Ogwen valley under snow

Approaching Llyn Idwal

When we get proper winter conditions in Wales its such a luxury to potter about in the morning before wandering out to climb. So after a few last minute Christmas preparations my son Sion and I were able to drive over to Ogwen Cottage to see what the ice is looking like. A lot collapsed about a week ago but lately we've been getting dumps of snow on a fairly regular basis, with cold clear days in between. Yesterday I was committed to a coach qualification planning meeting with my colleague Jon Garside so was unable to take advantage of the clear skies, so today was our first chance in a while to get out.

Parking the car took a while as available spaces were full of snow - however some enthusistic shovelling carved out a safe niche and we were on our way. There's about half a metre of snow on either side of the path, a narrow beaten trail snaking up to Cwm Idwal. The llyn is well frozen under a mantle of a few cms of snow, although there were a couple of pools of water at the shore in a couple of places. Poor Sion hasn't been exercising much at University so he found the brisk pace hard work but we up against a tight deadline now with about four hours of daylight.



Sion in Devil's Kitchen

 Below the Idwal slabs we met Tim Neill and Nick Bullock who had been pipped to the post by a couple of teams also bound for the Devil's Appendix, which is very well-formed this year, certainly "fatter" than I've ever seem the first pitch before. Surprisingly the ice elsewhere is a bit leaner, though certainly starting to build. We bumped into Tim Jepson and his daughter who were descending from an ascent of the Screen and all scrambled up the cleft of the Devil's Kitchen to see if the ice on the back wall has formed. It hasn't. Well, if you are hungry for it I guess its possible but the ice is steep and fragile at the moment. So we beat a strategic retreat, and found the Screen now cleared of climbers so were able to race up this in the fading light.

Mini ice age arrives in Wales



Issie Inglis makes the BAIML Presidential speech 

 After the excellent AGM and annual dinner for the British Association of International Mountain Leaders - highlight of which was the after-dinner speech by ex-president Richard Villars - he heads up a first response medical team for disasters and leads a life that makes James Bond look pretty tame! - my wife Anita and I headed back to Wales and I drove up to Llanberis Pass to see if the ice had survived the mini-thaw on Saturday. Sure enough, Craig y Rhaeadr was looking plastered still. Surprisingly, nobody had tackled any of the routes yet.

Tim Jepson on Central Icefall Direct

 
Accordingly Tim Jepson and myself went up to have a look this morning. A nice leisurely start - this is practically a roadside crag so there's no need to rush - but! another team had already started and were half way up the first pitch when we left the road. Well, we hung around and enjoyed watching them, it was my friend Matt Stygall leading the middle pitch. Although they made efficient progress, there was the odd lump of ice coming down, and with the reputation of the big icicle for detaching itself we decided to wait until they had finished before embarking. All the pitches are serious so you can't afford to get knocked off. In the meantime though I was starting to have doubts as I had decided to start climbing without leashes on my axes. This is the modern way to climb ice and it is without doubt the way to do it these days -however in retrospect this probably isn't the best route on which to try out a radical change in style!


I've waited 28 years to climb Central Icefall Direct, and because, surprisingly, Cascade (it's easier neighbour) was looking less well-formed, the choice was an ignominious retreat or at least an attempt, so eventually we threw caution to the winds and launched off up the route. It was utterly brilliant, well worth the wait.





Winter arrives early

So, with so many roads blocked across the UK, what are the winter conditions like? Currently things are quite unstable due to the new snowfall and winds. However, Black Ladders is starting to look quite wintery. Closer up though it is pretty lean and although ice is starting to build it has a way to go. Llanberis Pass is looking pretty wintery and if it stays cold Cascade should be climbable pretty soon.

Yesterday I had picked up some sort of virus so I had a pounding headache and hacking cough. However, I didn't want to let my partner down as it was his first chance to climb in weeks, so I literally staggered up the hill with him. We climbed a line to the right of Central Gully named Gallipoli (V). It's an excellent route though the crux pitch was pretty hard due to the lean conditions. As so often with a day on the hills the virus worked its way through my body pretty quickly - you sink into survival mode - which is fine as long as you don't have an epic day, in which case the lack of reserves can be dangerous. Fortunately despite a late start we were back home before 18.00 and I was able to warm up in front of a hot fire.

Mark Walker leading the crux of Gallipoli in lean conditions