Winter Climbing in Snowdonia
~ Tuesday, 2nd February 2010
Winter Climbing in Snowdonia so far this winter has been some of the best for years. It's only early aswelll, so bring it on. Conditions of late have been have been intermittent, with good cold spells followed by warm and wet periods, all of which have been a bit too long. 
The conditions up high have stayed good after recent thaws, but the lines are a little thinner. This only adds to the quality of the climbing, making it more technically interesting. Work and father duties have meant that I only had three days out in Snowdonia this winter, but they've all been good. For my birthday in January I climbed with my wife Helen. We climbed The Devils Pipes and The Devils Kitchen in Cwm Idwal. The Pipes was pretty challenging I thought, possibly due to it being the first route of the year, or maybe due to being a bit weak!!! 
The Kitchen was awesome, Helens lead that one. The day after I went out with Libby Peter. We climbed the Devils Cellar, awesome climbing again, but with the thaw kicking in that day a sensible option. Last week I got out with Gareth Davies for a day on the Trinity Face on Snowdon. 
The previous thaw had stripped out more than we thought, but we found Little Gully and Ladies Gully to be in a fantastic slightly tricky condition. Finding the routes that day proved the biggest challenge. Only once you were part way up could you confirm your whereabouts!! Everyone here is hoping for more to come back, freezing level is around 1000 - 1200m at the moment, so keep you fingers crossed. A man who will know how things are is Baggy! Check out his blog at www.baggyblogspot.com Thanks for looking and enjoy the winter hills in safety.
