Fresh Air and Warm Sun

Clare and I had intended to spend the day up in the mountains on a long walk or scramble, but neither of us could quite summoned the required energy. And with temperatures at The Cottage only just above freezing it felt bitterly cold out, so we put the idea on hold…

In the shelter of the Cottage garden, while doing a few jobs, the direct sunlight felt pretty warm, so we walked up into the Slate Quarry, where a few sheltered slabs offered some super climbing conditions.

It was actually really warm on this section of rock, even though a few metres to the left, the wind chill was freezing! It’s always a great climb, but today, it felt glorious moving on the rock.

After putting up the rope, we also climbed the rarely ascended crack to the right, (hot air crack), which could be good if it was cleaned up, but felt a bit friable in it’s current state. As we were climbing Jane and Renee walked past, but circled back for a chat which was lovely while the sun was out.

The frozen summit of Snowdon was a good reminder of temperatures outside of our little sun trap.

After a couple of routes, we headed to the cafe to warm up properly and started making plans for some expeditions in 2026 and beyond. So many ideas! Oh, and the the walk out took us past some big puddles and nice reflections…