IC Hut 2001

26th January 2001

by Dan Carrivick

After covering the first 30 miles in three hours it did look as though we would never make it to North Wales. The Friday evening rush-hour traffic was made worse by heavy rain and snow, which caused flooding and partial closure of the A40. We arrived at the hut just before 3am. Everyone retreated to there bunks while I began the task of making puddings, which commenced with biscuit bashing for the banoffee pie.

After a cooked breakfast we piled into the minibus and headed towards Nant Peris. One group went off and climbed a grade two scramble before walking over Snowdon and back down to the pub at Rhyd-Ddu while Jon, Andy, James and I headed up Elidir Fawr. The top of Elidir Fawr (924m) was covered in snow up to a foot deep in places while protruding boulders had spectacular wind blown ice feathers forming radiating patterns. We followed the ridgeline through the cloud and around to Y-Garn (947m). Although some 1000m above sea level a sea gull still braved the freezing temperatures to help itself to the scraps left by previous groups. With the wind picking up a short run was undertaken down the snow slope to the top of the Devils Kitchen to get the circulation going again. The ascent up to Glyder Fawr (999m) was steep and slow as the snow had a bulletproof surface making traction difficult. Before we knew it we were at the top and descending to a Col before heading up Glyder Fach (994m). The cloud had lifted slightly giving excellent views of the snow-capped peaks and the lush-green valleys below. We had a photo session on the cantilever before half walking, half sliding down a steep snow gully adjacent to Bristle ridge. At Bwlch Tryfan started climbing again, this time up the south ridge of Tryfan (915m). Ice covered boulders made the route more interesting than normal but the top was reached without too much difficulty. With daylight hours running out we set about returning to the minibus. The shortest route took us down to Llyn Idwal before going over the Devils Kitchen and back down to Nant Peris. The cloud vanished as the daylight faded and we were left to finish the route using head torches under a star-lit sky. Eager to get down we made the mistake of being on the wrong side of a river, which entered a narrow steep sided ravine. The only way out was back up the way we'd come. Despite this minor irritation we got back to the minibus at 8:30pm, having had a memorable day, walking 25km over five 3000 foot mountains, ascending over 2000 vertical metres. It was then back to the pub for a few pints before returning to the hut for soup, pasta and loads of banoffee pie in front of a roaring coal fire.

The bacon, eggs, sausage and beans were followed by sweet pancakes on Sunday morning and set us up well for the day ahead. The sun was out, rapidly thawing the hard frost that had formed overnight. A few people went off to go climbing while the rest of us walked along the valley to attempt a grade three scramble. On coming closer to the crag so the cloud started to roll in and shroud the top while underfoot scree and thick heather on a slope increasing in gradient made progress slow and unpleasant. At the foot of the scramble people were undeterred by the awful approach, hopeful that better was to come. It wasn't. The route finding was tricky, the rock was loose and either covered in damp moss or ice. A hailstorm followed by snow saw the use of a rope for middle section of the climb. A slightly easier escape route was taken up to the top of the crag as conditions had deteriorated quite rapidly and fingers were numb from having to clear snow from ledges. Needless to say on arrival at the top the snow ceased to fall but thick cloud and a chilling breeze still ensued. We walked around the crag and off the side of the mountain discussing the route, which everyone unanimously decided was not one to be repeated. However the mood remained high even when Toby decided to slip off a footbridge into a freezing cold stream.