I set off from my home in Deeside late this morning with no snow in sight. By the time I was by Holywell on the A55 coastroad it was white as far as the eye could see. My objective for the day (well afternoon really) was a winter crossing of Crib Goch & Crib Y Drysgyl, however I discovered a flaw to my plan on the drive up the pass from Llanberis to Pen Y Pass... Snow on the road & lots of it!! I kept going with the mentality of keep your foot down & you will make it! I did make it to Pen Y Pass (just) but couldn't get my car into the carpark due to the snow. So with nothing else for it I slip slided my way down to Capel Curig & on to Ogwen. At Ogwen carpark I got chatting to Jay who had travelled over from Ipswich for a weekend Winter Navigation course at Plas Y Brenin. We decided to hook up for the afternoon & headed up into Cwm Idwal, up Devil's Kitchen path, then for a walk over Y Garn.
There is tonnes of snow everywhere at the moment, but it is very powdery, apart from on the tops where it has been scoured down hard by the wind. We could do with a thaw then refreeze before any of the gullies come anything like into condition.
The ice routes in Idwal are all starting to form, but are a long way off being climbable.
The weather forecast for the next week at least is for some very cold conditions.
I feel like im getting frost bite just reading and looking at the pics. Kate Over the Road :-)
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