Tower Gully

After my recent success soloing Central Trinity on the Clogwyn Y Garnedd face of Snowdon the day before, and a clear but windy forecast for the weekend, I was keen to try and get out and keep the winter route snowball rolling as long as I could. With Jo tucked up in bed with the flu, Tadams, Tom and I made plans to meet at Ogwen Cottage at half 7 on Saturday morning with the idea of heading up to Cwn Cniefion and seeing what looked in nick.
 

I have to say, rolling out of bed at half 6 that morning was tough, but with my kit already packed I crawled into the car and made my way through the darkness of Snowdonia and into the Ogwen Valley. When I arrived, I was pleased to see an empty car park but for Toms Fiesta, meaning that we would have most groups behind us and hopefully the best pickings in terms of routes.
 

As we made our way up the path towards Cwm Idwal I walked of the stiffness of the previous days solo, and as the sun lit up the Cwm it was great to see both Idwal and Cniefion looking great with a decent covering of snow and ice. The previous weeks cold temperatures had frozen the Llyn and even though none of the major ice routes in Cwm Idwal were formed, if the cold temperatures continued on for another few days there could be definite potential. As we carried on, we passed through the kissing gate and then forked left up the valley towards Cwm Cniefion, always trying to keep a good pace to keep ahead of the crowds.

Once in the Cwm, we had a quick look around and with time our sides decided that if we climbed our first route swiftly, more than one route could be done whilst the ice remained solid in the early part of the day. With that thought in mind and with a quick look in the guidebook, Golden Girl Ali was our route of choice. Working up the left side of the Cwm and starting up the first pitch of Tower Gully, the route then snakes off up the left and up a buttress of rock with what looked like good mix climbing. At grade IV it would be our hardest climb of the winter so far, but all feeling confident we were soon racking up at the base of Tower Gully and looking forward to the climbing ahead.



Tom and Tom checking out what looks good in Cwm Cneifon.

Tadams quickly set off on the lead with Tom and I each tied into the end of one double rope, our thinking that once a belay was built, both the seconds could quickly follow the leader. The climbing was good and ice solid, with progress only being slowed by a few steeper ice steps that kept the climbing interesting and varied. However, as we gained height and true to the forecast the wind speed had picked up to a level where it was nearly impossible to communicate as we made our way up the pitch.

Tadams leading the first pitch of Tower Gully.

With the first pitch ending just before the crux of Tower Gully, Tadams built a belay and Tom and I quickly climbed up to meet him. At this point we took time to chat and dig out goggles from our rucksacks to protect our eyes from the ice and snow now flying at us a 50mph. With the start of Golden Girl Ali up to our left and following the line of the steep and exposed buttress, we took time to chat and weigh up our options.

After a few minutes of discussion, it was decided that going for the route would be slightly too much for us in the current conditions, and with the superb Tower Gully continuing above us we still had the chance to climb on brilliant ground on what is a classic route.

Feeling like we had made a sensible decision, Tadams again moved away from the belay and towards the crux of Tower Gully, a 6 foot section of off vertical ice that he climbing without a worry. From there the ground was easy and he continued quickly with only a few pauses to place gear. Once again I was on the move swiftly, with none of the moves feeling too hard or strenuous. As I was moving up each axe swing landed on good ice and each kick step was solid, and with the large Golden Girl Ali buttress hanging over the left hand side of the gully and the wind and snow buffeting us, it gave the route a 'real winter climbing' feel.

Once again the three of us met at the belay and took a minute to soak up the atmosphere and discuss our options. With the majority of Tower Gully now climbed and the ground starting to ease up in angle, Tom suggested we had a go a climbing the upper reaches of the buttress we intended to climb from the base. It seemed like a good idea and once again we kept moving to avoid getting too cold. Whilst it was only a short pitch, it provided fun mixed climbing as a nice contrast to the ice we had climbed on the previous two pitches. The line Tom chose had a mix of good hooks and foot placements and gave us a little insight into what climbing Golden Girl Ali would have been like from the start.

Tadams off exploring on the Goldern Girl Ali buttress. 

Once climbed, we each took our turn to pull up and over onto the top of the buttress, instantly being struck by the relentless wind that was battering the upper slopes of Glyder Fawr. Looking around we quickly found a boulder to shelter behind and made a dash for it before we could be blown off our feet. Now in the lee of the rock, we took our time to have a bite to eat, take a celebratory photo and discuss what to do next.

Topping out after climbing Tower Gully.

After a quarter of a hour or so, we decided the best plan of action would be to head back down into Cwm Cniefion and rather than take the grade I Easy Route towards the base of the Cwm, we would head for the top of Hidden Gully. We could then down climb, hoping that the sheltered nature of the gully would make for interesting and fairly comfortable descent. Luckily enough for us, once moving we didn’t meet anyone coming up the route and we made quickly progress towards the base of Clogwyn Du. Once there, Tadams and Tom had their sights set on climbing Cleft Gully, a grade V route following a line of weakness up the main crag and towards the summit of Glyder Fawr.

At this point, I decided that with winter routing plans already made for the following day, the route would be too much for me and I would leave them too it. So with a quick exchange, I lent the boys my ice screws and made my way towards Cwm Idwal and the lower slopes of the Glyders. Later on that day, Tadams and Tom dropped by my house to bring back my gear and have a chat about the route. From what they said Cleft Gully turned out to be a fantastic, sustained route on good quality, steep ice. Well done boys and a good days winter climbing had by all.

Crampons and all....

After the excitement of getting our first winter walk of the season done last week, Jo and I were keen for more and with a clear forecast for Saturday, it was decided that another hill day was on the cards.

Up until now, Jo had never used crampons and axes and it was decided that a nice loop around Cwm Ogwen taking in the summit of Y Garn would be the perfect practice route whilst not proving too long or taking in much technical ground. After a hasty pack of the bags we were in the car and driving up towards the Ogwen Valley, taking every opportunity we could to peer through the cloud to try and get a sneak peak of snow covered summits.

 

Once at Ogwen Cottage, we quickly donned our packs and set off up the path towards Cwm Ogwen, the air feeling cold and our winter boots feeling clumsy on the approach to the lake. Once around the bend we were gifted by our first view of the hills and an amazing winter scene with the snow looking deep in places.  

 



Walking up to Cwm Idwal

We continued our way round towards the back of the Cwm, steadily gaining height whilst passing the ever popular Idwal slabs and crossing the fast flowing Idwal stream. Once we were a little higher, a quick check of the map told us that the snow line was at 550m, the snow making the going under foot a little trickier on the well-polished steps of the Devil Kitchen.

 



Great to be walking on snow.

Working our way up, we bumped into a couple of groups of people, everyone as excited as us to be out enjoying the winter conditions and making the most of the hills no matter what the season.

 

We quickly worked our way up to the top of the Devil’s Kitchen, and with the no more than a gentle breeze blowing, decided to have a warming slurp of soup and a sausage roll by the partially frozen Llyn y Cwm before continuing on towards Y Garn.

 



Heading towards Llyn y Cwm 

 



The first signs of ice on Llyn y Cwm

At this point, the summit of Y Garn wasn’t visible and it looked like more cloud was rolling in, meaning that navigation way going to become more of an issue. Having done my ML training in late September, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for me to practice some of the techniques I was taught during the week including pacing and timing of legs, and the accurate following of a bearing. From our location, a glance at the map told me that our next major feature was 450m away with 80m of climbing. A quick bit of mental maths using Naismith’s rule told us that it would take 15 minutes to get there.



Amazing early season conditions.



Walking our way up into the clouds of Y Garn

As we climbed towards the summit the ground became steeper and our spaced slowed, all the time concentrating on placing our feet well and we hadn’t put our crampons on yet. As we made it too our intended feature a quick glance at my watch told me that it had taken up 16 minutes to get there, not bad considering the slow going of the snow underfoot.
 
Now in complete cloud, we continued up towards the summit passing a couple of descending groups and focusing on our navigation with the visibility falling to around 50m in places. Once at the summit it was time for another swift glug of soup to wash down the rest of our sausage rolls, before putting out crampons on and heading towards the North East ridge before the cold could take effect.
 




Looking back towards the summit of Y Garn.

Once over the summit and on the lee side of the wind, we continued on towards the north East Ridge, staying aware that the strong wind over the previous few days along with all the fresh snow would prove a perfect recipe for cornices. At the top of the ridge, we could see all the way down the Ogwen Valley and before we set off down the ridge I gave Jo a quick reminder of how to keep her ice axe on her uphill side and how to arrest a fall if she were to slip.
 
On the ridge the going was good, with soft snow all the way down and a clear path of footsteps towards the lower slopes of Y Garn. It really was good to be moving well in the winter conditions and compared to the upper slopes of Moel Siabod last week the conditions have really improved.




Decending the sheltered North East ridge of  Y Garn.

Over the course of the day, with Jo having less winter experience that me, I found it really rewarding to be able to pass on pieces of knowledge that I have learned over my time in the hills. These could be little things such as teaching her how to put on crampons, to using rime ice to tell you which direction the wind has been blowing, but its definitely something I would like to do more of.





 

Once off the steeper slopes of Y Garn and where the snow was thinner, it was time to take our crampons off and head downs toward Iwdal to complete our loop. Even though our day was relatively short, there was a great feeling of accomplishment and luck that we had managed to get out in, enjoy and leave the hills safely on what was a fantastic winter day. I’m wishing for many more over the coming months and hopefully they will put me in good shape for my upcoming winter trip to Scotland.  




Pointing our crampons down the Ogwen Valley from the North East ridge of Y Garn