What a wild week of wild weather! Waterproof permeating rainfalls, winds so strong, I’ve been knocked off my feet and even Clare’s been off her feet – Cottage bound with a knock out illness, so all in all, things can only get better from here! On the plus side being up in the night with a poorly wife, it did give us a few glimpses of the full moon during a rare break in the clouds!

I’ve had several days on the hill this week and even by ‘hiding’ on the more sheltered and lower mountains, and this has been the general view!

In the moments of dry, the winds were so ferocious, it’s hard to put into words what it was like to be out in it. Forward progress at times was simply impossible and the group and I were put down on the ground between gusts!

Standing up straight was as much as a challenge as outdoor photography on Friday! After the group got scattered like ten pin bowling skittles by a big gust and I decided that enough was enough! We carefully descended with difficulty down the sheltered side of the mountain and re-grouped in the café feeling like we’d survived a battle…

I’d have cancelled the ‘Hill Skills’ course that I was Course Director for on Saturday, but it was also part of a student assessment, so Nick and I did our best to ‘promote enthusiasm and best practice for hill walking’ on the edge of the Carneddau!

To be fair to the twelve students we had with us, they all chose to push on to the summit of Gryn, despite being offered an early return to the minibus! A top effort and a memorable day for all!

On the bright side, the Cottage Christmas tree is up!

Having no dry kit left to wear, we thankfully took to the shelter of the climbing wall on Sunday. A great bouldering session and nice to return home with dry socks…