UKH

Visiting snowdonia this weekend.

Will I need axe/crampons or has it all been stripped?

thanks

Nath

In reply to Nath:

I'm sure you could find a few feet of wet snow filled gully if that's what you want but otherwise no, nothing.

In reply to Nath:

Have you looked out the window? Or noticed the +10 degrees air and +0 degrees ground temp for the past week...

In reply to Nath:

Thanks - I wont be looking for it, just wanted to make sure the tops were ok.

Nath

In reply to Nath:

I did the Snowdon horseshoe on Sunday. There were just a few tiny patches of very soft slush around the summits of Crib y Dysgyl and Snowdon, all of which were easily avoided. There was more snow at the very top of some of the north facing corries, but not in a condition that you'd want to climb it.

Ice axe and crampons as advised in the Ground Conditions report on the Met Office Mountain Area Forecast were completely redundant. It was very warm.

In reply to Nath:

Thanks CathS

I had seen the ground conditions but didn't think it would be the case.

Nath

In reply to Nath:

I had nearly posted the same question as yours on UKC last Friday, but decided to just follow the Ground Conditions advice in the end.

I was slightly annoyed in the end that I'd taken the kit up. The conditions on the paths (including where the tourist path joins the summit ridge of Snowdon) were no-where near needing ice axe or crampons. I would have been better off taking some extra water and a couple of cans of coke instead as it was so warm that I finished off my 1.5 litre bladder of water before I finished the walk.

I was surprised that they repeated the advice on the 30th March bulletin. It does come across a bit as crying wolf. I'm sure a few days earlier the top of the tourist path would have had enough hard snow on it to make it treacherous without the right kit though.

In reply to Nath:

Hi Nath, what did you find? Did you do the traverse? I'm thinking about it myself but didn't want to encounter any snow on the ridge.

In reply to alistairkewing:

There's very very little snow left on the summits. What there is is mostly isolated to north facing slopes and in crevices high up.

In reply to Nath:

We did the Glyders from the car park behind Joe Browns and then dropped down by Ogwen and the took the flat path that runs along the valley back to the car.

Very windy and very wet - zero ice, zero snow.
Felt like a long day for me as hill fitness is not what it should be.

Nath