Hidden Gulley (II, 60m), Cwm Cneifon, Snowdonia

23.2.17

Hidden Gulley (II, 60m), Cwm Cneifon, Snowdonia

Winter of 2016/17 turned out to be one of the warmest on record with snow and ice conditions being poor throughout Europe.

North of the border the Scottish winter climbing conditions were apparently poor so Wales had no chance. On this particular weekend we went prepared for some walking and started on Daear Ddu Ridge (S1) on the Snowdon outlier Moel Siabod. This great little hill stands alone on the outskirts of the Llanberis Pass and the route takes a blunt rib to the summit with some scrambling moves here and there to make it more interesting...

Approaching Siabod

The descent

Picking a way through the rocks

With a good over night freeze we opted for Hidden Gully (II) the next morning. This short Grade II climb being situated high on the flanks of Glyder Fawer in Cwm Cneifon was apparently in nik so we scrambled up the approach gully -known as Seniors Gully (S1), cramponing up early as we gained elevation...

The Line of our ascent

Seniors Gully

Scrambling up Seniors Gully

Atop the gully we arrive at the “football pitch”, a level plateau before we gain further height by ascending an icy ramp which brings us to the back of Cwm Cneifon. By this point the wind felt almost storm-force and we spent a good while trying to pick out the cliffs though the appalling weather….

Messing about on icy slabs

Pilar on the plateau

We did pick out our route. It was easy to spot as there was a team at the base flaking a rope (and having some difficulty in the strong wind). We realised they were in fact behind another team. There was no way we were going to hang around in this weather so we continued up the slope to the summit, bypassing the route altogether. Still we made it a proper outing by traversing over the Glyder Plateau and down Devils Kitchen back into the Ogwen Valley. Highly memorable…