After a fabulous day of socially distanced festive celebrations, including a mega breakfast of fresh pastries and a 'take-away' Christmas dinner, I got a text from Dave asking if I fancied going winter climbing? It seemed ridiculously optimistic, given the forecast, conditions and current valley temperatures of 9 degrees. However, we decided that a walk would do us both good and it would be a good way to catch up, even if there was no climbing. And so we set off into the gloom to take the rope for a walk....
'No precipitation until 21:00' assured Dave as he set the pace up into the clouds by torchlight.
Well at least he was right about there being no wind, otherwise it would have been extremely unpleasant. As it happened, we had a good laugh, talking and walking and barely noticing the wetness of a mild night inside a cloud on a remote hillside.
As expected, we did find a very saturated snowpack near the back of the cwm. Having come this far and having carried the gear, we got our crampons on and continued up through the night to have a look into 'Hidden Gully' - which being devoid of snow and ice from one third up, was indeed 'hidden' and an unattractive proposition.
Retreating back onto the headwall, we stamped our way up (the not always very easy) 'Easy Way' - the broad gully/slope that leads to the summit. Dave 'topped out' over a mixture of grass, snow and rock, while I decided to call it a day from the safety of the snow about 10m shy as we'd decided to return via the same route.
The way down was straightforward enough and even though we were 'damp', spirits remained high and the flame of adventure refused to be extinguished by a night in the rain! I peeled out of my waterproofs, into the Cottage, where the fire was already roaring providing a welcome haven. Tired and happy. What a great day with great friends...
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