Craig Cwm-du

Leila having fun

Today (9/01/10) with Leila and Ed we headed for Craig Cwm-du to do the fall we'd heard about but couldn't find in a guide book. So the video above shows the location of our grade III fun. We got there after a late start to find a team of 4 already half way up, but not dropping much ice.

We had great fun and a great day out. The ice was always thick enough for screws, for belays and runners. Well worth a visit.

Iced Up River Wye

Standing on the river Wye at Glasbury.

The river was a slush puppy most of the way down

We got to our access point on the Wye for our canoe day to find ice extending for 10m at some points into the river on each side. I managed to find a point for easy access and so our adventure started. We weren't the only things floating on the river - there were also sheets of ice and sheets of slush. The soldiers found manouvering difficult in places when they were competing with a sheet of ice pushing them about.

We had a fantastic day - one of my most memorable. Last day at work for IO Dunn (Instructional Officer) - best wishes to her for her future.

RAC Corner - In Nick

Russ

I had to go canoeing today and these guys went ice climbing ! But thanks for the report anyway - I gave them my camera, so I was kinda there - not. From the photos and from their reports the ice is fat, in nick, and finally not dripping, or audibly running behind. However the upper steep step has been shortened by all the snow fall - into a little bit of ice bouldering.

Finally fat enough for ice screw runners and belays. It can now withstand all the pounding it'll inevitably get this coming weekend - all South Wales (and South England) ice climbers heading for the few in nick venues that exist - but this one with the shortest walk in....

Ice, But Canoeing Not Climbing

Frozen over !

Working with the Army (SDW) this week - the first challenge is to get to work (33 miles), across the National Park. The next challenge is to deliver canoeing. Lots of venues are frozen solid (maybe we could drill holes and go fishing), but we managed to break the ice where it was thin at our venues.

The groups this week used all the normal venues - Glasbury to Hay, Aberbran to Brecon, the Prom in Brecon and the Brecon Canal.

Unbelievably beautiful scenery and amazing conditions. Some soldiers capsized their canoes on the rivers, but they were drilled well and managed to tough it out (and in most cases stay warm). They're learning how to tough through difficult conditions, and still be committed to the team.

'RAC Corner' - Just About There

'RAC Corner' falls - just about there

Today, was a day to look for ice. Ed and I headed for the Torpantau Falls, but we got stuck on the ice eventually by the Pentwyn Reservoir. We had to bin the idea and head for safer roads. After some scary car ice skating we managed to get out of there, and head to plan B - the RAC corner on the A 470. Everybody has been waiting for this to get in nick. We managed to still be the first on it this morning and check out the ice. It was only just about in condition. We managed to leave all the ice in position for everybody else, coming up behind.

We have high hopes for the mountain roads to clear and the ice to grow over the week, so on the next day off - play can start again.

Pen Y Fan Snow & Climbing Conditions

The mini ridge (II) between the Far Right and Near Right Gully

The East Face (popularly called the North Face) of Pen y Fan started off quiet on New Year's Day. But soon by early morning, there were many keen climbers looking for fun climbing conditions. Several teams headed for Central Gully (III) taking slightly different lines in the upper sections. One team is shown in the video. Other climbers spread out over the other gullies and ridges. My first climb was the ridge between the 2 right hand side gullies.

The ground was frozen, but unfortunately it was frozen without much water content, so there was lots of grass and moss covered in powder topped off with an icy crust. The rock was fully rimed up though. We're still waiting for the fabled South Wales ice climbs to come into condition.

Best wishes everybody for 2010, and safe climbing..

Pen Y Fan on New Year's Day

Martin and Richard with their Free Cafe...

New Year's Day on Pen Y Fan. It was a quiet start to the day, but people started to flock to the hills. I'll write about the climbing later, but thought I'd show what other people were up to today first. Martin and Richard set up the 'Coldest Free Cafe in the UK' at the summit from about noon to late afternoon. They gave out hot (warm) tea and coffee with biscuits. So so many appreciative people... There were hundreds and hundreds of walkers, boarders and sledgers. All had a great day.

A member of the public had a slip on the Pen y Fan main path today. They needed assistance and Mountain rescue and an ambulance were called. The CBMRT (Central Brecons Mountain Rescue Team) quickly got the situation under control. I wish them a speedy recovery. At the turn of the year, I'd like to say thank you, on behalf of all climbers, mountaineers, and members of the public, to all British Mountain Rescue teams for their continuing dedicated hard work..