The forecast said it was going to be freezing for a few days and we’d had lots of snow so we set to Wales at 6.30, the dark sky was clear of cloud and it looked like the chances of ice would be high. Pulling up at Ogwen Cottage we could see that the snow was thick and came all the way down to the road. We quickly packed our sacks up at the car then set off up the path up towards Idwal Slabs, walking briskly past a frozen Llyn Idwal to warm up.
We planned to do East Wall Gully (grade I/II) then Tower Gully (I/II) so stopped at the bottom of East Wall to gear up. The snow was deep and powdery and there wasn’t much ice visible apart from a few weak smears on the larger slabs. We tried the ice on the lowest slab but the dull scraping of crampons in rock soon had us retreating. Eventually we headed up the deep powdery snow, weaving between the large boulders. The thick, unconsolidated snow made it hard work, the top layer of snow looked like polystyrene balls and was just as frustrating to wade through. Eventually I reached a short chimney and ungainly struggled up it using my knees once I’d got my axes firmly placed on top.
I’d done a grand total of two winter routes before today so my confidence in my axe and crampon technique wasn’t great but as I worked my way up the route I got into a rhythm, making sure my axes were secure then stepping up a little higher. Using the points of my crampons still felt wrong though, especially on rock where the ‘finger nails on blackboard’ sound jarred my ears and my nerves.
Reaching the cwm, we paused for a quick bite and surveyed the terrain ahead of us. Or at least we would have done if there had been any visibility. The cneifion arête was clearly visible but further into the cwm was .misty and merged into the white, snow filled sky seamlessly. We headed further up hoping to spot Tower Gully but it was impossible to see which of the snow filled gullies we were supposed to head for. We decided to exit the cwm at the far head wall and followed the trail created by others until we were forced to wait in our bothy shelter while we decided the next course of action. A packet of Jaffa cakes later we had decided to retreat back down the way we came. After 15 minutes I heard a shout that directed my gaze upwards, Tower Gully was clearly visible to the right of us so off we headed, carefully traversing around the steep slope to the bottom of the gully. It was chock full of soft snow but by taking the right hand side we could avoid the deepest part.
We planned to do East Wall Gully (grade I/II) then Tower Gully (I/II) so stopped at the bottom of East Wall to gear up. The snow was deep and powdery and there wasn’t much ice visible apart from a few weak smears on the larger slabs. We tried the ice on the lowest slab but the dull scraping of crampons in rock soon had us retreating. Eventually we headed up the deep powdery snow, weaving between the large boulders. The thick, unconsolidated snow made it hard work, the top layer of snow looked like polystyrene balls and was just as frustrating to wade through. Eventually I reached a short chimney and ungainly struggled up it using my knees once I’d got my axes firmly placed on top.
I’d done a grand total of two winter routes before today so my confidence in my axe and crampon technique wasn’t great but as I worked my way up the route I got into a rhythm, making sure my axes were secure then stepping up a little higher. Using the points of my crampons still felt wrong though, especially on rock where the ‘finger nails on blackboard’ sound jarred my ears and my nerves.
Reaching the cwm, we paused for a quick bite and surveyed the terrain ahead of us. Or at least we would have done if there had been any visibility. The cneifion arête was clearly visible but further into the cwm was .misty and merged into the white, snow filled sky seamlessly. We headed further up hoping to spot Tower Gully but it was impossible to see which of the snow filled gullies we were supposed to head for. We decided to exit the cwm at the far head wall and followed the trail created by others until we were forced to wait in our bothy shelter while we decided the next course of action. A packet of Jaffa cakes later we had decided to retreat back down the way we came. After 15 minutes I heard a shout that directed my gaze upwards, Tower Gully was clearly visible to the right of us so off we headed, carefully traversing around the steep slope to the bottom of the gully. It was chock full of soft snow but by taking the right hand side we could avoid the deepest part.
I got into a regular rhythm with my axe and crampon placements and soon made progress. Looking back I could see the gully sweeping away from me and disappearing onto the white mist, looking up I could see the top of the ridge doing the same. Finally we reached the top and paused to look around, the top was white with wind scoured crusts of snow, the wind pelted our faces with sharp ice. The decent was done quickly to get out of the wind and the weather that seemed to be deteriorating quickly. As we reached lower ground we could see the streams of well wrapped climbers weaving along the path by the side of the lake, the snow had brought everyone out for some fun. Nearer the car park the crowd mixed with families looking at the climber’s packs and ice axes with bemusement as children threw snow balls and tried to push each other into the icy steam. We stashed our gear in the car boot hurriedly as hail pelted down on us then prepared for the drive home, glad we had escaped the hill before the weather worsened.
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