Snow Shelter Building Day

We headed up onto Aonach Mor today to look at emergency and planned snow shelters. We built a range of emergency shelters and a group snowhole in 2 metre drifts. The freezing level was higher than yesterday and we were below it all day with temperatures above freezing all day. A great day of digging!

Stob Coire Nan Lochain & Bidean nam Bian

As we drive down Glen Coe this morning it seemed as though we would be spending the day in the cloud and waterproofs, the weather forecast seemed to back that up. We made our way up Stob Coire nan Lochan and once we reached about 700m pulled up above the clouds to fantastic snow clad peaks and blue skies peeking out of a sea of clouds. It was a glorious day so we made the most of it and nabbed Bidean as well. The freezing level rose as the day went on but the crags were nicely rimed and the gully lines full.

Buachaille Etive Beag

We headed down into Glen Coe today to avoid the rain and snow falling over Lochaber. We went up Buachaille Etive Beag which is a very pleasant Munro at the Southern end of the valley. The ground was still frozen and we had some great crampon practise on the frozen streams on the way up. The freezing level rose as the day went on and it snowed gently on and off over about 750m.

Winter Skills 5 day course

I have been joined for the week by Simon, Andy, Sam, Matt, Chris and Dan for a five day winter skills course. For the first day today we headed up on the Gondola onto Aonach Nid after a kit check and weather chat back at the cottage. We looked at ice axe, crampon and self arrest skills and talked about avalanche avoidance as we travelled. It has been a glorious sunny day with temperatures of -4 at 750m and some fresh snow on the ground after a flurry last night. Friends of mine climbed Forgotten Twin on the East Face of Aonach Mor which is normally grade II. They reported reasonable ice that would allow ice screws and steep climbing at about grade III. People were also climbing Right Twin and Left Twin reportedly looked good.

Stob Coire Nan Lochain

We headed to Glencoe today to enjoy a mountain journey with the skills we looked at yesterday. It snowed gently all morning but then the freezing level rose to about 1000m this afternoon and a lot of the lower ice melted out. There were folks climbing some of the easier snow gullies but there is not generally a lot of snow about. Friends headed to Aonach Mor but the gondola was not running so they aborted to the cafe!

Scotland - Winter Skills Weekend

I am in Fort William for a while now and have been joined for the weekend by Luke, Amy, Suzie and Paul for a winter skills weekend. Today we headed up onto Aonach Mor where there are some hard patches of old neve and loads of ice. We had a great day looking at ice axe and crampon skills and enjoyed fine views. 

Aber Falls

I took the kids for a walk this morning just to answer that nagging doubt, are Aber Falls freezing? The temperature has been below freezing here in Llanfairfechan for the last few days but as you can see in the photo they are not! There is some ice either side but it needs to get a lot colder yet. Ah well! 

Snowdonia Conditions

The ice is building nicely with ice down to the road now. It is still all a bit thin for climbing but with the temperatures due to stay cold for the next few days, perhaps even into the middle of next week, it looks as though things could be good for the weekend. I was out on another rescue on Snowdon last night as a direct result of people not being properly equipped so would recommend carrying full winter kit including crampons and axe. Have fun!

Just as an add on to this post I walked up into Cwm Idwal this afternoon and the Idwal Stream is frozen. Friends had climbed it today but reported it as being very thin. The appendix and others have not yet formed but are getting bigger. Llyn Idwal was partially frozen. It looks like we have a classic high pressure temperature inversion with summit temperatures consistently higher than the valley temperatures. 

Bouldering on the Orme

It has been a beautiful few days here in Snowdonia with consistently cold weather, blue skies and sunshine. Last night we had two rescues on Snowdon and the water courses were all frozen. It was below freezing as a I drove home at about 10:00pm. Yesterday afternoon I took the boys to the Orme and we enjoyed a spot of bouldering and a cliff top walk in the beautiful weather. 

Christmas Day Rescue on Crib Goch

Christmas for me is always a great time as we have 3 kids (plus another on the way!) and this year we had a lovely day at home. The little boys got new bikes for Christmas so we were on the seafront first thing in the morning before I prepared the Christmas lunch. Just as we had finished and I was about to load the dishwasher the pager went off, perfect timing! Five men were crag fast on Crib Goch so the team were deployed to help. We walked two off that had turned round of their own accord and the chopper lifted the remaining 3. It was a beautiful afternoon to be out and plenty of folk were enjoying a walk on the mountain. You can just make out the helicopter if you look carefully in the top of the photo. We were back in time for tea and the Doctor Who special! 

Carneddau

Erik, Kirsten and I headed over the Carneddua today. We started on Pen-yr Ole Wen and went over Carnedd Dafydd and Llewelyn in thick cloud and warm drizzle all day - not very wintery! We did however manage to look at the fitting and use of crampons, do some scrambling and all in excellent navigation conditions! 

Welsh Winter Skills Course

I have been joined for two days by Eric and Kirsten for a Welsh winter skills course. Its a bit of shame that they were not here last weekend as we could have had some snow and ice to play on but would it then have been a Welsh winter weekend? We did find the only snow in Wales I think by heading into the back of Cwm Cneifion and getting up high but it was 7c above and the snow was completely sodden. Nonetheless we valiantly looked at the various uses of an ice axe and destroyed the small patch of snow we found. We also looked at some scrambling and navigation skills and had a very enjoyable day, especially as the Warden and the tea shack staff at Idwal Cottage car park were all handing out festive chocolates!  

Wet & warm in Snowdonia

The temperature has risen overnight and it was 10c in the Idwal Cottage car park this morning and raining heavily. I walked up into Cwm Cneifion where it was looking very washed out. The main gully lines remained but the buttresses are looking black and the ice was running with water. Imagine what a good freeze could do though! 

Mountain Rescue Training

I am back in Snowdonia today and have spent the day on a Mountain Rescue training exercise. Several years ago I ran an off road driving school and so my rusty services were pressed into action today to provide a day of driver training for my colleagues in the Llanberis team. We spent the day looking at the skills that we require to get the most from our vehicles with sympathy for the environment we all love whilst assisting stricken walkers and climbers. 

We had a dump of snow in the night and the snow line has dropped again as you can see in the photo of Snowdon that I took this afternoon. Tomorrow looks like it will be a nice day but then it is going to get warm in the middle of the week so it is unlikely there will be much snow left for the weekend. 

Invernookie, Cairngorms

It has been a gorgeous day in the Cairngorms today with crystal clear blue skies and sunshine and very little wind. It looked as though a few folk had called in sick as the crags were busy for a Thursday in the middle of December! I was joined by Alec a good friend of mine and we climbed Invernookie (III, 4). The snow was generally quite good but a little crusty in places, the route was nicely rimed up as you can see in the photos and it was well below freezing all day with temperatures in the car park of -3c. We then strolled across for a look down the Loch Avon basin which is also shown in the photos, there were several parties heading in this morning and the Loch was frozen. Its looking a fairly wild weekend which is a shame as the conditions are improving all of the time. 

Cairngorms - The Runnell

Jason and I headed back into Sneachda today. It has remained very cold and we had a similar day to yesterday weather wise with some fairly strong Northerly winds. We climbed the Runnell, a great grade II route that had some good snow ice in it. Jason lead the approach to the route as a pitch of grade 1 snow climbing and then we progressed his climbing skills from yesterday with some movement coaching and hard skills development. Another great day out with plenty of spindrift for authenticity! 

Cairngorms, Goat Track Gully

I am in the Cairngorms this week making the most of the winter conditions. I have been joined for today and tomorrow by a friend of mine, Jason, who has done some winter walking and wanted to do some winter climbing. We walked into Sneachda and did refreshed basic crampon and axe skills, avalanche awareness and then climbed Goat Track Gully. This is a great grade II route that we climbed in 4 pitches. It was very windy on the top, we headed down the Goat Track and then spent some time looking at buried axe belays, buckets seats and snow bollards before retiring to the cafe. A great day out. It is very cold with the freezing level at around 700m. The snow is thin but the ground is well frozen, the crags nicely rimed and some reasonable ice about. Parties were climbing on Fiacall Buttress and the Runnell but poor visibility meant it was hard to see what else was being done. 

Rescues on Crib Goch

The Llanberis Mountain Rescue team has had a fairly standard weekend with a call out Friday night and Saturday night to Crib Goch. On Friday the stranded walker was assisted down by the team and last night a passing member of the public helped a stricken walker down. We were despatched to the landing zone for a helicopter pick up but were not needed which is always good news. The team rely entirely on contributions from the public and you can read more here. 

Intro to Navigation

I have been joined today by Jon, Rachel, Kath, Dave, Nichola and Dawn for an intro to navigation course. We enjoyed a crisp frosty morning and headed up into Cwm Treggalan on Snowdon. The day stayed dry and bright and we have had a lovely day and good company.  There has been a definite temperature inversion associated with the high pressure over the last couple of days so the valleys have been colder than the summits. 

SARDA Training Day

I have been out with SARDA Wales today in the Llanberis Pass. I had a lovely morning hiding for the young search dogs and then a great afternoon with the adult dogs whilst they searched a larger area for multiple bodies. These dogs are all trained for Search and Rescue and the handlers are all volunteers. SARDA is a charity and relies on donations, you can read more here.