13th Jan, More Snow, More Nav

Above - reaching the first summit

Below - The marks made by a pheasant on take off - not a snow angel

My turn to take the Soldiers (SUT) out for a winter day. The snow was so deep where it had drifted, it was in places, several metres deep. All minor features were now gone - South Wales was beginning to feel a little more wild and remote. We battled through the snow and managed to do 16km before our deadline return time. The group did well with their nav.
This week the SAS selection has started in the Brecon Beacons. The traditional Fan Dance (Tour of the greater Pen y Fan horseshoe) would be more challenging than normal (with a weapon to help them, not an axe!). Best of luck..

Pen -Y-Fan, Central Gully

I'd had a fattening Christmas and hadn't been watching the weather. I was tipped off about the approach of snow - so quickly made it back to South Wales from England, packed a bag and met up with Ed Abbley. We wanted ice (doesn't everybody). We were disappointed not to find Nirvana - 'roadside ice'. The temp at 400m was still 1 degree C. In fact it was positively warm. So Ed Abbley and I set off for the Pen-Y-Fan North Face (actually E facing) t0 try a little mixed. We were pleased to find the temperature dropping and it reached freezing at about 600m (at last). On the ridges and summits the wind was strong and was moving the old and new snow about. We found Central Gully - and I instantly wished for an ice screw or 2 (left in the car at road side), at last we found ice. The turf was frozen (just), and there was a huge amount of rime on the rocks. It was difficult to get the camera out most of the time (or it was frozen), so I missed all the action. On the way down we found masses of sledge tracks, and we wondered who had been having the most fun. Roll on the winter...

Take care with your climbing everybody - 2 people died on the Ben this morning, tragic news. Let's all have a safe winter season...

Sun, Sheep and Slopes

The stunning weather continues. Time for a hill walk to stretch those legs. There were crowds of people, sheep and dogs all over the hills. Many were heading for Pen Y Fan (first photo) and Corn Du (third photo). We had to share the paths with some proud parents and their Kids / Lambs (second photo) - in the end they beat us to the summit - it's not a competition !


The visibility was good, but I couldn't quite see back to Gower. Incredible weather - could only be improved with a touch of snow...