Great conditions

Despite only getting 1 hours sleep last night (sick children!), I managed to drag myself out the door at 5.30am and head down the A55 to Snowdonia with Davey.C.
Pretty awful when we arrived at Ogwen at 7am, varying every few minutes between heavy snow, terrential rain & killer hail, coupled with zero visibility. I felt tired & unoptimistic!!
However we mooched up to Cwm Cneifion (finding a great huge swathe of ice en route which we spent some time on practising step cutting techniques)
Very poor visibility in Cwm Cnefion, and if anything even worse at the base of Clogwyn Du.
However route conditions seemed excellent. We spoke to 2 climbers who were about to do Y Gully right hand direct & a team were also just starting on Pillar Chimney.
We did Hidden Gully, which was in perfect nick. The Easy Route start off was neve, and Hidden Gully itself was the same with also good ice, even if we did get constantly covered in powder snow pouring down the gully. Every single axe placement went in with a reassuring 'thwack'. A 'little gem' of a route, if only it were 5 times as long!
Near whiteout conditions on top, but easy enough to find our descent route, Gribin ridge. A lot of powder snow on the ridge, as it had been snowing most of the morning & apparently a bit last night too.
We spoke to a climber who had just done Main Gully on Glyder Fach who was raving about what great condition it had been in.
There had been a good 2 inches of snow fallen on the car when we got back to it, and Ive just heard it was still snowing 4 hours after we left Ogwen. Just worth bearing in mind that a good few inches of fresh unconsolidated snow will be covering everything.
Another great winter day in Snowdonia.

From Huw Gilbert

Andy,

How are you? I was out in Cwm Bochlwyd today and the snow is excellent. Its good hard neve at all levels and I imagine its the same across the whole of the park. Not a great deal of ice around but you can see that its trying hard to form. Quite a few teams in Cwm Ceinifion - Tower Gully, Tower Slabs, Hidden Gully and Right Hand Y Gully all look really good. There was a team climbing one of the hard mixed lines on Clogwyn Du, the crag is whiteish so I guess that means its fair game if that's your bag.

All the best,

Huw.

This weekend looking good!!

Not been into Snowdonia for a few days myself, but some decent reports on blogs by the big boys Mark Baggy Richards, Huw Gilbert, and Rob Johnson

Things are definetly looking good for the weekend by all accounts. Especially high up in those neve dependant gullies.

I'm gonna head down early sunday morning to either Clogwyn y Garnedd (Trinity face) or Cwm Cnefion area.

Have a good weekend & take care.

9 Day Weather Forecast for 1089 m altitude, issued (local time): 5 pm 29 Jan 2010

Days 0-3 Weather Summary:
A moderate fall of snow, heaviest on Sun morning. Temperatures will be below freezing (max -5°C on Fri afternoon, min -7°C on Fri night). Winds decreasing (strong winds from the NNW on Fri afternoon, light winds from the NW by Sat night).

Days 4-6 Weather Summary:
A moderate fall of snow, heaviest on Tue afternoon. Turning milder with moderate rain (total 11.0mm), heaviest on Wed afternoon . Freeze-thaw conditions (max 2°C on Wed afternoon, min -5°C on Mon afternoon). Winds increasing (light winds from the WNW on Mon night, fresh winds from the WNW by Tue afternoon).

Days 7-9 Weather Summary:
Light rain (total 9.0mm) at first, then becoming colder with a dusting of snow on Thu night. Freeze-thaw conditions (max 2°C on Thu afternoon, min -5°C on Sun afternoon). Winds decreasing (strong winds from the SSW on Thu afternoon, light winds from the WSW by Fri night).

9 Day Weather Forecast for 708 m altitude, issued (local time): 5 pm 29 Jan 2010

Days 0-3 Weather Summary:
A moderate fall of snow, heaviest on Sun morning. Temperatures will be below freezing (max -2°C on Fri afternoon, min -4°C on Fri night). Winds decreasing (strong winds from the NNW on Fri afternoon, light winds from the NW by Sat night).

Days 4-6 Weather Summary:
A dusting of snow. Milder later with heavy rain (total 40.0mm) on Tue afternoon . Freeze-thaw conditions (max 4°C on Wed afternoon, min -2°C on Mon night). Wind will be generally light.

Days 7-9 Weather Summary:
Moderate rain (total 14.0mm), heaviest on Thu afternoon . Freeze-thaw conditions (max 5°C on Thu afternoon, min -4°C on Sun afternoon). Winds increasing (light winds from the SW on Fri night, fresh winds from the E by Sun afternoon).

Cwm Glas & Parsley Fern

I was on my own today & headed up to Cwm Glas. Very mild indeed again with snow still melting. Pretty much no snow in the lower cwm (sargeants gully area), but in Cwm Glas Mawr there is plenty of snow and many of the winter routes there looked good. I headed up Parsley Fern gully in knee to waist deep unconsolidated snow in the lower part of the gully, really hard going. I dug a pit here and isolated a block of snow, but there was no avalanche risk here. Another 100m or so up the gully it was a different story. Snow was firming up in places, but when I dug another pit & started to isolate a large block the whole thing immediately avalanched full depth under its own weight. I am no expert, but that was slightly concerning.
Anyway it was good to be out, and maybe if we get a good freeze or two (although forecasts don't suggest that unfortunately) those gullies will be there for the taking. Sinister gully is one I have my eye on.

Top pic: Cwm Glas Mawr
Middle pic: Panorama shot
Botton pic: Llyn Padarn in Llanberis this morning

Fresh Snow

Info from Mike Peacock:
Hi Andy,

I've been out again today. Fresh snow fall down to just above Ogwen so me and Rachel Kingham headed into Cwm Bochlwyd and climbed The False Gribin. It isn't in the guide but was very pleasant, and makes a logical approach to Y Gribin itself (better than the path!). The snow is still soft but seems to be firming up. From the Football Pitch we decided to call it a day and headed back down.

Mike

Top pic: Rachel on False Gribin
Bottom pic: Cwm Bochlwyd

Crib Goch

Mike & I decided on Crib Goch today as a good route choice. It was suprisingly warm on the walk/scramble up to the ridge proper. In fact at one point I was down to a t-shirt, bizarre considering the weather we have had here in Wales recently.
Very little snow left, and what is left is at present soft slush, at all levels. We did not need crampons or axes at any point.

Trinity gullies have been well stripped, and what snow there is needs a considerable amount of freeze/thaw for them to come into condition. Hopefully we will get that before it all melts.

Pic 1: Crib Goch ridge
Pic 2: Mike on top of final Crib Goch pinacle
Pic 3: Glaslyn
Pic 4: Avalanche debri across the Miners path
Pic 5: Cloud bubbling over the ridge in front of Lliwedd

Clwydian Range again for me

Went back up Moel Famau today for a couple of hours. A beautiful morning. In less than 48 hours since I was last up here,the snow had been stripped back a huge amount.

Hourglass Gully, Cwm Loer - Mike Peacock

Email today from Mike Peacock:

Hi Andy,

Lots of snow stripped very low down now, but still lots in Cwm Lloer (and Cwm Cneifion by the look of it). Me and Gareth Harvey climbed Hourglass Gully. Deep soft snow, with avalanche debris at the base of it. Because of this I moved right above the narrows onto more broken ground, and somewhere in the process lost a crampon. If anyone who reads your blog stumbles across it then there'd be beer money in it for them...Anyway, apart from that it was a pleasant day, and the weather was far better than that forecast.

Cheers
Mike

Top pic: HourGlass Gully
Middle pic: Looking back at Cwm Loer
Bottom pic: Idwal stripped bare!

Moel Famau

The big thaw has well & truly set in down in Snowdonia, so today I thought I would go for a walk on my local hills, The Clwyds. Headed for a brisk walk up Moel Famau (1818ft), which is the highest in the range. There was still tonnes of snow, in some places 3 or 4 feet deep, but bizzarely at the summit by the Jubilee Tower it was pretty much bare.
Definetly one of my very favourite places to be.

Out with the ice, in with the neve (maybe, don't quote me!)

Much warmer condiions are forecast for the next few days plus 5 or 6 at mid level, and not getting below freezing again until next tues/wed. Then warming up again towards the end of next week.

Looks like those gul;lies which rely on consolidated snow might just be getting ready to come into good nick. Out with the ice, in with the neve....

Its melting FAST

Despite horrendous conditions on the A55 (jack knifed lorries, car crash, abandoned vehicles) I managed to get to Snowdonia today.
Went up Pen Y Pass first but had to follow the snow plough. Eventually got to carpark at about 10.30am, to discover it completely deserted (and blocked) except for the wardens van which was covered in snow, and a 4x4. Not a soul on ther hill, spooky.
So seen as there was literally nowhere to stop, I dropped down the other side and headed down to the A5. The roads were eerily deserted as I slithered my way along in my Ford Galaxy!
There was not a single vehicle at the layby at foot of Tryfan, although in fairness apart from the road, all parking was covered in about 2 foot of fresh snow!
However at Ogwen cottage there were a good 20 cars as per usual, not in the carpark but on the road side. Making the most of the fast melting ice.
And it is melting fast by all accounts.
Climbers were on the usual suspects at the head of Idwal, but reports suggest sugary ice at best, and total melt down by the end of the day.

Much warmer condiions are forecast for the next few days plus 5 or 6 at mid level, and not getting below freezing again until next tues/wed. Then warming up again towards the end of next week.

My friend Mike went for a mooch up to Cwm Cnefion on tuesday and reports deep thigh to waist deep powder snow impeeding progress. Bit of a nightmare seemingly.
Still plenty of activity in Idwal/Devil's Kitchen area ice though.

9 Day Weather Forecast for 1089 m altitude

Days 0-3 Weather Summary:
A light covering of new snow mostly falling on Tue night. Temperatures will be below freezing (max -1°C on Tue morning, min -5°C on Tue night). Winds decreasing (near gales from the SE on Tue morning, light winds from the WNW by Wed afternoon).

Days 4-6 Weather Summary:
A light covering of new snow mostly falling on Sat morning. Becoming milder with light rain (total 5.0mm) on Sat afternoon . Freeze-thaw conditions (max 3°C on Fri afternoon, min -2°C on Sun night). Winds decreasing (gales from the SSE on Fri night, calm by Sun night).

Days 7-9 Weather Summary:
A light covering of new snow mostly falling on Tue night. Freeze-thaw conditions (max 2°C on Mon morning, min -3°C on Wed afternoon). Winds increasing (calm on Mon morning, fresh winds from the SSE by Tue night).