With blue skies and a low freezing level Pilar and I headed to Snowdonia to see to take advantage of wall to wall sunshine!
We had a score to settle with Clogwyn y Ddysgl as the previous weekend we had failed to climb the
Person Arete (II/III, 300m). We’d had a late start and in the appalling visibility, I made the silly decision to follow another party who where way off route. Ultimately this led to us abandoning the route (abseiling off a spike of rock after climbing some unprotected frozen turf and ice with only one ice axe). Quite an exciting experience……
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 | | Poor weather on the approach |
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 | | A belay - but in the wrong place |
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 | | Pilar leading off -to god knows where |
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 | | The correct line - And where we actually were |
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| Pilar bailing |
Anyway this weekend was sun sun sun and we headed back up to Clogwyn y Ddysgl. Parsley Fern Left hand (II, 250m) looked like a better option as it had good frozen snow and had ice formed. The route is the sister route of a classic Grade I snow plod up to Crib y Ddysgl however it has the added bonus of a couple of ice obstacles to negotiate. The ice sections were very brittle and parties ahead sent ice raining down on us and we used the rope for this section as the brittle ice felt thin and insecure……..
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 | | Topo of our route on the hill |
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 | | Approaching Parsley Fern |
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 | | Pilar awaits a team ahead - with some brittle ice raining down |
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 | | Through the crux |
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 | | A snowy slope finishes the climb off to join the masses near Snowdon |
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Once on Crib y Ddysgl we headed for Snowdon. It was packed as the warm sunshine had bought every man and his mother out to the hills. We wasted no time and headed for Central Trinity (II 2, 300m). The route is a classic mountain gully to the top of Snowdon and had seen many ascents this season as it was heavily stepped out. This ensured a somewhat easy though still enjoyable excursion to the summit……
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 | | The Trinity Face looking great |
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 | | Pilar preparing for an icy obstacle mid way up the route |
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 | | Me using both axes (though no real need to) |
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After some sunbathing and lunching we headed for the final objective the Crib Goch traverse (S1, 600m). The ridge felt quite challenging after a morning of snow and ice gullies as we were beginning to feel exhausted. Alone on the ridge in the late afternoon sun it was spectacular. Hard to believe an hour or so earlier we were surrounded by the masses on Snowdon summit. We arrived at the car just as darkness fell…..
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 | | Pilar towards the final objective |
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 | | Me having fun on Crib-Y-Ddysgl |
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 | | Pilar with silhouette of Snowdon behind |
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 | | Descending the North Ridge |
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With aches and pains after a 10 hour day on the hill Pilar and I went for a rather spectacular bimbly walk before heading back down south……
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 | | The Red Arrow and The Trinity Face |
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 | | Wales looking lovely |
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