A new bouldering guide to North Wales is due to be released towards the end of the year by the ever keen locals Mark Katz and Simon Panton. Over the next few months CragX will be releasing some exerts from this long awaited guide, first up are the limestone bouldering caves of the Orme, North Wales. Here's what one of the authors Simon Panton had to sat about bouldering in this area:

"Bouldering in North Wales is certainly biased towards the steep and powerful problem type. This is no more apparent than on the unforgiving limestone crags of the Llandudno Ormes. There are many different venues in the area and some such as Angel Bay and Roadrunner provide excellent, if a little esoteric, bouldering. Nonetheless, most first time visitor's to the area roll up at Parisella's cave, eager to feel the steepness and soak up the history of this strange little cave."

Parisella's Cave

Essentially a dusty, polished lean-to, home to a range of steep power orientated lines. Very modern, characterised by finger friendly, lung gasping links with strongly independent, non-eliminate climbing (no silly height dependant rules).
Disliked by aesthetic fags and adventure hippies, but visited with religious zeal by training mutants, over taped youths and anybody just looking for a good work out that doesn't involve pulling on plastic. A forcing ground for hard climbing (especially that of the power stamina variety) since the early eighty's when Moffatt, Freeman and company broke all the rules. The products of this old school, youthful intensity have remained as 'must-dos' for every generation since the heady days of eighty-three and eighty-four. More recently, the early ninety's, Ben Moon almost climbed 'The Big Link' (V13? - Font. 8b), choosing to fall off the last move of 'Beaver Cleaver', instead of cruising to a comfortable victory along 'The Right Wall Traverse'. Nonetheless, a fine and groundbreaking effort, which marks the way for future outrageous stamina bouts. The Sheffield connection was further strengthened a couple of years on when Stuart Cameron established an enigmatic un-repeated line (V11 - Font. 8a), which admittedly starts in the middle of nowhere, but strikes a pure and fierce line to the lip of the cave.
Local pride was soon to be restored, though, with the emergence of a strong tattooed youth, Chris Davies. Ninety-seven and Ninety-eight saw Llandudno local Davies coming of age and reaping the benefits of an intensive cave apprenticeship with ascents of two modern classic's, 'Lou Ferrino' (V10 - Font. 7c+) and 'Crucial Times' (V11 - Font.8a).
Despite all of the photographs and the fuss, Parisella's does not have the most shining of reputations, however it should be born in mind that most dissenting voices are the product of impotence. As with Road Runner and to some extent Angel Bay, not everyone is suited to the brutal nature of the climbing, and as such a certain bitterness remains in the mouths of those excluded by their bottom heavy frames.
The cave suffers from a time lag seepage problem after heavy rain (although this is difficult to predict), but it is a rare day when it is not possible to 'get some in'. Many is the time that I have driven through driving rain from Llanberis to find dry sheltered rock, when others of a lazier disposition were wall bound (choking, I hope on stale chalk dust and the hum of sweaty rock boot's).