Gwilym's Adventure Blog

I am in The Lakes and the weather is warm and sunny. Today I started at Patterdale and climbed St Sunday Crag by a very warm and dry Pinnacle Ridge before heading on round and up to a cold and blowy Fairfield and Hart Crag. Then is was a relatively painless descent down Hartsop above How back to the car which got warmer and warmer with every step. Definitely an 8 picture day today. Took loads more though, I get very few personal days in The Lake District so it was nice to be out and about without the pressure of trying to find a DofE group

Having decided to embrace summer fully, Jake, Mandy and I headed to Torridon at early o'clock for a traverse of Liathach. A brutal pull up from the road to the first summit was rewarded with a bit of easy scrambling and a sandwich. It was a little sad to see 2 ptarmigan still in winter plumage trying to hide against a grey rock. We stuck to the ridge to keep the interest going but unfortunately, the mist did not lift and we did not get to see the potentially stunning views. As always, as we got down to the glen, the mist cleared as we looked back up to the ridge (last picture)

Last day out with Mark and Paul, clients on a Wet and High Adventures Ltd "Winter" Skills and Mountaineering course as we decided to ignore the lack of winter and go mountaineering. A gondola ride up to Aonach Mor and a walk round to the west face so we could do the usual "is it isn't it" debate as to which rib was Golden Oldy as we stared into the mist We looked at a full range of techniques from managing ropes when walking, scrambling, moving together, pitching and general basking in the sunshine on the last half of the route. There are still a few snow patches around but the last picture is a little mis-representative as this is merely a 10 metre wide patch around the rim, the rest of the plateau is unfrozen turf and exposed rock. As always, there was the matter of managing the timing of the day so we didn't miss the gondola down for coffee and cake.

Today Rich, Olly and I wandered into Corie an t'Sneachda with an open mind to see what we could do. It became quite apparent that the thaw has been brutal and as the wind was low today we opted to climb Fiacaill Ridge. It was by no means a winter ascent as although we crossed some snow to get on it we could have gone round that. The route itself was clear of snow and only a few patches of avoidable ice. Our crampons stayed in the bag and axe strapped on the side. After doing a lap of the coire, we found some snow remaining on the Fiacail Coire Cas and Olly practiced his bucket seat, buried axe and stomper before heading down for coffee and cake.

Pretty much like a day in The Alps for the 4th day of the Mountain Leader Training course I am directing for Wet and High Adventures Ltd . Warm sunshine, clear summits and great visibility. The added bonus of looking down onto some fast jets and a Hercules coming through the Ogwen valley whilst we zig zagged up and down Tryfan. I have now handed the course over to Stu and have arrived in southern Snowdonia to assist Bristol Choir School with the last day of their Gold DofE Practice before heading back down south tomorrow afternoon.

Today for the second day of the Mountain Skills course I am directing for Wet and High Adventures we headed to the North Ridge of Tryfan to look at steep ground skills. We managed to reach the cannon which was just on the snowline before we turned back. Lots covered today and all pushed themselves outside their comfort zone at times. 4 very happy clients now planning their future adventures in the mountains. A bit of an admin evening now before starting a Mountain Leader course tomorrow.

Well, it was wet again today, so we left the climbing gear in the van and climbed Tryfan via the north ridge and down via Bwlch Tryfan and Llyn Bochllwyd. Proper rain saw us wet through to our pants but that s just part of the adventure

Tryfan North Ridge, started in sunshine, ended in rain and wind. Vicky enjoyed her first proper scramble but conditions were not good enough to make the jump from Adam to Eve

Today Vicky and I headed into Cwm Cneifion for some scrambling. Another mixed weather day with some rain, wind and occasional sunshine.