Carneddau Snow 16 Jan 2016

We decided to explore the southern Carneddau of Snowdonia this Saturday past, partly to check out conditions on the tops of Pen Yr Ole Wen and Carnedd Dafydd, but also as an excuse to see if the slopes south of Ysgolion Duon were ready to be glissaded. Almost, but not quite!

Pen Yr Ole Wen, Carneddau Daffydd & Llewellyn from Glan Dena

Today, I took a group of 5 Clwyd Mountaineering Club colleagues and personal friends on a grand tour of the Carneddau. The forecast was for 30-35mph winds, increasing to 45-50mph, with snow and heavy snow.

I had been keeping an eye on conditions in the mountains all week. At the beginning of the week, there had been very little snow, but by Friday evening there was a light dusting on the tops. Given how the low level precipitation had consisted of brief showers, sometimes of hail, I presumed that there would only be powdery snow around, with possibly some hailstones. There was also likely to be rime ice on the tops, given the recent high humidity levels.

The route took us from Glan Dena (SH668605) along the side of Llyn Ogwen; up Pen Yr Ole Wen from Ogwen Cottage; over Dafydd and Llewellyn; over Craig yr Ysfa; then back to the start along the access road, over to the Roman road and down the valley.

The weather was clear until we started the Pen Yr Ole Wen ascent, and occasional light snow flurries silently swirled around us. As we went higher, the clouds descended and the winds increased. The snow was, as expected, powdery and sticky, a bit like the first falls of snow that make small children excited and then melt the next day. It made solid boot prints and easy walking. Group management was key at this point because the group's steep ground climbing fitness varied from mountain runner and cyclist via alpine walker to flat terrain legs. Thankfully, everyone helped out and we kept together reasonably well, or at the least in two small groups without too much separation.

As 'Leader', it was left to me navigate over the tops, where visibility was poor (around 100m). At one point I truly felt like the leader, when the group gathered around me as I explained how I was going to get us from the summit of Pen Yr Ole Wen to that of Dafydd. I explained how our pace of approx 4km per hour would take us 12 minutes to cover 800m, then add 1 minute for every 10m of the 110m ascent. This gave us an ETA of 23 minutes. At the same time, I paced it. The timing was 1 minute short; my pacing (due to icy patches and some deep snow drifts) was on the short side, needing another 200m! Good experience for me, and it felt good sharing the knowledge.

After Dafydd, the clouds cleared occasionally to give us excellent views down Cwn Llafar to the north, and even as far as the Denighshire Moors and Clwydian Range in the east.

As we crossed the Bwlch Cwyfrw-Drum, the winds really started to gust. Fortunately, it wasn't so strong as to make walking impossible, but you just had to be ready to transition from the no-wind to strong-wind (leaning left) moments! We picked up the north-south wall near the top of Llewellyn with the intention of sheltering a bit: it might have helped, but the wind was so fierce that we decided to avoid the summit proper, then descend east toward Craig yr Ysgfa. At one point (SH686643) the snow had been scoured and completely covered the path in ice, for about 10m. There had obviously been only one walker over this stretch when it was snow because vague boot prints were still carved in the ice. An ice axe might have been of use here, to cut the steps more positively; but in the end we managed to cross it without incident. The consequences of a slip were minor, the slope reasonably short and flattening out into powder and scree just below.

Thereafter, the walk itself was fairly inconsequential, apart from the really vicious but brief spindrift squalls that seemed to pick up on the west side of Ysfa. Given the late hour, we decided to avoid Pen Yr Helgi Du (boo) and continue down the access road to the A5, cross to the Roman Road at Gwern Gof Isaf Farm, then head directly back to Glan Dena. As approached, we could see squalls of precipitation heading up the valley from Y Garn. Then the lightning and thunder struck. No problem, we were relatively safe in the valley. But the consequent hail was unrelenting for the final 1km: 5mm balls of ice pounding thin waterproof layers like being flicked by an annoying bully hundreds of times per minute.

But we we're back!

A brief pause at the pillbox on the north shore of Llyn Ogwen

Al  inside the pill box

Glyderau and Ogwen Cottage

Secret bridge under the A5!

The snow showers arrive.

Snowy near the top of Pen Yr Ole Wen

Icy cornices along Ysgolion Duon

Cwm Llafar and Yr Elen (in the sunlight) from the top of Ysgolion Duon

Crossing the Bwlch, wind blowing right to left (notice the leaning!)

Ascending Llewellyn from the Bwlch

The well-worn path down from Craig yr Ysfa

The hailstorm arriving up Cwm Ogwen from Y Garn past Tryfan

(Photos also on Flickr)

Carneddau Conditions 21 March 2014

Just a quick update: for anyone walking the Carneddau this weekend, there's a little bit of white stuff on the tops. I don't expect it to be very icy, more likely to be hail stones and drifting powder. The winds are easing, though, so walking will be slightly less difficult.

More of the same expected tomorrow. Have fun,  and be safe out there!

Wild Camp & Scramble in the Carneddau

A wild camp in the shadow of Ysgolion Duon (The Black Ladders) followed by a scramble up Crib Lem Spur then a bimble over the Northern Carneddau. What can go wrong? Well, nothing sinister, but the Northern Carneddau are bigger than you (or rather I) thought. And trekking across thick gorse, heather, bracken, reeds and bog on a hot sunny day from Y Drum to the Sychnant Pass was not our idea of fun! So, having mentioned it, let's talk about what, actually, was fun...

Walking in to Ysgolion Duon, Cwm Llafar, Carneddau

Walking into Ysgolion Duon was painless: we left my friend's house in Bethesda and walked through Gerlan until the road ran out and the paths began. We were welcomed by a friendly Jack Russell as we crossed the paths across fields to the CROW land. We made light work of crossing from the north to the south bank of the Cwm Llafar near the derelict dam. The weather was clear and bright, but humid and warm, making progress slow. We arrived at an adequate camp location a few hundred metres short of the Llech Ddu wall shortly after sunset, but we still had sufficient light to pitch our tents. Having done that, we set up and cooked by a huge boulder half in the Afon Llafar itself: Craig cooked his instant noodles on his solid fuel stove, while I boiled water, poured half of it over instant hot chocolate in my mug, then emptied packets of couscous and instant soup into my pot and let the heat do its work. Eating, waiting for nothing and watching the light fade. We briefly had company from a medium-sized rat: evidence to take even bio-degradable waste (e.g., apple cores) home.

Sunrise on The Llech Ddu wall, Cwm Llafar, Carneddau

In the morning, the clouds were brooding over Carnedd Dafydd. The sun briefly lit up the Walls of the Ladders and Llech Ddu below the clouds, before rising above them to re-establish the humidity. A few spots of rain indicated that now was the time to move, so we dismantled and packed up and made our way up the path to Crib Lem.

The scramble itself was uneventful but very entertaining, as Crib Lem so often is. The exposure was there as usual, especially with the cloud level well above the peaks. The wind was kind to us, allowing me to walk down most of the slab pitch, and the rain remained at bay, making the rock warm and dry and easy to negotiate.

Craig at the top of the slab, Crib Lem Spur, Carnedd Dafydd, Carneddau

Once on the top, we paused briefly to absorb the hazy view across Ogwen Valley to Tryfan, the Glyderau and the Snowdon Horseshoe. We then made our way toward and down the Bwlch Cyfrwyw-Drum, blatantly aware that the horrible slog  up Llewellyn lay ahead of us. Resigned to the misery, we picked a conversational pace and plodded and chatted on. Surprisingly, this tactic rendered the ascent impotent and time passed unnoticeably as we occupied our minds with inconsequential discussion.

Following a brief pause at the top of Llewellyn, we gained speed down toward and across Foel Grach and Carnedd Gwenllian (Uchaf, recently renamed after the only true Princess of Wales), pausing slightly while I dropped my bag to properly claim the "summit". That done and heading across to Foel Fras, we chose a more direct route than the frequented path with the intention of hitting Bwlch y Gwryd more quickly. The tedium of the route had begun to set in, and we were just trying to get to the car at the other end!

Shortly after arriving at the Bwlch, we stopped before the top of Y Drum for a short rest and refreshment. The once clear valley of Afon Anafon was now filled with sea fog, the southwest-bound ocean cloud battling against the prevailing north-westerly winds, and losing, making great swirls of vapour in the sky. But soon, as we summited Y Drum, the fog was winning: a chance to practice some poor-visibility navigation! Craig and I pulled out our maps and compasses and measured paces to cairns, fences, corners and any feature we could find on the map. This exercise enlivened our journey for the better until the fog cleared as we headed down Drosgl toward Bwlch Y Ddeufaen.

Sea fog versus wind: wind winning! Y Drum, Carneddau

And from here (as I began) was where the tedium set in. Variable fog, heat, humidity; no more accessible water; and a flat but heavily vegetated trudge toward the Sychnant Pass. At least we can say we've done it. I don't think I'll be doing it again in a hurry though!

Route map, from Bethesda to Sychnant Pass over the Carneddau View Larger Map