
After cancelling our annual trip to Scotland due to rubbish conditions we spent a few day's looking at our options before opting for 4 days in the Ogwen valley. We hoped to practice moving over very steep ground, wearing winter gloves, boots and carrying a heavy bag.
For the first day we picked a V Diff on Tryfan. It didn't take long to realise this was going to be harder than we thought. After getting half way up the first pitch it was obvious that the useless ice covering the slab and the softening rime ice further up was not doable without winter tools so we backed off and spent the rest of the day scrambling about the East face.
Friday we did Cneifon Arete. Great route, and offered up some spicy moments. Rope on, rope off. Lot's to learn.
Saturday was to be Dolman ridge. Justin downloaded the gpx file off of Rockfax to aid nav. Unfortunately the route looked very similar to D A but was 100 or so meters back into the cwm. We had a great day practicing lots of skills and decision making but it wasn't Dorsal arete. We descended via Y Gribin ridge. A great way to finish off 3 great days in the mountains.
Area :
North Wales Winter Climbs