Technical equipment for scrambling
Light and versatile is what you need.
Scrambling harnesses
You might have to put on your harness when standing on a tiny ledge, in terrible weather; choose your harness accordingly.
The scrambling harness needs to be fully adjustable with either standard, buckled adjustable legs or with a 'Nappy' design. In general, standard adjustable harnesses with fully padded waist and legs is more suitable for rock climbing, whilst 'Nappy' style harnesses with minimal padding are the easiest to put on and also work well for alpine mountaineering. 'Nappy' harnesses are normally also lighter and dry faster/retain less water.
Examples of standard harnesses are the DMM Renegade or Petzl Calidris.
Examples of 'Nappy' harnesses are the Black Diamond Couloir.
Climbing & Scrambling Helmets
Please refer to Rock-Climbing-info for general advice on climbing helmets.
Technical climbing equipment
We are often asked what technical climbing equipment should be used when starting to scramble. The list below outlines some of the most common items that you will need and features to look for. It does not include general essentials such as a map and compass and opinions will differ on the "best" rack of equipment - but this is a reasonable starting point.
Scrambling Rope: This is the subject of much debate and really the decision of which rope is "right" comes down to personal choice. The key decision lies in choosing:
Rope type and thickness: there are two main categories of rope - static and dynamic. A scrambling rope should be dynamic i.e. it stretches when loaded like a fibre spring to absorb the energy of a fall.
The choice within dynamic ropes is then to choose between a 'Single' rope or a 'Half' rope. Strictly speaking half ropes should not be used by themselves - they are designed to be used as pairs. However, many scramblers use half ropes of diameter 8.5mm - 9mm because of their lower price and weight. The key disadvantage of skinny half ropes is not that they will break in the event of a fall, but that any fall is harder to hold. Always make sure that your rope and belay device/belay technique are compatible to each other.
There are 8.0mm scrambling ropes available, but I would avoid them as catching a fall is really hard with this diameter of rope unless you are equipped with a skinny rope belay device, are paying attention and are experienced at holding falls - too many ifs....
Single ropes are designed to be used by themselves and are tested/certified accordingly. In the good old days single ropes were thick (10.5-11.0 mm) and heavy, but these days you can get single ropes with a diameter of 8.9 - 9.2mm. Maximum safety, but expect to pay a premium for these cutting edge ropes.
10 mm Single ropes are generally a lot cheaper, but you pay a weight penalty.
Dry ropes are always useful in the mountains - they don't absorb so much water, hence stay lighter, and dry faster. Plus wet nylon fibres are weaker (10-15%) than dry ones - stack the odds in your favour.
Rope Length: anything between 30m and 40m works. The shorter the rope the lighter it is. However a short rope also limits your options both in terms of pitch length, but also more importantly in retreat. A 30m rope only allows a 15m abseil...
For harder, more remote scrambles it is worth using a longer, fully rated single rope. My choice is Mammut infinity Dry 40, 9.5mm.
Scrambling rack
You should aim for a light and versatile rack. You will need:
1 x belay device and 2 x HMS screwgate Karabiners for each member of the party. The belay device / rope controller should work well with the ropes that you intend to use. If you are using a skinny rope use a belay device that allows you to control/hold the rope in the event of a fall. HMS carabiners with a round cross section are great for scrambling because they work best with the Italian / Munter friction hitch and thus allow you more options for belaying/retreating.
2 x offset D screwgates. These are are useful per each member of the party for attaching oneself./people to belays; the DMM Phantom screwgates are great for locking off chest coils because their small size keeps everything tight and in place. Plus a large offset HMS to act a central anchor point - the DMM Boa is hard to beat here because it has a massive internal working area and is very light.
8 x Slings. These are the main tools of scrambling protection. Choose 2 or 3 x 60cm (4ft) dyneema slings and 3 or 4 x 120cm (8ft) dyneema slings for placing over spikes and around boulders. A single 240 sling can also be useful for looping over large boulders. Dyneema is thinner, lighter and less bulky than nylon and the material of choice for slings. Skinny dyneema (8mm - 10mm wide) works beautifully here, but wider 11mm slings will last longer.
A small selection of rock protection. This is very useful on harder scrambles. The core protection you will be using are called nuts or wires. These are aluminium chocks of various sizes that are threaded on steel cable or dyneema slings. These are then wedged into cracks or constrictions to create anchors. A minimum amount of gear might be a set of DMM Wallnuts and a set of DMM Offsets. I would add a selection of larger hexcentric nuts - DMM Torque nuts 1- 4 or WC Rockcentrics 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.
4 x quickdraws to extend the rock protection and act as a link to the rope. A quickdraw is a flexible link comprising of 2 Karabiners connected by a nylon or dyneema sling. Longer lengths are best (18cm to 25cm long) because they create less rope drag and are less likely to inadvertently dislodge any protection that you have placed.
2 x prusic loops are always useful - 1.3m of 5mm or 1.4m of 6mm cord with the ends tied together into an open loop with a double fisherman's knot that allows you to protect abseils, ascend ropes and set up rescue systems. The key thing here is knowing how to use them.
1 x nut key per person for removing stuck nuts.
More info
Finally, although cammming devices(cams) are a bit of a luxury when scrambling, they can help protect those harder routes that can't be protected by nuts. A range of DMM Dragon cams in sizes 1, 2 and 3 or 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 cover a lot of bases. Black Diamond Camalots in sizes 0.75, 1 and 2 are also a good option.
If you want some information on possible scrambles in Snowdonia, there are several guide books to scrambling in North Wales. 'Scrambles and Easy Climbs in Snowdonia' and 'Scrambles in Snowdonia' by Steve Ashton.
There is also a useful online resource at UKScrambles.com.
Our scrambling instruction is by arrangement and totally customisable. Simply call or email and we'll try to construct a program that works for you.
Rates per person
The course price depends on the ratio of clients to instructor.
Half Day
Ratio 1:1
£150 per 1/2 day
Ratio 2:1
£95 per 1/2 day
Ratio 3:1
£75 per 1/2 day
Ratio >6:1
£60 per 1/2 day
Full Day
Ratio 1:1
£220 per day
Ratio 2:1
£120 per day
Ratio 3:1
£95 per day
Ratio >6:1
£75 per day
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