Thought I'd send over this conditions report. I hope it's useful.
Picture 1: Cwm Idwal from Sub Cneifion rib.
Nothing at all in Cwm Idwal, the only ice we could see was the top pitch of The Devils Appendix.
Picture 2: Clogwyn Du from the base of Tower Slabs.
3 or 4 teams on it at about 3:30. 3 people were on Clogwyn Left Hand, seemed to be hanging around on pitch 2 or 3 for a while, can't have been in too good condition, it was relatively warm, about +4 in the car park so I assume it was still pretty thin.
2 teams headed up hidden gully which looked great, snow was perfect, couldn't have been any more solid. Plenty of it in the gullies in Cwm Cneifion too!
Also, slightly unusual maybe, somebody was *rock climbing* up Travesty, couldn't see any tools anyway and it looked pretty bare so I only assume. Far too cold for that!
Picture 3: Tower Slabs
Slabs were in great condition. Although, alot of water falling at the bottom. Decent fat ice and vegetation was in good condition.
Had a quick look at Tower Gully which also had great solid snow. Didn't get to see the crux because it started going dark so I couldn't check the ice up there.
One more thing. On the approach up to Cwm Cneifion, shortly after the Sub Cneifion Rib, the path crosses 2 snow fields. I'd really advise having an axe ready at least for this bit as a slip would be pretty bad. Same goes for the approaches to the climbs in Cneifion. Crampons and axes should be put on as soon as you come into the bottom of the Cwm because the snow is difficult to get up without them. We saw one guy slide about 20 meters before he managed to arrest.
Hope there is some useful information you can use there. It was a great day and better conditions than I expected!
Mike
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