn_to_lead.htm for details or ask at reception

happy climbing

simon

A new Sunday and Bank Holiday bus service has been released ideal for climbers and walkers wanting to get out and about on Gower over the summer weekends.   more »

for all climbers on the new NICAS scheme you can down load new log pages from the NICAS website, follow the link http://www.nicas.co.uk/downloadz.aspx and click on Nicas climbing log page to print of new log pages

happy climbing

simon

NEW DATE JUST LAUCHED: 10th AUGUST - book now to avoid dissapointment

 

Places are now sold out for the deep water solo day 13th July. If you have booked a place (or even if not) why not get yourself a super cool shortie wetsuit.

Adults are £40 sizes mens: SM - XXXL womens: 8 - 16

Kids are £30 sizes S - XXXL

NICAS family day 7th June.    more »

New from Dynamic Rock.

If you are heading outside bouldering this summer and you need a pad, or some extra padding for that high ball project you have in mind then you can now hire bouldering pad's from Dynamic Rock.

All you need is to be a member of the wall and at a cost of £10 for the day you can hire a pad!

For futher detail ask in the wall.

Cheers,

Happy Climbing

Simon

Just to let you all know after the popularity of the circuit on the training wall, there is a new numbered circuit 96 moves long! So for those looking for some serious stamina training for the trad season ahead, look no further.

Grades between F6A and F8B+

Happy climbing

simon

Pembrokeshire Bouldering Guide...   more »

Forest of dean

 

I have spent many days at the forest of dean climbing and kayaking with groups around ...   more »

See the full results here...   more »

Dynamic Rock team enjoy success at the first round of the BRYCS...   more »

Did he blow you away? Did he live up to your expectations? Leave your comments here about the Sharma lecture.

We have recently switched bank accounts, and regret to announce that Dynamic Rock will not be continuing with its Direct Debit scheme until further notice. Current Direct Debit members will benefit from a complimentary Standard Membership. If you wish to continue making regular monthly payments at the Direct Debit rate, please ask about setting up a standing order.

We appreciate your cooporation in this matter.

They say things come along in three, so with the card machine breaking and now this, we're anticipating a further irritation soon!

Hello all, 

Just a quick notice regards this months activities etc

·         On Friday 15^th Feb, unfortunately the bouldering room will be closed for route setting

·         On Saturday 16^th Feb, the whole of Dynamic Rock's centre will be closed to the public for the annual WUSA competition, which is a Welsh university climbing competition. Spectators are welcome so if you’ve not seen a competition before, it is well worth a watch.

·         Also, on Tuesday 19^th Feb at approximately 7pm there will be a FREE evening of lectures. The first will offer an insight into training programs for climbing and one-to-one coaching by Paul Walters, discussing how to achieve your potential by highlighting fundamental training principles and theories. The second lecture will be by Stefan Doerr, renowned for his on-sight trad climbing, Stefan will be covering all aspects of climbing’s ‘mental’ game.

 So whether you are an established climber or a complete beginner, the lecture evenings will be sure to offer you something worthwhile!

Thank you for your loyalty and we apologise for any inconvenience caused by the closure but look forward to seeing you soon. For more information on anything that has been mentioned please feel free to contact the centre on 01792 845655.

If you're looking for a way to meet new people to climb with, increase you general fitness levels and get a few pointers on technique why not join us next Thursday at 17:45?   more »

Hi all

just a note to let you know about our new routes at the wall. Every monday we set new routes theses will now be easy to identify by the pink stars on the the route boards. When a new route is set a star will be placed along side it and will remain there for two weeks, hopefully this will allow you to easily identify some new challenges each time you visit the wall.

Happy climbing

simon

For many years now I’ve wanted to give winter climbing a go, by winter climbing I mean, ice climbing, mixed, dry tooling and mountaineering, basically the LOT! A recent trip to Switzerland’s Kandersteg allowed me a taste of all my winter dreams in one visit. (Paul Walters)   more »

Saturday 26th Jan will be the day we celebrate the 2nd Dynamic Rock Birthday.

Last years event was very enjoyable, and this year we're hoping it will be even better ...   more »