Photo Memories from 2011

 January - images from Scotland:

Hadrians Wall Direct

Fingers Ridge

February - Norway

 March - Scotland & Snowdonia

Dream of White Horses

April - cragging & scrambling in Snowdonia

May - Cuillin Ridge, Isle of Skye

June - August - Scrambling, climbing and mountaineering in the sunshine

September - Scotland, Tower Ridge, Aonach Eagach and then Playing in the Alps

October - Atlas Mountains, Morocco

November

Skye qualifies as a Search Dog

December - early season winter action

Heres to 2012!

Off to Scotland

I am away in Scotland from the 1st Jan until the 21st Jan. I will be blogging as often as I can about the conditions North of the border but the internet connection can a bit sporadic so please bear with me if there are delays in replying to emails.

Happy New Year! 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Have a really nice Christmas, here's to some more snow in the mountains for the New Year! Stay safe, have fun and eat plenty, its all good fuel for those snowy walk ins! 

Easy Gully, Cwm Cneifion

I have been out with Dave and Mike today for some winter skills and transition into graded winter ground. Mike had not been out in winter before whilst Dave had done a week of winter mountaineering on the West coast of Scotland. We went up into Cwm Cneifion and used the snow at the back of the bowl to refresh/teach some winter skills before climbing Easy Gully (1) to the summit plateau of the Glyderau. We roped up for the upper section as the mushy wet snow became hard and the turf frozen for the last 30 metres. We then descended Seniors Ridge (1) which added a bit of interest to the way off. It has generally been pretty warm but it was snowing above about 900m. More pictures are on my Facebook page. 

Monday Morning

Here is a bit of inspiration for a grey and wet Monday morning.

Avalanche Warning

There has been a lot of fresh snow over the last 24 hours. Tragically yesterday a male walker fell approx 500ft down Banana Gully on Y Garn when a cornice collapsed. In his fall the gully avalanched. (Details of the incident are here) Be careful folks.

Something for the Weekend

We have had a good dump of snow overnight last night and throughout the day today. My clients for the day cancelled due to poor travelling conditions coming across from the Peak District and so I have not been up on the hill. The snow line has dropped to about 350m with snow down to Pen Y Pass. With all this fresh snow you will need to pick your routes this weekend. Reading the conditions reports on UKC highlights the lack of understanding of what can be climbed in different conditions so I thought I would provide a brief summary of the three main types of winter climbing in Snowdonia and the conditions needed for them to exist, to help choose good objectives for the weekend.

Ice Climbing - As the name suggests. For ice to form and be climbable we need a sustained period of cold weather for several days and nights. There also needs to be enough water in the streams to freeze and provide routes to play on. A gentle freeze/thaw action will help the ice to build and prevent the ice from being too brittle. A sudden sharp drop in temperatures can produce very hard, brittle ice that is not great for climbing. We have not had these low temperatures yet this year and they are generally quite rare here in Snowdonia because we have such a relatively mild climate being right on the coast.

Ice Climbing in Cwm Idwal - South Gully - Dec 2010

Snow & Ice - This generally refers to the sort of climbing found in the main gully lines such as Broad Gully in Cwm Lloer, Parsley Fern Gully in Cwm Glas or Easy Gully in Cwm Cneifion. For these sorts of routes to be "in condition" we need to have had some good dumps of snow to fill the gullies followed by a slight rise in temperature to start a gentle thaw followed by a freeze to bind the snowpack together. (This process can occur naturally over time without the freeze/thaw action but rarely does in Snowdonia since it usually starts raining and washes it all away). This type of re-frozen snow is called neve and is Gods gift to winter climbers.

Hidden Gully, Cwm Cneifion. Good Neve in Dec 2011

Mixed Climbing - This is a mixture of ice and snow but can also provide climbing on routes where little of either exist. Mixed climbing is your best bet for early season conditions as it generally requires little if any ice and many routes can be climbed without neve. Defining when a mixed route is "in condition" is often contentious since harder routes often rely on frozen turf that can be easily damaged if climbed when its not frozen. A lack of snow and ice can also lead to damage to the rock itself which is a problem on summer rock routes. (For further advice on minimising your environmental impact and picking suitable routes read this article) 

This weekend the best climbing will be had on mixed routes. In the lower grades ridges like the North Ridge of Tryfan, Crib Goch, The Gribin, Seniors Ridge and the Crib Llem Spur will all give great mountaineering at about grade I/II as long as its not too windy. The lower grade gullies will probably be a wade fest in the fresh snow as they have not gone through the melt freeze process described above. 

Crib Goch - only needs a dusting of snow to be wintery. Neve like this though makes it even better. Dec 2010

Pillar Chimney, Colwyn Du - A great mixed climbing venue & a route that uses snow, ice & rock combined - Jan 2011

To push things on a bit there are plenty of mixed routes in Baggys new guidebook North Wales Winter Climbing that are high enough for the turf to be frozen, will be plastered in snow and will give a great range of routes from grade III upwards. Have a great weekend! 

Cwm Lloer, Pen Yr Ole Wen

I have been out with repeat client and friend Andy today who fancied a bit of progression from winter walking onto graded ground. We have had a reasonable covering of snow overnight down to about 600m and we headed into Cwm Lloer on Pen Yr Ole Wen to make the most of it. There is still quite a lot of hard neve in the main gully lines and with ankle deep fresh snow on top it made for good fun. We climbed the Headwall (1) and descended it again via a different line after visiting the summit. The Cwm was nicely sheltered from the wind and gave a nice mix of ground to play on. A cracking day in the snow with more forecast tonight. 

Winter Mountaineering in Snowdonia

I have been out with Simon today who is looking to join my trainee instructor mentor scheme. We headed into the mountains with an open mind and enough kit to cope with winter conditions if we found them as it all looked a bit bare from the road. Idwal stream is frozen but obviously not thick enough for climbing yet and ice is starting to form on the crags up high in the Devils Kitchen. We made our way up into Cwm Cneifion, making good time as the lack of snow combined with the frozen ground makes for quick easy progress. As we made our way up the Cwm we came across some impressive ice formations where a small waterfall had been blowing back upwards and freezing as it hit the ground, I had never seen ice like it before - very cool! The snow started in patches below Clogwyn Du and we enjoyed cramponing up some firm neve and into the base of Hidden Gully (I/II). We climbed this which gave some good sport and made our way to the top of Easy Gully (I) which we descended and then re-climbed just for fun! We then made our way down the Gribin Ridge to give a bit of scrambling fun in descent. 

Come and play in Norway

I have got 3 spaces remaining on my snowshoe trip to Norway in February. This is an exciting journey expedition to the largest mountain plateau in Europe. You will enjoy a snow shoe journey across frozen lakes, through snow laden forests and on the largest mountain plateau in Europe in this Arctic wilderness supported by a dog sledge team. Over the week you will practise winter travel skills, winter navigation, have the opportunity to ride with the dogs and spend a night in a snow hole (this is not compulsory!) You will be a part of a small team and take a share in the navigation and route finding as well as helping prepare an overnight Arctic camp and help the local Musher with the dog team.


You need to be able to function in the cold. Ideal preparation for the trip is a Scottish winter skills course or an Alpine snowshoe course but these are not essential if you have the right mental attitude. Winter skills will be revised and full training on snow shoes given as part of the trip. 


For further details visit: http://www.expeditionguide.com/norway.htm 

Navigation on the Carneddau

For the second day of our navigation and hill skills course we based ourselves on the Northern end of the Carneddau. We looked at macro navigation skills and also practised some of the micro nav skills that we had been learning yesterday in the wind and rain! It has been dry and bright today with a very fresh NW wind and some very light snow showers.

I have had about 15 emails over the last two days asking me if there will be winter climbing in Snowdonia this weekend. I generally only report the conditions that I find so that you the reader can make an informed decision as to where to go, I try to avoid naming specific objectives as that causes bottlenecks and also puts a weight of responsibility on my shoulders! The turf was properly frozen above 700m today and there is still some snow in the high Cwms. (Very small amounts that would need to be sought out) The forecast suggests some light snow showers over night so I think there will be some mixed climbing to be had tomorrow. You will need to find routes that are not too reliant on turf, that are high up and it will need to snow overnight. They do exist! Where am I going? On a steam train ride to see Father Christmas with my kids! 

Cor blimey, what a day!

I have been running the first day of a navigation and hill skills course today. The forecast was horrendous and the weather lived up to all of the predictions. The temperature was 12 degrees in the valley this morning, we had winds in excess of 70mph in the valley, waterfalls blowing uphill and heavy, heavy rain. After slightly longer in the cafe than normal we headed to Cwmfinnon and looked at some micro navigation skills. The wind was just too strong though so we dropped down to the car and visited the Rescue Base to look at emergency procedures and rescues. After an hour the skies brightened so we finished the day doing some more micro nav in the Llanberis Pass, the wind dried us out nicely!

I was surprised to see that some of the snow has remained in the high North facing cwms such as Cwm Glas, Cwm Lloer and Cwm Cneifion. This will freeze overnight as the temperature is already plummeting and is forecast to drop below freezing. This could give a good base to the main gully lines but will totally depend on what snow comes in tomorrow. The forecasts suggest light showers becoming heavier as the day progresses and temperatures of -2 at 900m which could be good. We shall see!

Cneifion Arete

I have been out with Rosie again today and in an ideal world we wanted to play in the snow again as we did yesterday. Unfortunately the snow line has risen over night with a slight rise in temperatures and we also had 65mph winds to contend with today so had to strike a fine line between height for the snow and getting pinned down by the winds. We decided to head for Cwm Cneifion to get some shelter and some height. The whole Cwm has stripped back which is a shame as there is some ice starting to form on the Tower Slabs area. Nevertheless we climbed the Cneifion Arete as a summer scramble (carrying winter kit which must at least be good training!?) and had fun battling the winds. What a difference a day makes!

With tomorrows forecast heavy rain and higher temperatures I think we will be back to square one on Friday. More snow is then forecast so the weekend could be similar to the first couple of days of this week. It summarises the Welsh winter climbing scene to me, you have to be opportunistic and get out and have a look even if its looking unlikely from the valley floor. You definitely won't get anything done by staying in the cafe!

Clogwyn Du

Crib Goch in the snow

I have been out with Jude and Rosie today who have both been out with me before and fancied some private guiding in the snow. We headed up over Crib Goch (1) and had a brilliant day in some challenging snow conditions. The snow line has risen slightly since yesterday and this slight rise in temperature meant that low down the snow was quite soft and the ice was breaking easily away from the rock. As we gained height though conditions improved so that on the ridge itself we had some nice sections of harder snow. Generally though there was ankle deep graupel interspersed with sections of wind scoured snow and ice which all combined to make the route good value for the grade and meant that we had the rope on for most of it. It snowed all day with some beautiful big flakes at times and our tracks were soon being filled in behind us, a superb day in the mountains.