I had an unusual, yet uplifting experience after meeting my group and going through the weather forecast this morning. Blizzard conditions were the main theme of the day and (expecting a revolt), suggested that we might just stay low level as it might be a bit of a battle up high. 'Well, we're pretty keen for a battle today' came back the response! I could barely believe my ears, so before anyone changed their minds, got them kitted up and headed out to Ogwen and the heart of the mountains.
Thankfully, the torrential rain that shook the bus on the drive over ended as we parked up at Ogwen Cottage. As we left the car park, it felt like our decision to go for it was being rewarded with a break in the weather. It stayed dry until we reached the snow line, but once on the main ridge, we were exposed to both the wind and the incoming snow showers.
Getting pelted by hail on the back of a stong wind isn't the most pleasant experience you can have in the mountains. There was some solace that we would have our backs to the wind on the way up though. Up at the summit, we added the last layer in our arsenal of weather protection - ski goggles. These are an essential bit of equipment for the winter mountaineer and ensured that we would at least win the battle that I'd assured everyone that we'd be involved with!
Fully protected (and with a nice tinted orange glow thanks to the masks), we made a rapid descent. We decided against putting on crampons as the snow was very wet. The temperature was certainly warmer than forecast and rising. Instead of retracing our steps, we located some safe snow slopes, sat down and bum-slid our way down, bulldozing and big track as we went!
Welsh winter feels like it might be disappearing as fast as it arrived, but it's been good to snatch a day out in the snow. Even if it was a bit of a battle!
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