Winter in wales often means endless days of rain, cloud and gales. So, when it gets cold enough for snow to fall and the waterfalls to freeze then you’d best get on it fast before the next turbo thaw which always seem to be lurking just around the corner. Mid December provided us with 10 days of cold temperatures, light winds and even a few blue bird days!
To kick things off I headed up bristly ridge early one Moring. The first walk of the season in big boots is always an experience, having spent the summer/autumn in lightweight approach shoes the stiff B3 boots felt like I had bricks strapped to my feet.
Scrambling along Bristly ridge which was thick with rime.
The ridge had a fresh dusting of snow above 750m and was thick with Rime ice. Bristly ridge is usually my first winter outing of the season as it is a reliable opting in pretty much any condition.
Two days later and with a bit more snow cover I made my way up Crib Goch for sunrise. The great thing about the short daylight hours in in December is the extra couple of hours you get in bed! setting off from Pen y Pass at 7:00am it was crampons on from the carpark. The Pyg track was a mixture of hard compacted snow and sheet ice, great with crampons, not so good without.
The previous day must have been a busy one as the path leading up toward Crib Goch from the Pyg was like a motorway. under a full moon there was no need for a headtorch and I had the whole mountain to myself. it was pretty special.
At the start of the east ridge scramble it was ice axe out and poles away (having had a lot of problems with my knees in recent years I’ve found walking poles to be an absolute godsend).
As I reached the summit a snow shower engulfed the ridge and frustratingly meant I was caught in it for the 15 minutes around sunrise.
After the shower passed the sun started to break through the cloud and there was some lovely light as I crossed the ridge.
