Glyder Fawr Mountaineering Day

Today I was joined by Mike and Jon from Clwyd Mountaineering Club. The plan was to ascend Idwal Slabs via the Ordinary Route (Mod), scramble up to Continuation Wall and ascend via The Arete (VDiff, 24m). We were then to scramble across to the main Glyder Fawr cliff and take on the Central Arete (VDiff, 200m). The forecast was for rain from about midday, though, which didn't bode well for our later start of 0930...

We parked at the parking along Llyn Ogwen at SH656602. I originally intended to head direct to the Idwal Slabs from there, but Jon was wearing approach shoes and Mike via ferrata boots, both ideal for the climbing we were to do, but not for the peaty bog that lay ahead. So we detoured along the main A5 via Ogwen Cottage to keep our feet dry and cover the ground quickly.

Soloing Ordinary Route (Mod) on the Idwal Slabs.

We arrived at the slabs at around 10am, which was reasonably quiet. We harnessed up quickly (to save time later) and, at Mike's suggestion, began to solo up Ordinary Route. The route was largely clear, and by soloing, we were able to keep ahead of the large group that was waiting to climb behind. We soon reached a woman belaying at around the 100m mark, and, after asking nicely, climbed past. We watched as her partner ascended the final steep section of the slab, waited for him to build his belay, then climbed past. Both were very polite and we didn't seem to disturb them with our soloing antics (a first for me!).

Which way now?

Once at the top of the route, we were then in a quandry: Jon had tried but failed to find the Arete before; and the directions I had brought were not very clear, not helped by the fact that I think I missed a page out of the photocopied entry from the guidebook! Luckily, I'd brought the original. By ascending further to the big arrow on the Slabs exit route, we eventually saw the small boulder perched on the cliff, then carefully traversed right to investigate further. We found the 3m wide quartz at the foot of the wall, but still took a while until we were certain that this was the route. Mike eyed up The Groove Above (S 4b), but I was in my big boots, so was keen to only stick on VDiffs. The Arete it was...

Although the route looked reasonable, finding the first protection was difficult. I jammed a nut in the right corner, mainly as reassurance, and placed a large sling. I then stepped up the centre of the wall to investigate a large gap: it would've been ideal for a sling and a 1930s style chockstone, but I didn't even have a hex to my name, so decided to leave it and stepped back down. I now stepped up and right into the corner, then walked up the terrace ledges, draping a sling over a small, 1in deep flake. The handholds here were better, so I made certain my feet and hands were secure before stepping left and placing a good nut in the only available space and continued up the arete. This was definitely a 'leader never falls' route: but at this point, I started to feel the wind buffet a little, which raised my awareness a notch. I continued on around the arete corner to the left, draped another sling over a small spike, then mantled up into the main shelf. I found a good place for another hex  in a small shelf at the back, but was only able to rest a number 10 rock in it. Oh, it'd be fine for relatively static tension downward, but not a big fall. I thought that this might be a good belay point, and was quite keen to have company up here after such a bold route! After more fruitless searching for another decent placement, I decided it would be better to just get on with it, and to escape the final 'easy' part of the route, to the right and up onto the top of the arete: phew! Once on the top, a perfect couple of cracks welcomed me, and it was with these that I built my belay. Time to relax on the top and watch/listen to the boys struggle up below...

Mike and Jon, a bit chilly

By the time Mike and Jon arrived at the belay, their were quite chilled, not helped by the coldness of the rock. It was 1pm: given that we'd escaped the showers so far, we chose to abandon an ascent via Central Arete, and instead to keep moving up Senior's Ridge. We headed up into the cloud, bagging the summit of Glyder Fawr just as a shower arrived. We continued rapidly down the scree slope to Llyn y Cwn: the rain stopped and we descended out of the cloud. As we came down through Devil's Kitchen and into the bottom of Cwm Idwal, we were able to both reflect on the routes we climbed and recce Central Arete for another, perhaps sunnier day. We will be back!

Pen Y Pass to Llanberis via Glyder Fawr

If there was ever a sign that winter was over, then frogspawn is it. At Llyn y Cwn, we passed once or twice foot-wide heaps of tadpoles encased in jelly. But what about the rest of the mountains?

Today's route (Saturday, 8th March, 2014) took us from the Pen-y-Pass Youth Hostel, over Glyder Fawr, then down to follow the ridge north over Y Garn, Foel Goch and Elider Fawr, finishing down through the Dinorwig Slate Quarries. I was accompanied by long-time friend and local Llanberis resident, Dave. We hopped on the Sherpa bus outside Joe Brown's in Llanberis at 0920, which took us up to Pen-y-Pass for 0930.

The surface pressure charts suggested that the winds would be around 40-60mph on the summits, coming from the south. We'd walked in conditions like this before, but it was expected to become less fierce as the day continued. And the forecast wasn't far off.

Avoiding the building works around the hostel, we approached LlynCwnfynnon without descending into the bogs, and were very sheltered as we walked up past Llyn Cwnfynnon and Bwlch Dwyglydion. It was foggy all the way, with the clouds only briefly lifting once for a few seconds to show me that my navigation was working!

Cloud clearing for seconds in Bwlch Dwyglydion

As we approached the top of the Bwlch, small sheltered areas remained covered in snow, but most of the ground was clear. We reached the top of the Bwlch and the winds continued to increase in strength. Turning west, walking toward the summit of Glyder Fawr became increasingly difficult. I opted to stay south of the main path, off the main ridge, but even so, the winds continued to increase.

Using pacing, I managed to hit the multiple rock towers of Glyder Fawr almost directly. We inched our way toward one of the crags from our downhill/upwind position, then hid behind it in the lea, refuelling while the wind whistled the clouds past at astonishing speed. If felt as though we were in an industrial tumbledryer!

Now that we were out of the wind, we were able to progress. I located the descent path easily (for once). Following the cairns, we headed down the scree slope path, it became covered in snow. We assessed it and found it to be made of icy crystals, but largely soft enough to dig heels into. Dave rushed down over it (being an experienced fell runner), while I carefully made my way across. At about this time the clouds cleared and we could see that most of the mountains were completely clear of snow.

Descending Glyder Fawr to the north and Llyn y Cwn

Tryfan and Pen Yr Ole Wen from Glyder Fawr's north path

Heading down to Llyn y Cwn was straightforward, if gusty, as was the start to Y Garn. The wind felt to be coming largely from the southwest, obviously passing around the bulk of Glyder Fawr. We decided that we would see how strong the wind was as we ascended and if it was too strong, we would miss the summit and countour around to the west to avoid being blown off the mountain. It turned out to not be too bad: walking the zigzag path downwind was a doddle, while upwind was like a 60º slope! We made it to the top, but decided to avoid the summit cairn and head down the other side rapidly.

As we descended, the ridge of Elider Fawr was clear. We had to decide whether it was sensible to continue on our planned route. Given the continuing strength of the wind (and the exhausting effect it had so far had on us), we chose not to continue along the east-west path over Elidir Fawr, and instead decided to bail out down Cwm Dododyn to the south. I explained the principle of contouring down rather than descending then re-ascending, so we skirted farther north to pick up the path as far up the Cwm as possible. We followed the path until we passed an abandoned smallholding, then left the path, maintaining our height on the mountain. Following this direction brought us to the top of the Dinorwig Slate Quarries.

The quarries are always interesting, but I'd never yet visited the higher levels. It was now Dave's turn to lead, and he took me through Shed Mawr, down to the Canteen (graffiti'ed by centuries of quarrymen and visitors) and toward the climbing areas that I knew (Australia, Dali's Hole). We continued down the path past the Anglesey Barracks and on to Pete's Eats for a welcome cream-and-marshallow topped Hot Chocolate. Well earned!

Shed Mawr slate cutting equipment

Inside the canteen: a self-maintaining and human mausoleum to Llanberis's slate industry

Looking over The Lost World to the Twll Mawr gap and Llyn Peris

Anglesey Barracks, where the quarrymen from Anglesey lived during the week