Today was a corker. One for filing away in the memory banks. The kind of day that only comes along every now and then. The kind of day that provides maximum amounts of fun, challenge, connection, adventure and leaves you in a delirious state of happy exhaustion at the end of the day. It was clear from the forecasts that today was going to be 'The Day'. No wind, limited clouds and a fresh dump of snow. Due to work commitments, an alpine start was out of the question, but bags were packed and bike loaded ready for the off, mid-morning.
The van was encased in a think coat of ice, so in some ways, it was just as well that we're not allowed to use it! Setting off from The Cottage had all the hallmarks of a great adventure about to happen. Ice on the roads of any major gradient soon put pay to 'Plan A' as we couldn't access where we wanted too by bike. Instead, we followed more main (and therefore gritted) roads to a point where we hoped we could access the mountains on skis.
Having locked up the bikes behind a drystone wall, we swapped trainers for ski boots and hiked up into the field while puzzled looking sheep moved out of our way.
We only had to walk about a hundred meters before there was enough snow to get on skis on, which made things much easier.
The sheep we had disturbed had all set off along the path we had intended to follow, trashing the snow and leaving a trail of bullets, so we decided to pick our own track up through the mountainside, which was much more satisfying.
We struggled in deep snow that was burying an equally deep section of heather. It made for slow and exhausting progress for a while.
Higher up, the terrain was easier and the sun beat down on is like it does in the Alps! It was beginning to melt the surface of the snow, which stuck to our skins as we shuffled forwards, meaning that we were often dragging extra weight with every footstep and suddenly walking on stilts. It was becoming exhausting and the ridge only slowly getting closer!
Eventually, an easing in the angle signaled the end of our struggles.
Below us, the valley was laid out along with a good view of the ridge I'd climbed a few days ago (in the centre of the photo) and the peak that I had sledded off the top of.
The skies were much cloudier than forecast, but the views were fantastic and we were glad to have easier ground ahead.
Amazingly, we bumped into a friend where we stopped for some food, who had also hiked up, which gave a bonus social connection.
Fed, watered and on better snow, we continued upwards in the direction of Carnedd Dafydd until we reached the base of the ever-thickening clouds.
The higher we climbed, the more anticipation built for the descent of the untracked snow slopes below.
At a small flattening, we stopped, took off our skins, donned our helmets and got into 'downhill mode'. Neither of us fancied carrying on into the mist.
As clouds built all around us, it seemed like our run down was the only cloud-free area left in the national park. We had chosen well. We scoped out the best-looking line and snow then whooped off downhill.
Hiking up peaks is okay, but hiking up peaks with skis means that once you're at the top, the best bit has only just begun.
Gliding silently across and down the pristine empty slopes was a joy and the views incredible.
As the angle eased, we followed a stream that would lead us to our descent path.
We had to dodge some tufts of grass and rock, but we actually managed to ski almost all the way back into the valley floor. We hiked the final half a kilometer, carrying our skis on our packs, so not to trash the bases if we were to clip any of the rocks that looked too hard to avoid.
The sun was low in the sky by now, as we changed back into bike mode. We 'Yee-harrd' as we began freewheeling back towards home down the empty road.
We arrived back at The Cottage at sunset, utterly spent.
With the kit hanging up to dry and our sweaty bodies showered, we downed copious pints of tea by the fireside and ate and ate until falling asleep very early. My body was aching, which sounds bad, but felt kind of good, in a funny sort of way. It had been good to give it a good workout! Sleep came quickly and easily...
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