Posts Tagged Winter climbing

Everyone loves nav practice

Over recent years I seem to have managed to slot one snowy excursion in before Christmas each December, and I kept up the habit last weekend with a blitzkrieg to Snowdonia.

I met James near Chester at 6am on Sunday, and we set off west. Uncharacteristically, he said he wasn't up for anything particularly spicy, so my planned objective of the grade II version of Y Gribin was shelved in favour of a lap of the Carneddau. The snow line was just below the entrance to Cwm Fynnon Lloer, and the westerly winds meant we were slogging through some pretty big accumulations on lee slopes as we approached the east ridge of Pen yr Ole Wen. I was hoping that the scrambly step would be nice and icy, but alas we had no excuse to don crampons, requiring only a walking axe to gain some purchase in the deep powder as spindrift sloughed down around us.
James ploughing his way up the east ridge of Pen yr Ole Wen. © Haydn Williams 2011

James ploughing his way up the east ridge of Pen yr Ole Wen. © Haydn Williams 2011

As we gained height the gullies dropping away on our right looked to contain only very loose powder and protruding rocks; not fun! Towards the top of the ridge James revealed that he was carrying a niggling leg injury, so we broke out the map and considered our options. Descent down the south-west ridge seemed the sensible course of action and we strode onwards to the top.
Finally, a chance to play in the snow again. Photo by James Devine. © Haydn Williams 2011.

Finally, a chance to play in the snow again. Photo by James Devine. © Haydn Williams 2011.

We'd been in the cloud for a while, so took a bearing from the summit to the path running along the top of Braich Ty Du face. Mother nature served us an ace at this point, delivering a proper whiteout in our first winter trip of the year.
Navigation, Carneddau style. © Haydn Williams 2011

Navigation, Carneddau style. © Haydn Williams 2011

Nonetheless, we carried out some exemplary 'leapfrogging' to ensure that we kept on the correct bearing, until a large bubble was noticed in my compass. We cheerily extracted the spare compass from James' sack, only to find that it too had developed a not insignificant bubble. Persevering with my compass, we eventually popped out exactly where anticipated (but not before stopping for a cup of tea and a sandwich). Descending out of the cloud, we decided to break south and meet the path which skirts Llyn Ogwen, to avoid doing a longer lap of the lake along the road. Crossing the large boulder field turned out to be a rather arduous affair and the cause of much blaspheming, but we were soon back at the car.
Descending towards Llyn Ogwen. © Haydn Williams 2011

Descending towards Llyn Ogwen. © Haydn Williams 2011

With everything south of the highlands looking set to melt between now and Christmas, it was nice to get out into the white stuff for the first time this season. Here's hoping for a good Welsh Winter!

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Ridge Raiders

[Sorry - just found this in my "Drafts" folder from before Christmas. Back when I was still full of naïve hope that I might actually get some winter routes in this year. I'm not bitter. Honest.]

Last weekend I found myself having to travel to my parents' house near Chester on Friday night, so I took the opportunity to grab a quick snowy round of Moel Siabod with James.

Given a strict timetable, we needed something easily accessible and fun, but not hard enough to involve ropes and associated faff. We settled on the east ridge of Moel Siabod, Daear Ddu (Grade I/II). The first early start of the season in the truck set us off towards Snowdonia, and I started playing with time lapse photography on the iPhone. Whilst still requiring some tinkering, the results were quite interesting (below). As we pulled into the car park at Capel, the unwanted sideways motion of the truck suggested it was a little icy. Having finally skidded our way into a parking spot, I jumped out and promptly fell flat on my back on the ice; you'll notice I appear only momentarily at the end of the time-lapse sequence, as I spent most of that time writhing around on the floor in a mixture of agony and hysterics.

Time lapse video. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010.

Nevertheless, a quick blast of christmas Mariah Carey on the radio soon sorted me out, and we set off up the horrifically steep tarmac road to the start of the hill proper. At about 08:30 we passed an old chap on his way down; his assessment of conditions higher up? "Grim". Excellent. There was surprisingly little snow low down, but as we passed through the old mine workings and crossed the cwm to the bottom of the ridge the cover increased steadily.

View towards Betws y Coed and the Conwy Valley. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010.

View towards Betws y Coed and the Conwy Valley. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010.

I've waxed lyrical about how much I love this ridge before, so I won't do it again. I had actually run this route a couple of weeks earlier (didn't get around to blogging about that one) and with the ludicrous weather in the intervening days it was a different prospect now. It was snowing heavily by this point, and with our increased height things were looking pretty white. With the consistenly low temperatures of the past couple of weeks, it was still all powdery and unconsolidated.

Moel Siabod looking snowy but fairly pleasant. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010.

Moel Siabod looking snowy but fairly pleasant. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010.

The ridge is graded as I/II apparently, but it really didn't feel like that at all. I think we took the most sporting line. Crampons and axes were definitely not required, with progress being made through a combination of brushing six inches of snow off holds, and kicking steps in slightly more consolidated cracks and corners. An hour later we were stood on the summit. The old bloke from earlier turned out to be completely wrong, as apart from all-round cloud and a stiff breeze it was fine up top. Given our impending deadline, we scuttled quickly down the north ridge (via the most amazingly accurate compass bearing I think I've ever taken).

Despite not needing any pointy implements, it was nice to get back out in the white stuff for the first time this year. There's a new Welsh winter guide out before Christmas so hopefully we'll be able to get out again soon!

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The Great Thaw

December 2010. Britain is held firmly in the grip of the harshest winter for decades. Snow and ice have caused the nation to ground to a halt, with transport links chaotic and mountainous areas witnessing unprecedented volumes of early-season snowfall. The MPS New Year trip looks like it could be the scene of great heroics and derring-do as the nation's weather firmly puts the 'winter' back into 'winter climbing'. Alas, by the time Phil and I haul ourselves north to Fort William two days after Christmas, it's all melted. There's barely a flake all the way up the M6, and Fort William remains warm and wet all week.

This year's MPS New Year trip got off to an auspicious start, with barely any snow left at lower levels on the hills. Thoughts of climbing were quickly vanquished on arrival at the accommodation, so day one saw Brannock and I having an easy day venturing across the CMD Arete. John had been up before, and was duped into going just to see what conditions were like near the top of Ben Nevis. I, meanwhile, was excited about finally getting to tackle the wonderful ridge traverse that everyone raves about. We walked in from Glen Nevis, then heading up from the saddle between Carn Mor Dearg and Aonach Mor / Aonach Beag. I first saw this ridge two years ago when heading up Aonach Mor, and thought at the time what an great approach it would be to CMD Arete – it's a striking silhouette as you approach from Glen Nevis. The snow cover wasn't complete even at the col, but as we gained height quicky on the ridge it became clear that donning crampons was a prudent move. The shoulder narrows as you get higher, and soon we were trotting along a lovely snowy ridge line.

Our footprints on the ridge the following day. CMD Arete to the left. Copyright Ben Llewellyn 2010.

Our footprints on the ridge the following day. CMD Arete to the left.Copyright Ben Llewellyn 2010.

On reflection, I'm not sure "trotted" is quite the right word, as Brannock labouriously broke trail through deep snow and I followed a short distance behind, wheezing as I tried to keep up. The ridge eventually spat us out at the start of the CMD Arete, which proved great sport despite the entire thing being cloaked in cloud. A final slog saw us at the top of the Ben, where dripping ice on the ruins of the observatory didn't bode well for climbing conditions. Reports from people who'd been out on the north face confirmed that everyone was melting, and we plodded back to the car at the Visitor Centre car park via numerous bum-slides down the tourist track.

Three of us had planned for the second day to involve mountain biking, but on reaching the hire shop only two bikes remained. I selflessly let Phil and Annette take the bikes, so that I could do some thesis corrections instead. The intrepid pair required, worringly, a lesson on gears and brakes in the car park, but were soon ready to go. I watched them ride off, feeling like a proud father sending my kids off on their first adventure. That feeling continued when they rang calling for help a couple of hours later, resulting in me driving back to the Nevis Range to fix a puncture they'd sustained (in fairness, they were suffering from faulty gear rather than incompetence!).

Taking this shot, I had visions of grazed knees and crying eyes. As it was, there were no major disasters. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

Taking this shot, I had visions of grazed knees and crying eyes. As it was, there were no major disasters.Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

Day three dawned drizzly and warm (7 degrees in Fort William); again, not ideal climbing conditions. I got to the bike shop early with Annette to secure a couple of bikes, and we made our way to the Nevis Range to check out the red World Champs route at the Witch's Trails. The loop is short (8.5km) but really good fun; there's an amazing bermy-switchback section right at the very top which I think may be a contender for best bit of trail ever (if I was on my own bike, and it wasn't so wet that the whole place was like a swamp). The rest of the trail was very enjoyable, and my second lap was much more fluid than the first as I knew where all the dodgy bits were! When I got back to the ski centre, Annette had just finished her lap and had a play on the skills loop, so we headed home knackered but content.

Day four. Finally an awesome forecast, consisting of 10mph winds and clear blue skies. -5 degrees at 900m. Brilliant. A mass start from the car park at 07:20 meant we were just emerging from the forest up the Allt a' Mhuillin at first light. An awesome sight greeted us; the snow line was way above the CIC hut, and our intended route, Ledge Route (II,****) had little to no snow on it. Bugger. By this point, it had also become clear that the wind and cloud forecasts were wrong too. We wandered up into Coire na Ciste anway, and an inspection from Number Five gully bode better for the route. We got out axes and crampons and started moving right from the gully onto the route. At this point I had a mini breakdown and decided I couldn't handle it. I'm not really sure why; I've soloed plenty of Grade II ground before, and this wasn't particularly dodgy. Maybe it was because it was the first time I'd used my axes properly this year? Whatever the reason, I freaked out and made Phil go up Number Five gully (I,**) instead; Sean and Ben carried on up Ledge Route.

Phil and I in Number Five Gully (bottom centre). Copyright Sean Clancy 2011.

Phil and I in Number Five Gully (bottom centre).Copyright Sean Clancy 2011.

Number Five gully turned out to be moderately interesting, despite snow which was less than confidence-inspiring in places. There were, however, big steps all the way up which provided security even if the powder around them didn't. We saw Ben and Sean on Ledge Route to our right a couple of times, and eventually topped out about the same time as them. Phil was unusually subdued while climbing, and I was worried that my imposed change of route had ticked him off. However, once at the top he revealed that he'd injured his knee earlier in the week and it was giving him trouble. We therefore took a leisurely descent down the Red Burn and back to the car. A quick change of clothes and we commenced the lengthy drive back down south, with the monotony broken only by news that three of our party were being winched off the hill by a rescue helicopter (don't worry, everyone was fine!). While not exactly the itinerary I had in mind, it was still a nice few days out-and-about. With a new North Wales guidebook to investigate, hopefully there'll be plenty more snowy days to come this year.

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