Phil on Parsley Fern Left-Hand (II,**). Copyright Haydn Williams 2010.

Moving solo proved to be very efficient; we'd topped out by 10:00 and were back at the car at midday having come down the Pyg Track. Not wanting to waste the afternoon, we drove around to Ogwen to tick off another climb which has been on my "To Do" list for a while. At 250m long, Banana Gully (I,**) is a big route for Snowdonia, and takes a striking line up the front of Y Garn. Another efficient raid meant we'd topped out on Y Garn less than two hours later. The snow was marginally less solid than on Clogwyn y Ddysgyl, but on easy ground it didn't take away from the enjoyment of such a relatively long route.

At the top of the Pyg Track zig-zags. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010.

The rigours of yesterday took their toll and neither of us were particularly energetic this morning. We headed around to Cwm Fynnon Lloer, a location I'd not climbed in before, and proceeded to wander around in thick cloud for twenty minutes, trying to decide where our potential routes were. With the recent good weather there were footprints everywhere, which didn't help, and (having missed everything else) we eventually found ourselves at The Headwall (I). Another 250m route, this developed from patchy snow cover low down to plenty of thick stuff higher up, albeit not properly consolidated. I've never climbed a winter route without crampons before, but the nature of the snow meant that kicking steps was easy and secure; we started walking up a shallow slope and just continued to the top without ever needing anything more pointy than an axe.

Banana Gully (I,**), the snowy line to the right of the summit, gets its name from... well, you can figure it out. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010.

We descended the East Ridge of Pen yr Ole Wen in good time, and I was pretty chuffed to spot the wild Carneddau ponies on the way down; despite having been up on the range many times, I've never seen them before. The traditional stop at Rhug for a burger on the way home finished a great weekend off nicely.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Heading around Llyn Bochlwyd towards the False Gribin. Photo by James Devine. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

After wading through waist-deep powder we eventually made it up past the False Gribin and onto the ridge proper. The first bit of the route was nice and easy, but as the climbing got harder so it seemed to quickly become swamped under a sea of powder too. We followed the crest for a while, until I found myself stood at the top of a big slope of powder, poised to send it down onto some innocents on the path below. Not fancying incurring much collateral damage, we finally gave up and retreated back to the path. Turns out we weren't that far from the top anyway, but the remaining few metres of the path still weren't terribly solid. Once on the top, we plodded down Devil's Kitchen and into sheer chaos in Cwm Idwal.

James approaching the ridge from the football pitch. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

The snow was rubbish for climbing, but perfect for making snowballs, sledging and playing around, which is what most of the population of North Wales seemed to be having great fun doing. I even saw one child who'd managed to climb halfway up the first pitch of Ordinary Route (Diff) on the slabs and bum slide back down again, it was so blanketed with snow! There were climbers all over the ice routes, which looked a bit fatter than the previous week. Unfortunately while a lot of people are having great fun on hard mixed routes (Black Ladders) and mid-grade ice (Idwal), we're somewhat limited by our lack of experience / 'bumbly' status and are desperately hoping for some freeze-thaw cycles to bring the snowy gullies into condition!

Snowdon massif and the coast from the top of the Glyers. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

Anyway, whilst not a total success in that we didn't stick to the desired route all the way up, and it possibly wasn't the best route choice by me, it was a good day out and keeps us busy until the things we really want to do become climbable!