Adventures on Crib Goch in Winter

Incredible snowy views towards Moel Siabod from Crib Goch

 

Sometimes the best adventures aren't planned, but happen, on the spur of the moment, and occur at the most unexpected times.  A few weeks ago, during a spell of snowy wintery weather in Snowdonia, I had an incredible adventure.

Starting up a wintery PYG track

 

The Welsh winter conditions were great, the weather forecast was for sun with winds of 50mph and my van had to go to the garage to get it's cam belt changed.  Slightly annoyed that on such a good day I didn't have a vehicle (the bus service, especially in winter, isn't great) I was in two minds as to whether to bother trying to get to the hills or not.

 

Breaking trail on Crib Goch

Having missed the 11:20 bus I put my running shoes on and tried to hitch, with my mountaineering boots in my rucksack.  I surmised that I could at least walk the hour and a bit to the edge of the mountains, do something and then return before the garage shut.  On the way I would try to hitch to save time.

 

Obligatory smiling selfie

20 minutes later and I was picked up by a car and asked where I wanted to go, answer: 'the mountains, I don't really mind where, Ogwen valley or Pen Y Pass, or Capel if you're stopping there!'  As the driver was heading to Llanberis I was dropped off at Pen Y Pass.  Despite the strong winds forecast I thought I would venture up the PYG track and see where the day took me.  Crib Goch in winter was something I hadn't yet done and was really keen to, and sure enough, upon reaching the col I began making my way up.  Lower down it was bitterly windy and I tucked myself on the LHS of the ridgeline, out of the wind, and made a cut off in my mind just before the ridge opens out before the knife edge section.

 

Looking towards Snowdon

Soon the powder snow wading began, sun lighting up the snow spinning around me, it was great.  Alpine like trail breaking and no one else around.  Occasionally I found sections of a past trail someone else had made, but mostly I ploughed my own.  Further along the ridge, the wind seemed to die out to a milder 20-30mph and I began to grin from ear to ear. 

 

An alpine like snowy Crib Goch ridge

Crib Goch in winter conditions

Upon reaching the 'knife edge' section the wind was so little I could almost balance from one step to the other without crouching, and it was incredible to be the only person on the entire ridgeline.  Perfect, untouched snow covered the ridge (making it quite wide actually), and I felt like a kid, excited, full of beans and psyched to see if I could do the whole horseshoe before the last bus at 16:50! (of course I knew this would never happen but you can dream!)

 

The big grey cloud getting closer

The ominous looking cloud over Snowdon

Passing the pinnacles was a lot easier than I had imagined it could be, and then I saw it, a huge dark grey cloud menacingly advancing closer and closer.  At next col I hunkered down in the wind and looked at my map, should I

A: descend down to Cwm Glas, where I know you can descend safely, but then have to walk up the road.

B: keep going and hang on for dear life in the wind and snow to come

C: descend straight down the micro ridge on the map to the PYG track, which is an accident blackspot and something I'd never done before.

 

Looking down the descent route to the PYG track

 

I chose option C, the perfect moment, snow conditions and visibility to do some proper navigation and get down safely.  It was a lot easier than I thought it could be, and a few plunge steps later I was zooming back along the PYG track to the car park.

 

Stunning post sunset views across to Moel Siabod

Arriving back in the car park just as it started to snow, I waited a while and was given a lift all the back to Betws.

 

Starting to snow in the Llanberis pass just as I got back to Pen Y Pass

What an incredible day, and such an unexpected adventure.  Next winter I'll have to go back and do the whole horseshoe too.

A wintery day out in the Glyders, Y Garn - Y Gribin ridge

Sunday's forecast looked great for a day out on the hill - 35-45mph winds, and 'patchy sunshine'.  I was keen to get out and see how much snow and ice were on the hills and try to get in at least 1000m of ascent too.

A slightly snowy Y Garn on the left

From Ogwen cottage I decided to head up Y Garn along the footpath on the NE ridge.  This would allow me to gain height quickly, check out the condition of the front face and see what wintery state cwm idwal was in.

Cwm Idwal

View down the Ogwen valley, Tryfan on the right

The long uphill slog began and I was already missing my trail running shoes.  Pausing by Llyn Clyd to get a look at the snow conditions on the east face, I saw that no one was on it yet, but some people had started down-climbing from the top.  The top 100 vertical meters of the face looked quite fun, but below it was all slushy and the ground was not frozen either.  At 800m or so I put crampons on as the path now had a solid ice filling on it, and went on to break trail towards the summit.  Conditions were definitely mild and the wind forecast was correct, windy, but not too bad.

A sunny snowcapped Pen Yr Ole Wen

Continuing on to Llyn y Cwm, instead of following the 'normal' path up I opted to go up the gully just west as it looked solid and I had never gone that way before.  On to the windswept summit of Glyder Fawr and the bad weather didn't look far away.  The dark grey clouds over Snowdon and odd sprinkling of hail led me to descent down Y Gribin in the hope that I would avoid the worst of it.  Cwm Cneifion had a bit of a cornice on it, and a few people were coming up the gullies too.

The top of Cwm Cneifion (the nameless cwm), complete with cornice

Ominous clouds over the snowdon range

Y Gribin was in good nick, with some solid snow/ice cover until the football field, where it started to turn to slush.  From here I walked back to Ogwen Cottage via Llyn Bochlwyd.

Drosgl horseshoe

For the last two weeks I've been back in the UK and enjoying the cold damp feeling of a Welsh winter by wearing wooly socks on my runs, doing lots of admin indoors-by the radiator, and taking photos of the snow topped mountains.  I also have tried my hardest not to be too jealous of the new snowfall in the Alps recently.  Over 50cm of fresh snow is forecast to fall in Verbier ski resort during the next week.

The view towards Gyrn Wigau - the two rocky knolls either side of the path.

The other day I completed a new fell run around the NW Carneddau.  Leaving Bethesda I set out towards Drosgl.  Half way up Drosgl you reach Gyrn Wigau.  From here you get great views across the Caseg and Llafar valleys, and the taller mountains of the Carneddau.  As you pass through the rocky knolls either side marking the last ascent to Drosgl you feel more like you have stepped into the wilds of Scotland, than that you have gone less than 3km from Bethesda!  This area has some of the largest mountains and longest valleys in Snowdonia.  While the Glyders and Snowdon are busy, the Northern peaks in the Carneddau area are often quiet.

Looking across towards Bera Bach and Carnedd Uchaf.

Yr Elen with the main Carneddau mountains behind.

The wind was howling at around 40mph and so rather than continue with my original route to Carnedd Uchaf and back down the valley, I ran NW towards Gyrn and over Llefn and Moel Faban to Bethesda.  This made for a great 12km circular route with around 700m of ascent.

Looking back towards Llefn and Gyrn.

On the Welsh winter conditions front, nothing is in condition and it doesn't look like much will be for the next few days either, but there is still some snow on the tops and the wind and rain continue relentlessly.

Last view back towards the mountains on the side of Moel Faban

A mid-week weekend in the Lakes

Last Thursday morning I headed up to the Lakes for two days of walking and an induction day with an outdoor company that I would like to work for.

Google maps said 3hours 15min, I was thinking 4hours at least, and, because of the amazing views it took 5!

The single track road that leads north to Eskdale

Just one of the amazing views along the way, you can just about see snow topped fells in the far distance.

With only a few hours of daylight left I thought I would wander up to Slight side, the first Wainwright you reach on the way to Scafell from Eskdale.  The Southwestern section of the Lake District is not an area I'm familiar with and what could be better than stretching the legs after a long journey by ticking a hill off and finding the snow line.

First good view of Slight side and Scafell

One of the things that amazed me were all the sheep walking around on the hills at this time of year.  When the majority of the Snowdonia sheep are herded up, what were these ones still doing out and about?  I later discovered that they are Herdwicks, a breed developed by the community to cope with the local conditions, and one of the most hardy in the UK.

This Herdwick sheep kindly posed for me!

Along the way I even got a few rays of sun

The sun finally came out

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The view onwards to Scafell

Awesome views

Upon arriving back to the homely Eskdale YHA, complete with drying room, hot showers and a wood fire, I was greeted by a cup of tea and lots of other mountain leaders.  Over a homemade curry we chatted through the plan of action for tomorrow and had a chance to read the latest weather forecast.  It did not look good... snow and gales were predicted with 'any mobility tortuous on higher areas'.  At least we weren't required to prove our winter mountaineering skills, and aimed to stay amongst the smaller hills tomorrow.

The snow started falling softly

More snow and wind

Towards midday the wind increased, and the snow kept falling.  As we walked around Harter Fell we soon entered Dunnerdale forest, where the Forestry Commission are trying to restore the semi-natural  woodlands and 're-wild' them back to their original state.  You can find out more about the project here.

Some shelter in the forest

Shortly after exiting the forest we came across the Hardknott pass road.  One of the steepest passes in the UK at a gradient of 33%, and the Roman's '10th highway'.  Towards the end of the pass there are the ruins of a 2nd century Roman Fort, which was believed to be occupied for over 300 years.  In the current weather I couldn't imagine living there for just one winter season!

Aerial view of Hardknott Roman Fort  © English Heritage

The English Heritage site also has lots more information on the Fort.  Click here for the website.

Hardknott pass, the decision was made not to drive home this way later on!

Walking down the grass by the side of the road was considerably easier until we reached the freezing level where upon it all turned to slush.  Looks like the winter conditions in the Lakes will be ok at the weekend if the wind calms down a bit.