There’s been a big thaw and a night of heavy rain has stripped away the snow.

Up on the tops, the summits are speckled with white remnants of snow. I had a pretty good idea of where I’d be able to find some reasonably sized snow patches to work with my students, but it was still a bit of a gamble as we couldn’t see from the road.

Sure enough, Cwm Lloer was still hosting some good lines for me to teach some winter skills. The snow pack was really wet, which mean it was perfect for sliding on! A great fun and relatively safe conditions to learn how to ice axe arrest, if one were to slip.

And because it was so wet, it was perfect for digging and tunnelling! Something that everyone got stuck into. Quite literally.

Although it wasn’t exactly full winter conditions, we all had to agree that it was very handy to be able to step off the snow and return to summer conditions when required!

The gully lines were not quite complete, so it was good that we hadn’t come to climb them. Still plenty of patches – we linked them up for a tour of the cwm – digging, sliding and kicking steps along the way. Good training.