A mini bike tour - Chirk to Llangollen

So good to be back on the bikes again! Even just an overnight trip brings with it the buzz and excitement of being self-sufficient and back 'on the road' again, exploring new places under our own stream. This time, we took the bikes to Chirk, where the weather was looking far more clement than in the mountains. Having left the van in a safeish looking layby, our route started by taking us along the canal towpath through deep piles of autumnal leaves.

All was calm and tranquil as we powered our way along the delightfully flat path in the late afternoon sunshine.

Before long, we passed by Chirk marina, which looked like a nice place to stop, but we reluctantly decided that it was too soon into the journey to warrant it. 

Then came the 174m long tunnel. We wobbled along in the dark to start with but had to dismount to let some walkers pass us by halfway through. It felt a lot safer pushing anyway.

The engineering marvels continued, with a crossing of the Froncysyllte Aquaduct. Thankfully there was a barrier on our side to prevent a fall to certain death, which is more than could be said for those sitting on the edge of the barges.

We also encountered another barrier, in the form of a very informative, friendly and persuasive member of the canal trust who did his very best to encourage us to part with some cash before reaching the other side. We were almost hyperthermic from the cold wind by the time we were eventually let through the 'unofficial toll booth'. (but we did carry on with some good canal knowledge and a photo of Thomas Telford's house).

We peddled on past Trevor with a renewed pace. The photos look bright and sunny, but it was only about 6 degrees and with a bitter wind chill. (i.e not the kind of weather to be stood for long on a windy aqueduct in a pair of cycling shorts!). Our destination was Llangollen, but we decided to extend the journey by continuing to the Chain Bridge, which marks the start of the canal, where the water is taken from the River Dee.

As luck would have it, there is also a hotel and bar there, which looked particularly warm and inviting. We locked up the bikes and went in to warm up over a half Guinness.

By the time we emerged from the cozy bar, it was dark and raining quite hard! We got togged up, turned our lights on and rode the fifteen minutes or so back to Llangollen, arriving completely soaked at the door of our B&B. We got a warm welcome and were soon shown up to a very nice room. As we had no camping kit with us, we had plenty of room for fresh clothes, so were soon changed, warmed up and ready to explore Llangollen in search of fine hot foods...

The A55 Ridge Scramble

It's always a bit frustrating for someone like me, when the weather is glorious, but there are other jobs that don't involve being on mountain tops that need to be done. There was another decent frost this morning, so I consoled myself with the thought that at least it was warm inside. I worked as fast as I could so that I could get away just in time for a quick scramble before (well during actually), sunset. Pulling over off the A55 on the way back to The Cottage, there is an appealing rocky ridgeline. I have climbed it a few times in the past, but this time I was on a reccy to see how useful it might be as a route to do with students. And it was a beautiful evening that was not to be wasted! The sun was reflecting on the rock, making it glow orange, as I arrived at the base of the ridge - I was super excited to change shoes and get going.

It was a real buzz making my way carefully along the crest of the ridge, working out where good stances or protection might be. 

The rock is very good, but there are very few places to get any protection in. 

I made the summit just in time for sunset. I'd picked up a headtorch from my kit stores, but made it down in the last of the light. A great evening blast to break up the drive home!

Snow on the Summits

Our first frost of winter arrived last night and walking out from The Cottage this morning we were treated with some beautiful views of the white-capped mountains. It's just a dusting, but with the blue sky backdrop, they looked stunning.

Just before dusk, we ventured up onto the hills behind the house. We'd ambitiously set off to climb a route in the slate quarry, but it was still bitterly cold. An ascent of Moel y Ci gave the best views, we decided.

We walked down into a setting sun and with the feeling that the frost would soon be back...

The route less travelled - Scrambling on Braich ty Du

In 1980, Steve Ashton published a guidebook on the scrambles of Snowdonia. I've climbed all the classic routes, often multiple times, but I noticed while flicking through it recently, that there are a few scrambles that I've yet to ascend. Some of them are 'included for completeness and should be avoided', others are a way off the beaten track and a few others are rarely climbed, loose, dangerous or both. 

However, with only a twenty minute approach time, I decided that we ought to go and check out, the 'Right Hand Branch of Braich ty Du - having never climbed it before. The other reason for choosing this crag, was that is was in the full sunshine and sheltered from the easterly winds, so we enjoyed a very pleasant walk in from Ogwen Cottage, while clouds raced overhead. We were almost thwarted on the final stages of the approach, where thick gorse bushes prevented entry to the base of the cliffs. Clearly it had been some time since this broken section of butresses and cliff has been approached. Setting off though further vertical gorse fields, I began to wonder if it had even ever had a second ascent?

A short traverse, waist deep in the undergrowth, looked like it was heading somewhere promising and did at least end at a secure belay (albeit a hanging one over a big drop!). 

Clare, having battled her way up to my high point, took over the lead on a section of clean, rough rock while I basked in the afternoon sunlight dangling from my dramatic hanging stance. Progress however, was soon halted though by the presence of an impenetrable section of gorse, which was covering our exit slab. 

Clare (and then I), had been astonished to find a wooden post wedged between two boulders to provide a sturdy belay. We tied onto it while assessing our options. Ahead was impassable. To the side looked tricky and an abseil retreat looked to be a prickly and time-consuming affair.

Leaving Clare on the wooden wedge stance, I investigated around the other side of the cliff and was delighted to find a study spike of rock that we could perhaps descend from, down the vertical south face of the buttress?

I fixed some old rope that I was carrying (for exactly such emergencies!). The only question was, would our rope reach the ground below us? It was a vertical/overhanging abseil, meaning that once I'd set off, it would be hard to reascend. Thankfully as I tossed the ends down, they just hit the deck. Phew.

Leaving the security of our big ledge, it was rather intimidating to lean back and abseil down, but the buzz of adrenaline helped to crystallize the concentration levels and we were soon back on the ground and pulling down our ropes having escaped further drama. 

So I think it's fair to say that this route has not been climbed in many years and probably won't be for many more. It was quite an impromptu adventure for a Sunday afternoon. Good value!

- Braich ty Du (Pen yr Ole Wen) - Right Hand Branch (Grade 3)* - Do not repeat!

Baltic Bike Riding to Conwy

An arctic blast of air has really chilled things down around here, so we put our climbing plans on hold. It was a gloves on kind of day, with a windchill of below freezing. We decided to stay wrapped up and head over to Conwy where there was a food festival on. 

We took the bikes in the van to Abergwyngregyn, where the cycle route begins and enjoyed very nice ride along the coast. Admittedly the baltic headwind did cause my nose to freeze and my eyes to water, but on the whole, I'd say I enjoyed it! There were almost lines of surf waves on the north coast beaches. 

Having weaved our way across a number of bridges over the A55, we finally rounded the estuary and arrived in Conwy.

We took great care in locking up the bikes while we spent a few hours exploring around the festival and sampling various foods. It was so cold that we decided not to stay too late. Before leaving, we warmed up with a cup of tea in a cozy cafe then returned to the bikes, where I found that despite my security arrangements, I'd left our £200 GPS unit, on display on the handlebars! Luckily it was still there!

Our dynmo lights lit the way as we set off home - this time with the wind behind us.

There was a stunning sunset that we were riding towards and even though it was soon dark, this just added to the sense of adventure. The fire was still glowing when we arrived back at The Cottage, providing the perfect de-thawing zone...

Hill and Mountain Skills - with Mountain Training

Over the last two days, I've been on a 'Providers Training' course at Plas y Brenin, so that I can deliver some of the newer Mountain Training accredited courses - namely the Hill and Mountain Skills. Day one was an indoor event, with lectures, workshops and discussions about our role and how to facilitate the courses. There was also a bit of 'tech' advice for recording data on the centralised Mountain Training database.

Day 2 was looking at how, where and when to deliver certain aspects of the course. Unfortunately, this involved a day on the hill in some bitterly cold weather - fine while moving, but less good for standing around discussing the finer details! 

Some fantastic hailstorms swept up the valley on a stiff northerly wind and engulfed us periodically! The first snow of winter - for a while, the mountain tops were white.

I had multiple layers of jackets on and still felt cold in the northerly wind at times. During the day we traversed around from Cwm Bochllewyed and down a scramble into Cwm Idwal.

Halfway down the gully, another hail storm stopped us in our tracks for a moment while it put down a white layer of hailstones.

We decided to call it a day at this point and carried on down to the valley and the warmth of The Cottage fireside!

GPS Training

After a fun and busy morning at Fort Martin, I raced back to Wales just in time for an evening meeting of the British Association of International Mountain Leaders, of which I am a member. As part of our accreditation, we have to complete a certain amount of CPD (Continuous Professional Development) in order to stay current. After the general meeting, Jim from Plas y Brenin gave a great evening session on GPS updates.

It was an indoor based session, but there was plenty of hands-on learning.

I had some food in the bar afterwards, before continuing on to The Cottage and bed!

Fort Martin

With an early start from The Cottage, I left the mountains behind and made it to the blue skies and green lands of Fort Martin in time for brunch.

Had a couple of lovely days catching up with the team, strolling in the estate, visiting the village and generally tinkering around with the guys.

Interspersed with plenty of goofing around with these nuggets...

Almost Climbing...

In between some more Cottage DIY, we snuck back into Ogwen to try another climb. We met a visiting friend at Ogwen Cottage and walked in along the same path as the other day. Our ridge was brilliantly silhouetted on the skyline. However, on reaching the crags, I discovered that I'd left the guidebook in the van. Luckily it was pretty cold and I was enjoying the chats anyway, so we made the most of the walk and impromptu catch up returned to base for brews regardless of that fact we'd not climbed. Think my brain has reached max capacity recently!...

Coastal Catch Ups

Very social day. A lively morning in Llanberis, with the hopes of a climb in the slate quarries turned to an afternoon at the coast when the rain moved in. No surf, just a lovely a breezy day out by the sea on Anglesey. A good place to natter and walk with our visiting guest at The Cottage. Met another friend in the Osyter Catcher for a brew, then home via another! Good times...

Braich Ty Du Face, (Gd.2 Scramble)

Without much time for mountain based antics today, we took a quick trip along Ogwen's miniature alpine ridge on the west side of Pen yr Ole Wen. The road up to Ogwen Cottage was really busy with cars parked all along the side of the road for hundreds of metres. We found a sneaky space, then quickly left the crowds by following the small trail along to the start of the scramble. The views back towards The Cottage were great from this angle.

It was easy to find the start of the ridge, which was a bit steeper than I remembered and we probably should have brought a bit more safety kit with us! As it turned out, the exposure made things feel most dramatic, so keeping a cool head, we pressed on.

The route passes over some amazing dramatic spires and fins of rock - much like the jagged ridges of the Alps. Only much smaller!

We perched and tip-toed our way along the ridge.

Then made our own way up various rocky ribs, slabs and broken buttresses to join the main mountain path.

Before descending, we had great views across the valley to Tryfan. Rather than take in the summit, we returned to The Cottage for coffees, before heading out for the evening. It was only a two-hour round trip, but felt like we'd been out in the mountains all day. Good value!