I hadn’t anticipated heading up into the mountains today, having planned some beach activities, but attempts to get to the coast were aborted after freak weather conditions left many of the roads impassable due to ice. Not to worry, a Plan B was soon hatched and the snow shoes were dusted off for the first use of the year and we shifted our attention to the snow covered mountains.

Although there is not much ice formed, the mountains of Snowdonia are currently buried in snow. So much in fact that snow shoes or skis are needed to access many of the peaks!

To avoid sinking into the soft powdery snow, (waist deep at times!), the snow shoes spread our weight and allowed us to cross the open mountainside.

We opted to hike up to the Crib Lem Spur – a rocky ridge that leads up to the summit of Carnedd Dafydd. It’s a long hike in any conditions, but felt a really long way today. We chose to start in the Nant Ffrancon valley and traverse into the ridge, so as to make a circuit of the day. The snow shoes meant that we could cross the usually boggy and impassable ground without too much trouble.

As we neared the ridge, we reached the cloud base and swapped snow shoes for crampons. Taking it in turn to break trail, we joined the ridge just above steeper cliffs in the photo below.

The view back down the mountain towards The Cottage was superb. It felt like a wild wilderness! We saw no other people all day.

It took a staggering two and a half hours to reach the base of the climbing part of the ridge! Much longer than usual. It was worth the effort though as conditions on the ridge were superb. Hard snow for crampons to bite into and all the rocks were rimed with big feathers of ice.

John stayed true to the crest of the ridge, but Aled and I climbed some of the snow gullies either side of it as we made our way up.

The summit cairn was decorated in beautiful feathers of rime ice and a bitterly cold wind was roaring across the tops.

We huddled in for some food and drink, while planning the descent route. It was no place to loiter, with a minus double figures wind chill, any exposed skin felt almost painful.

Although we were in the mist, I wore glasses to keep the snow glare off, but to also protect myself from the wind and any snow that was getting blown around. Our jackets and packs started to rime with ice as well. It was time to head down!

While the others got their snowshoes back on, I took out my orange poly bag and sledged downhill at an alarming rate! It was a super fun and quick descent, but it took a while to shake off all the snow before continuing down the last section on snowshoes.

We were back home in good time as the moon rose over the peaks and the temperatures dropped below freezing in the valley again. A mega impromptu day out!

Carnedd Daffyd, Crib Lem Spur – Grade II