Big plans for a full day of scrambling on the east face of Tryfan had to be put on hold today thanks to a less than ideal forecast of gales and persistent rain. Despite the strong winds, we decided instead to try for an ascent of the Penmeanbach Ridge near the A55 expressway.
I wouldn't have wanted it to have been much windier for scrambling along a knife-edge edge ridge, but at least the rain only blew through in a few showers. The ridge is made of really compact rock, which is difficult to protect due to the absence of good cracks to place gear. One of my students did spot this old piton though while we searched for something to tie into.
Three pitches up, and the sky brightened somewhat and we enjoyed the views out to Anglesey and Puffin Island. The wind dried us of a bit and the rock too.
We went as far as the final steepening before descending down to the west. We did one big lower then the students took over, lowering me to the ground while safeguarding themselves.
To warm back up (and dry out), we had a quick cup of tea in the Puffin Cafe, but mostly so we could admire the puffin that we drive by so often!
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