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Posts Tagged Cwm Cneifion

Well I névé!

Feb 6

Posted by Haydn in Outdoors | No Comments

I needed a break from house-breaking last week, so snuck off for some winter action in North Wales on Sunday and Monday. I ended up coming back early to do more house things, but had no real objections after an excellent day on Sunday.

Another early start from Chester, and another cruddy petrol station quiche for lunch because I forgot my sandwiches! We abandoned my car halfway up the Nant Ffrancon due to slow (and sometimes sideways) progress in the snow. The truck made light work of it all, and we soon found ourselves heading up to Cneifion.

Climbers below Clogwyn Du. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

Climbers below Clogwyn Du. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

With snow pretty much everywhere, we had a good choice of routes. All the gullies down to Cneifion Arete were full, but we kept going up to the top end of the cwm. I fancied a Grade II, having not led anything at that grade since Sargeant's Gully with Chris a year ago. I'd also had my eye on Hidden Gully for a while, as it gets two stars and is described as a "hidden gem". On arrival, three teams were on Clogwyn Du and one set off up Hidden Gully ahead of us. We traversed across to the gully from Easy Route on great neve, which continued all the way up. Despite a continuous flow of spindrift, there was good climbing with a couple of short steep steps.

I was proper cold at this point.

I was proper cold at this point.

We roped up at the narrowing bit, and I led most of the way up. I got a couple of nuts in, but all the cracks needed clearing, and the rock was pretty rimed up. The climbing itself was pretty secure because the snow was so good, so it wasn't too much of an issue. I belayed just below the summit, and James took the lead for the last little pitch on reasonably steep snow.

Belay camaraderie is a remedy for being chilly. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010.

Belay camaraderie is a remedy for being chilly. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010.

James leading the top of Hidden Gully. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

James leading the top of Hidden Gully. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

The weather on the top was a bit breezy with poor visibility, so we descended Easy Route in the interests of speed. The plan was then to head lower and play on some of the easy gullies near Cneifion Arete. Tower Slabs had piqued my interest on a number of occasions, but at II/III I figured I had shied away from it with my natural sense of caution. With Hidden Gully proving so much fun, I got carried away and suggested we play around soloing the water ice at the bottom of Tower Slabs, possibly climbing as high as the snow terrace before heading back down. The first 5 metres or so really gave me the willies, I think as I'd not climbed proper ice for twelve months, but I soon got into the swing of things. On reaching the terrace the descent looked dodgy and we found ourselves on lovely neve. After a brief discussion we decided to carry on up; thus followed miles of perfect snow! Great placements first time with axes and crampons, a steep but not terrifying gradient, and a brilliant situation when the cloud occasionally cleared.

Wicked snow on Tower Slabs. Copyright James Devine 2010

Wicked snow on Tower Slabs. Copyright James Devine 2010

Once on top, we came down Easy Route again and back to the car. So, another step towards my aim of leading III by the end of the season (despite a distinct lack of days out) and it ended up being an accidental solo! There's a big thaw on now, but still snow in the high gullies and freezing levels predicted to be 200m – 300m for the next few days – maybe there'll be some more action again soon.

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Cneifion contrasts

Dec 23

Posted by Haydn in Outdoors | 1 Comment

Up to Cwm Cneifion again today, following reports of good climbing conditions after a dump of snow earlier in the week. James was mad keen for a taste of winter climbing after last year's foray up Parsley Fern Gully, and I fancied leading something more involved than a snow plod (although I still say you can't beat a good plod at times).

We had a rather leisurely start and got to the upper section of the Cwm at 10:30. There were already teams on Easy Route (I), Hidden Gully (II) and spread across Clogwyn Ddu (crazy hard). I fancied Tower Gully (I/II 2), a line which goes up the side of Maybe Tower Rib (Grade 3 scramble). On arrival, it looked a bit steeper and more hairy than I'd anticipated, but the internet had informed me that it was all fine, with nice neve in the upper half and simple ice steps throughout (albeit three of them instead of the one mentioned in the guide book).

Tower Gully (I/II 2) goes straight up the middle. Copyright Haydn Williams 2009.

Tower Gully (I/II 2) goes straight up the middle. Copyright Haydn Williams 2009.

The internet lied. The entire route was alternating sections of good ice and horrible knee-deep graupel which gave way under the slightest bit of pressure. None of the climbing was particularly difficult, but the penalty for failure was high and the chances of a slip also reasonable under such dodgy snow conditions. Nevertheless, it was a useful exercise in pushing myself; there was a distinct lack of gear placements in the gully walls so each pitch got a single ice screw protecting the steep step and that was about it! I'm not normally very good at getting anywhere above gear, so was pleased with my performance today.

Start of the second pitch - leaving horrid snow and getting onto nicer ice. Photo by James Devine. Copyright Haydn Williams 2009.

Start of the second pitch - leaving horrid snow and getting onto nicer ice. Photo by James Devine. Copyright Haydn Williams 2009.

Right from arriving in the cwm we noticed people on some seriously hard looking routes over on Clogwyn Ddu – turns out we were watching a clean ascent of Cracking Up (IX, 9), the hardest winter route in Wales. On the way out we also saw Rich Cross and Ian Parnell on Travesty (VIII, 8), and another party got up the oft-lauded El Mancho (VI, 7).

James at the top of Tower Gully. Copyright Haydn Williams 2009

James at the top of Tower Gully. Copyright Haydn Williams 2009

On topping out, we were treated to views over much snow inland, and out to the Isle of Man and Ireland in the opposite direction. The weather held out all day, and we had a very leisurely walk off down Devil's Kitchen, which entailed walking very slowly and messing about an awful lot. Coming down the Kitchen we met a lady who'd been on South Gully (IV 5) and The Screen (IV 4). There were actually loads of teams heading into Idwal this morning, even though most of the ice routes actually looked a little thin. I think the whole area needs a good thaw and re-freeze to get the snow into condition (and preferably more snow too!), and a longer cold spell before the popular ice routes get into the kind of nick where they can withstand large numbers of holiday ascents!

The Glyder plateau in atmospheric afternoon light. Copyright Haydn Williams 2009

The Glyder plateau in atmospheric afternoon light. Copyright Haydn Williams 2009

So a hard day on a grade I/II, while those at the other end of the experience / talent scale had a marginally harder day on the other side of the cwm. It certainly gives us something to aim for…

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You win some…

Dec 8

Posted by Haydn in Outdoors | 1 Comment

You win some, you lose some. I took a gamble last weekend with a trip to Snowdonia, and I definitely won.

After reports of good conditions the previous weekend, and exciting things being done throughout the week, I decided a lightning raid on North Wales was required in the hope of catching some early season snow. With everyone else busy due to financial / eco-warrior / christmas dinner commitments, this was to be a solo mission. Driving along the A55 at 06:00 on Saturday morning, the thermometer in the car read 9 degrees C, and my hopes of getting anything done were fading. I pulled in to Ogwen caff car park at 07:45; there were two cars already present, and I feel we all bonded as we sat there, looking gloomily past flailing windscreen wipers at the nearly-bare Glyderau. However, I hadn't driven all that way to go for a ramble, so I bunged the pointy things in my bag and ventured up to Cwm Cneifion anyway.

Climbers on Easy Route. You can see my footprints pretty much all the way up the route. Copyright Haydn Williams 2009.

Climbers on Easy Route. You can see my footprints pretty much all the way up the route. Copyright Haydn Williams 2009.

Mercifully there was still some snow left! Despite a major thaw most other places, the north-facing headwall of the upper cwm had retained some gully snow that was still climable. At the end of last year I had a look at Easy Route (I), but found it full of slush. This time it was perfectly doable, so do it I did. It lives up to its name, serving as a nice start to the new season. The top section gets a bit steeper and more interesting, and I was up on the plateau pretty quickly. With my desired route for the day dealt with, I pondered the most interesting way down. Y Gribin was still plastered in snow and ice, and looked a bit dicey, so I opted for Senior's Ridge. Plans soon changed when I decided to traverse from Senior's back into the upper cwm, and have a nosey at Corner Gully (I/II).

Repeating Easy Route. Do steps count as cheating? Copyright Haydn Williams 2009

Repeating Easy Route. Do steps count as cheating? Copyright Haydn Williams 2009

As I reached my initial start point, I met another bloke who had his eye on the same route. He went up first while I demolished a bacon sandwich, and I then followed him, taking a slightly different line at the top. Like Easy Route, I was surprised at the quality of the snow; despite a couple of soft patches it seemed I'd managed to get away with two routes. On the plateau once again, we went our separate ways and I plodded down Senior's Ridge. It seems my recent gym and running regime has paid dividends, because – full of enthusiasm – I went back again and repeated Corner Gully! Heading down Senior's Ridge for the third time that day, I promised myself just one more route. I'd been eyeing-up a nice looking line in the corner towards Tower Rib, which the guide book later informed me was the top end of Tower Slab (II/III). While doing Corner Gully for the second time, I'd noticed a few bits of rock thawing away from the cliff and descending at speed, so aborted that plan and repeated Easy Route instead. By this point there had been a lot of melting everywhere, and I figured four laps was probably enough! Being a little sick of Senior's Ridge by this point, I descended over Glyder Fawr and past Devil's Kitchen. Going under Idwal slabs I saw a party of three backing off Ordinary Route, which brought back fond memories of last year's MPS trip.

Too much stuff for one person? Drying kit in the 'van. Copyright Haydn Williams 2009

Too much stuff for one person? Drying kit in the 'van. Copyright Haydn Williams 2009

I spent the night in the caravan, drying things off and listening to the seventeen hours of non-stop rain which followed my descent from the Glyders. I had a leisurely start on Sunday, waiting for the rain to stop (which it did, eventually). Given a rather horrid forecast, gleefully summed up by Becs on the phone as "chilly, windy, soggy", I decided to head up Moel Siabod via Daear Ddu, the east ridge. I parked in Capel and walked the first bit to the top of the horrible tarmac track, at which point I started running. Despite a rather viscious but short-lived hailstorm, I made reasonable time to the ridge, which is a Grade 1 scramble. No matter how many times I do it, I just keep coming back to it; you can make it as easy or as hard as you like, and nowhere is it particularly scary. I had great fun picking an interesting line up the ridge, and then made it from the summit back to the car in just over half an hour. So, that was my first proper run over a mountain, and I think we can class it as a success.

Descending from Siabod - Capel, Llynau Mymbyr and the Carneddau in the background. Copyright Haydn Williams 2009

Descending from Siabod - Capel, Llynau Mymbyr and the Carneddau in the background. Copyright Haydn Williams 2009

All in all, it seems I managed to wrestle a bit of snowy fun and a decent hill run from what could have been a very wet and generally dismal weekend. Roll on the rest of the season.

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Y Glyderau Weekend

Sep 25

Posted by Haydn in Outdoors | 4 Comments

A cracking couple of days in Snowdonia last weekend, as James and I ticked off another four scrambles in glorious sunshine. Saturday saw us on Tryfan Bach bright and early. There's a *** Grade 3 route up the left-hand side, and it's a really nice way to start the day. We trudged with hundreds of other climbers up to Heather Terrace, and promptly dived off at the first opportunity up Bastow Buttress Variant (**, Grade 2/3). I led the first pitch, and the route immediately settled into a routine of "nice pitch, followed by a little bit of east heather" for the rest of it's height. And if anyone finds size 1 and 2 nuts somewhere on the route, James would very much like them back!

Haydn on Bastow Buttress Variant.

Haydn on Bastow Buttress Variant.

The whole of Tryfan was heaving, and we legged it up the North Ridge and down to Bwlch Tryfan as quickly as possible, before heading down the Miner's Path back to the car.

James on Bastow Buttress Variant.

James on Bastow Buttress Variant.

On Sunday we took advantage of the dry conditions to tackle Idwal Staircase and Continuation (**, 2). I've been past the bottom of this scramble often enough, as it starts right from the Cwm Idwal path. The first pitch is normally a waterfall, but even with just a trickle of actual water, it was still horrible and slippy. I don't mind admitting that it was not enjoyable in the slightest! However, the rest of the route is brilliant! We soloed the entire thing, having not realised from the guidebook how friendly the terrain actually was. On reflection, it's not suprising that the three guys ahead of us looked a little startled at the variety of gear we were laying out at the bottom of the first pitch!

Idwal Staircase and Continuation.

Idwal Staircase and Continuation.

After that we were planning to head up Senior's Ridge to Glyder Fawr (*,1), but instead decided to tackle another 'dry weather only' route; Maybe Tower Rib in Cwm Cneifion (*, 2/3). I have no idea how this route got it's name, but I enjoyed it thoroughly! Easy soloing to start, and then three ~30m pitches. James got to lead the first and last, with my doing the middle – he definitely got the best deal! I found the middle pitch weaved around a heck of a lot, and was harder to protect than the other two. But then I do worry too much, as well.

Llyn Idwal and Nant Ffrancon from Senior's Ridge.

Llyn Idwal and Nant Ffrancon from Senior's Ridge.

Anyway, it might be a bit of a trek to get to it, but it's well worth doing. I'm disagreeing with Ashton and giving it two stars instead of one. The new camera again performed well, and coped with being sat on, and dropped / banged / scratched in a wide variety of different places.

You can check the latest status update here.

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