Welsh winter Jan 2024

Recap of a great week of winter climbing in Eryri.

January was a pretty reasonable month for winter climbing in North Wales. We had a couple of weeks of cold in the hills so a fair few climbs came into condition.

I managed to climb for 7 days in a row which is a rarity these days in Eryri!

Here are a few highlights from the week….

Will on the first ice pitch of Cleft Gully V6.

Meeting in the carpark in Ogwen on this morning, the weather wasn't very inspiring. Raining and not very cold, we were unsure whether to bother walking in to try and climb something.
We decided it would be good training carrying a heavy bag if nothing else so set off up into the mountains.
We got to the freezing level at about 700m, and things started to feel a bit more promising.
With thick clag it was impossible to see what routes might be climbable, so we were pleasantly surprised when we got to the bottom of Cleft Gully and it looked like it would go!

After we climbed this route it saw a ton of ascents! I climbed it again at the end of the week and it had been hacked to bits.

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Matt starting up Golden Girl Ali.

The following day I teamed up with Matt Toal and we headed back up to Cwm Cneifion to see what we could find. Matt had never done Golden Girl Ali so we headed for that. It’s a brilliant mixed route on the side of tower rib and doesn’t rely on any turf or ice. I’ve done this route a fair few times now but it’s always great fun.

Matt after topping out of Golden Girl Ali.

The next day I had no climbing partner so went for a great solo day out on the Glyderau. I climbed Idwal stream, some random mixed stuff on Glyder Fawr main cliff and the some good ice on Tower slabs. soloing stuff is fantastic. Being able to move quickly and efficiently means you can cover a lot of ground (and stay warm!).

The rest of the week I climbed with Elin Lois, Will Hardy and Allan Evans.

Will and Elin walking up to Clogwyn Du

Will having a look at the steep ice next to pillar chimney.

Elin on belay duty.

will entering the depths of the chimney

epic views of the surrounding mountains.

Elin cruising the hilariously awkward pitch of Pillar Chimney.

Pillar Chimney

Topping out just in time for sunset!

walking out after an excellent day of climbing.

Elin on Idwal Stream. as we walked in we could see 6-7 teams on it!

Elin making short work of the top pitch of Idwal stream.

Central Gully, Glyder Fawr

Central gully, Glyder Fawr.

The and second pitch were good fun but the last 4-5 pitches were pretty scrappy. not one I’d do again unless there was bomber neve!

Elin on some thin ice in central gully.

Al just about to pull over the last step before the belay on Cleft Gully.

Al reaching the Belay

Descending after another fantastic day of climbing.

Early winter Conditions in Wales 22/23

Winter in wales often means endless days of rain, cloud and gales. So, when it gets cold enough for snow to fall and the waterfalls to freeze then you’d best get on it fast before the next turbo thaw which always seem to be lurking just around the corner. Mid December provided us with 10 days of cold temperatures, light winds and even a few blue bird days!

To kick things off I headed up bristly ridge early one Moring. The first walk of the season in big boots is always an experience, having spent the summer/autumn in lightweight approach shoes the stiff B3 boots felt like I had bricks strapped to my feet.

Scrambling along Bristly ridge which was thick with rime.

The ridge had a fresh dusting of snow above 750m and was thick with Rime ice. Bristly ridge is usually my first winter outing of the season as it is a reliable opting in pretty much any condition.

Two days later and with a bit more snow cover I made my way up Crib Goch for sunrise. The great thing about the short daylight hours in in December is the extra couple of hours you get in bed! setting off from Pen y Pass at 7:00am it was crampons on from the carpark. The Pyg track was a mixture of hard compacted snow and sheet ice, great with crampons, not so good without.

The previous day must have been a busy one as the path leading up toward Crib Goch from the Pyg was like a motorway. under a full moon there was no need for a headtorch and I had the whole mountain to myself. it was pretty special.

At the start of the east ridge scramble it was ice axe out and poles away (having had a lot of problems with my knees in recent years I’ve found walking poles to be an absolute godsend).

As I reached the summit a snow shower engulfed the ridge and frustratingly meant I was caught in it for the 15 minutes around sunrise.

After the shower passed the sun started to break through the cloud and there was some lovely light as I crossed the ridge.

CRUX X1 RAID | REVIEW

The Crux Raid X1 is a Lightweight 4 season single skin tent which I have been using for just over 8 months now so it has seen plenty of use in both summer and winter conditions.

Crux have a history of making bomb proof gear and this tent is no exception. The total weight of the tent comes in at just under 1.5 kg and features X-tex fabric which is a polyester fabric with a polyurethane coating that is impregnated with activated carbon which allows the tent to breath so you are not soaking wet after good night's sleep.

As a 1 man tent it works perfectly, with enough room for a large backpack and gear for winter.

The X-tex fabric seems to work well for the most part with condensation only forming on the taping. However, with 2 people the lining does get quite a lot of condensation build up, especially on colder nights.  

I have pitched it in all types of conditions, from perfect summer evenings to howling winter conditions with the windiest being about 70mph. It has stood up to everything a welsh winter can throw at it (generally just a whole lot of rain and wind).

The poles are inserted through external pole sleeves, making it quicker and easy to pitch even with gloves on. I have found that the poles do stick to the fabric of the tent when wet which can be a bit annoying if things start to freeze.

Over all this is a great 4 season tent, but be aware that if there are two of you with winter packs things get very snug.

Features & Specifications:

• Central roof vent
• Mesh panel in door

• Poles inserted through external pole sleeves

• Eight guy points
• Total Weight: 1.48kg (complete)
• Flysheet: Waterproof and breathable X-tex, 120 g/m², 50 denier, polyester ripstop, 10,000mm hydrostatic head PU/activated carbon
• Groundsheet: 70 g/m², 70 denier, ripstop nylon, 10,000 mm hydrostatic head TPU coating
• Poles: 2 x 8.64 mm Ø Yunan Ultralite
• Guylines: 4 x 2.00 mm Dyneema with mini-Linelok adjusters
• Pegs: 8 x 7001-T6 square-section alloy pegs, 12 g each
• Packed Size: 45 cm x 12 cm Ø
• Dimensions:
  • Inner length: 210cm
  • Inner width: 120cm
  • Inner Height: 85cm

• People: 2