Banana Gully, Y Garn

Pretty much every winter in North Wales, I make an ascent of Banana Gully on the East face of Y Garn. It's one of the closest winter routes to The Cottage and seems to take on a different appearance each time I climb it.

Having spoken to a friend yesterday who had been on a British Mountain Guides training day there yesterday, I knew I'd have no trouble walking in as they'd very kindly left a nice track all the way to the base of the route. Where the ground began to steepen, I put on my crampons and helmet, while delighting in the fact that overnight snow had filled in the steps leaving a pristine snow slope for me to pick my way up.

The views were not far-reaching, but I knew where I was going and enjoyed the movement as I kicked my front points into secure and sticky snow. I made sure to keep my focus and follow the safest passage as I was sheltered from the westerly wind and knew that this could mean a build-up of unstable snow as it blew in over the summit ridge. I was grateful that there wasn't much of a cornice at the final headwall and I easily climbed onto the summit slopes. As soon as I stuck my head over the top, the wind blew cold and directly at me. I went quickly up to the summit cairn to shelter behind it and enjoy a hot drink. 

Rain was forecast for later in the morning and it started to snow while I sat happily on the summit, protected from the cold wind. Given how sheltered it was in the gully, I decided to descend the same way as the snow was good and firm. I practiced a few techniques on the way down before reaching the end of the snow line. I was using my new Lowe Alpine 'Uprise' Rucksack and I can very much recommend it. It's super lightweight and slim to wear, which makes it very unrestrictive while climbing. It was also really quick and easy to stash my ice axes at the end of the day before walking back down the mountain.

I was home by 11am and after a hot shower went for a fantastic lunch (and excellent coffee!) at the Caban with Clare while the rain set in. Lovely stuff...