It's not often on a November day that you can be strolling up the Heather Terrace on the side of Tryfan in short sleeves and sunglasses. Having started off up wet and slippy rocks down in the shadows of the valley, it wasn't long before we reached the warm sunshine that was hitting the east face as we made our way over to the base of Grooved Arete.
The morning was so spectacular and with no one around to rush us onto the climb, we sat on a warm rock and soaked up the vitamin D.
Having not made an early start for the ascent, we soon noticed that the winter sunshine was not going to be staying oon the east face for very long. We ought to get going.
The rock in the sunshine was warm and dry. In the shadows, it was a different story though - ice cold and slippery (it is November after all). The first three pitches went by quickly as we got established on the climb and all was well.
As I made my way up the 'grooved arete' section of the climb, the sunlight had almost gone. Just the edge of the arete remained in the warmth.
The final pitches, although having the best climbing, gave a different feel. We were now in the shade and just to add to the atmospheric conditions a mist suddenly swirled in around the side of the mountain. It was just a thin mist, so nothing threatening and blew through with a rainbow on its edge. The final pitches were somewhat green and slimy having seen no sunshine since the summer months, but good holds soon got us to the top. We used the final section of North Gully to reach the crest of the ridge, where we were met by life-giving rays of the sun and a new view.
We were starving hungry as it was now nearly three in the afternoon and well past lunch. Neither of us had wanted to stop the shade though!
We sat on the mountaintop and watched as the sun got lower in the sky. There was still heat in the sun and we were both happy to be soaking it up before descending down into the darkness...
Tryfan East Face:
- Grooved Arete, (HVD)***
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