It was all go in February, as I had another packed weekend. After a night at the Bowline Hut, Saturday began with a quick lap over Y Garn from Ogwen Cottage to suss out the state of the snow. There was good cover on leeward slopes, but the descent from Y Garn to Llyn y Cwn had been wind-scoured bare. The sheltered side of Glyder Fawr proved a bit too dicey alone with running crampons, so I backed off from a very steep section / embryonic cornice in a place which is usually steep but reasonably benign. The descent down Devil’s Kitchen continued the ‘loads of wind-blown snow’ theme, as I stepped on banked-up drifts neatly across the top of the dry-stone wall which usually requires a ladder stile.

From there I ran back to the car, and zipped around to Moel Siabod. I tore up the ascent through the quarries (i.e. wheezed and gasped) and eventually caught my target group of cheery Bowliners at the start of the fun on Daear Ddu ridge. It proved to be just as enjoyable as usual, thus continuing my run of only ever having nice ascents in excellent company.

The top was in cloud, as is tradition, but an efficient return to the car was executed via a bearing, and I then drove onwards to Manchester. The aim was to rendezvous with Tom to see Hell is for Heroes. They’ve been amazing every time we’ve seen them previously, including a gig in Peterborough in 2005 which gave me one of my favourite gig shots. Anyway, the summary is that they were brilliant yet again.

On Sunday we ventured out into the Peak District clag for a run, although the weather up high was pretty rough so we hid in the shelter of Ashop Clough and then slipped and slid our way across the icy slabs from Mill Hill to Snake Pass.

We made it around in good time and without any incidents, so I’ve fortunately still not managed to dissuade Tom from doing any more fell running. Perhaps one day we’ll manage something in some sunshine. 😀