| 9th March 2008 |
A line of wintery showers, presumably precursrs of the forecast
storm, working their way across Anglesey.
|
|
| 4th March 2008 |
| More overnight snow, and the hills are begining to look a bit as
though winter has arrived. |
Snowdon across Llyn Padarn |
|
| 3rd March 2008 |
| No wonder it felt chilly yesterda, and the threat of snow showers
was not in vain. There was a light dusting on the tops this morning,
and the weather remained cold enough for it to stay all day. |
Snow on the tops again |
|
| 2nd March 2008 |
| With a forecast for snow showeres and temperatures of 1 to -1C with
the wind chill dropping that to -15C, we decided to give climbing
a miss, and went for a walk up Y Garn. There was certainly a chill
in the wind, but the weather turned out better than expected, and
we even got a view from the top. The Ravens were out playing in the
wind. For me they reallly give the sense of birds that appreciate
the gift of flight, and really set out to enjoy it. At the end of
the day we encountered a group of five of the feral goats very close
to the road, in fact only just behind Ogwen cottage. Among the group,
three had fine sets ofhorns, there was one, probably a yearling, and
the little white kid in the picture. |
|
|
| 21st February 2008 |
| Of course, just when you want the weather to be clear, in roll the
clouds. There was an eclipse of the moon in the early hours of this
morning, and the moon could barely be seen for the cloud blowing across.
Luckily it did clear a little, and the two pictures proove that it
was visible for at least some of the time. Unfortunately the clouds
were back in force for totality (starting at 3:00a.m.), or the hoped
for coppery colour was either completely black. |
 
Lunar eclipse, progress at 02:10 and 02:45.
|
|
| 18th February 2008 |
| We have had the same wonderfully good weather that has been shared
by the rest of the country. Almost too good, as views were a little
marred at the weekend by a fine haze. Nevertheless, the mountains
have looked marvelous - a shame to be sat at a desk during the day! |
Snowdon and Crib y Ddysgl from Deiniolen |
|
| 13th February 2008 |
Just a bit of advanced warning on two events:
It is the Spring working party weekend at Yr Hen Neuadd on the
weekend of 7th to 9th March. All assistance welcome. Please contact
for full details.
By coincidence it is also the Llanberis
Mountain Film Festival the same weekend. The programme is not
finalised yet, but take a look at the web site to get an idea for
the good things that will be going on.
So, book your place on the work weekend, and get the evening at
the film festival. Help the county cause, and get to see some great
entertainment. Bargain |
Llanberis Mountain Film Festival 2008
Snowdon Mountain Railway
Photo: (c) J Darling
|
|
| 10th February 2008 |
Second day of the course, and parties were out on assessment,
doing micronavigation, ropework or for a 'short' walk (courtesy
of Ronelle). Once again we had supurb conditions, and I hope everyone
went away feeling they had gained something from the weekend.
The weekend wasn't quite over for me. The rescue team (OVMRO)
had a callout about 4.00 pm for a lady who had injured her ankle
on the path below Cwm Bochlwyd. Fortunately for her, 22
Squadron were in the area and were able to bring her back to
Oggie Base. Normally they would have flow a casualy straight to
the hospital in Bangor, but on this occasion the hospital was fog
bound; in contrast to the still clear conditions in the mountains.
The airfield at RAF
Valley was also closed in, and the aircrew were wodering if
they would have to 'park up' at Oggie Base for the night. (Fortunately
for them, the weather cleared soon after). The lady was taken to
hospital in one of the team's Land Rover ambulances. |
Casualty arriving at Oggie Base, Courtesy of 22 Squadron
 
Instruction session: Ropework for Security on Steep Ground
|
|
| 9th February 2008 |
| Thsi was the weekend of the first of the year'sMountain Skills courses
run jointly between GLSW and Surrey. (See Here).
What a disappointment. Clear blue skies and warm weather are not the
ideal conditions for particularly navigation instruction and practice.
And what about all those people who were in North Wales for the first
time - I suppose that they will expect the weather to be like that
every time now. Seriously, the weather was brilliant both days, with
parties going up into the Carneddau and Glyderau. After dinner there
was time to consider a few case studies/scenarios which provided food
for thought before breaking off for some liquid refreshment. |
Glyder Fach and Castell y Gwynt |
|
| 2nd February 2008 |
Carneddau Panorama: Yr Elen, Carnedd Llwellyn, Carnedd Dafydd
and Pen yr Ole Wen.
At last it is starting to look like winter! Don't expect it to
last, however, as the ground will have warmed up again with all
the rain we've had, and with more forcast to be on the way. The
deception wasn't all visual; low temperatures combined with a
brisk wind did make it feel like winter as well.
|
|
| 27th January 2008 |
| I said I wouldn't but here I am doing itm again. Sorry to the non-climbers,
but we managed another day out on the rock, and it all looks the same.
We didn't quite get the slabs to ourselves today, but there weren't
many left when we got down at dusk. |
Cwm Idwal and Pen yr Ole Wen.
The difficulties over on the top pitch of Charity.
|
|
| 22nd January 2008 |
Red Sky in the morning . . .
Such a spectacular sky at dawn this morning that there were a number
of cars stopped on the 'top road' over to Deiniolen just admiring
the view. The combination of the colour in the sky and a light dusting
of snow on the tops was especially enchanting.
Of course the second part of the line (shepherd's warning) was
true, and by the afternoon it was raining steadily again, so no
matching sunset. |
Dawn on the Carneddau. |
|
| 14th January 2008 |
Managed to get out again, and couldn't understand it
- we had the slabs to ourselves! A contrast to the description the
Warden gave us of an occasion when he counted over 200 people onthe
various climbs.
Dana led 'Hope' in what are best described as 'less than ideal' conditions
(cold, running water in places, puddles on the belays, and the odd
bit of drizzle). We did it in leisurely style and still managed to
get down without using head torches (just). |
Beyond the overlap on the first pitch of Hope, Idwal Slabs. |
|
| 10th January 2008 |
The weather it was wet, wet, wet . . .
Everyone has had rain in the last few days; here are a few local
spots in the Nant Ffrancon you may (or may not) recognise.
|
Ogweb Bank (Where we practiced river crossings on an advanced hillwalking
course)
Ogwen Falls
|
The bridge over the 'old road' at Ty'n y Maes
The A5 bridge at Ogwen, with the old packhorse bridge below
|
The bridge where the path starts to go up to Cwm Idwal. Water was
occasionally washing over the bridge.
Click the image for a video.
|
|
| 5th January 2008 |
Another cold and miserable day, but we got out, and luckily missed
the rain showers, managing to climb 'Ordinary Route' on the Idwal
Slabs in the afternoon. A bit chilly, and a bit wet, but it was
great to get out.
There was evicdence of Ice building up again on the cliffs at
the back of the cwm. |
Dana leading the last pitch.
Ice Streaks on the cliffs of the Devil's Kitchen.
|
|
| 31st December 2007 |
Sorry it has been quiet here. I've hardly been out on the hills,
only doing the occasional rock climb, and unless you happen to be
a keen climber, one bit of rock looks pretty much like another.
However, I hope things are about to change, and just to proove it,
we went for a stroll round Cwm Idwal on a somewhat cool and blustery
New Year's Eve.
Let me take this opportunity of wishing everyone a Happy New Year. |
Cwm Idwal |
|
| Blog Archives |
| 2006 - 2007 |
|
| July and August 2006 |
|
| May and June 2006 |
|
| March and April 2006 |
|
| January and February 2006 |
|
| November and December 2005 |
|
|
