In The Pit at Llangorse

In The Pit at Llangorse

We both love the Brecon Beacons. But Welsh weather can be pretty temperamental, and although neither of us is averse to going hillwalking in wind, driving rain or even falling snow, wet conditions means that climbing routes are rarely in condition.

Luckily, if you find yourself stuck anywhere near Brecon in dreck weather, there is a solution – head to Llangorse. It’s one of our favourite indoor climbing centres, partly because of its unique ‘horsey’ smell (it’s a riding centre as well as a climbing wall) but mostly because of The Pit – a sunken basement filled with a few hundred tons of natural limestone. In many ways, being in The Pit feels like climbing outdoors, and it’s a good way to practice tackling natural overhangs, arêtes and other features. In this bit of the centre, routes aren’t graded as such –they’re as easy or as hard as you want to make them. Having said that, there’s plenty of interesting stuff at about 5a to 6a+.

Llangorse also boasts a killer tree climb with a bell to ring if you get to the top. Neither of us can get beyond a few feet off the ground, but Ellie’s dad (climbing instructor, one-time adventurer and all-round legend) can beast it. The rest of the centre also has loads to offer, with some 15m artificial featured top-roping walls and large bouldering areas with plenty of interesting problems. You can also lead many of the routes, but bring your own rope.