UKH

Trying to be a "winter climber" when you live south of Scotland, and don't have huge opportunities to get to Scotland or further afield, is a completely quixotic task. It is a task of such heart break, frustration, guilt and even anger that it says something about the specialness of the goal that we keep doing it. 

But surely I'm not the only English or Welsh winter climber currently sat at work and looking at online weather reports and pictures in conditions reports and thinking - "this weekend, it just has to work? Surely this game on...?"

I'm not asking for your route choices, but I just want to know I'm not the only one who is _this_ absurdly excited about having found a keen partner and got a pass from the family to be away on Sunday? It's like being 5 on Christmas Eve again.

Off to look at the pics on Ground Conditions in the UK Mountains FB group again...

'South of Scotland' ??!! you dont know you are born hahaha try living in Manchester and claiming to be a 'winter climber' hahaha! Its heartaches when all you dream of is hotaches!

Very exciting to the point where I've got rid of that work'y thing till Wednesday. No doubt my absence will cause the world to implode but there are much more important things do be dealing with in Wales compared to earning a living and fulfilling work commitments at home. Did you get a partner for Sunday in the end?

I was thrilled about it this morning, but after a startling hour, reality took over and I am no longer as thrilled about it.

Seems getting all excited about blue sky, ice and powder snow was all the encouragement I needed to take the morning off work and head off to froggatt for a spot of soloing. Turns out running shoes with packed snow do not make climbing snow covered rocks an easy task. Quite concerning in fact.

After a couple of eye-widening ascents, I retired for a cup of tea. This winter climbing malarkey is not all it's cracked up to be. 

Yep, have been checking the forecasts and planning night-ascents!

Kinder is in, quick go for first ascent overnight.

It was living "south of Scotland" NOT living in "the South of Scotland". Grammar matters. I'm in Sheffield. If you are in Manchester you're an hour closer to the Lakes and North Wales than I am!

Snowdonia conditions

5-10cm powder snow on tops, some isolated pockets of windslab forming. Turf basically unfrozen everywhere. 1 Deg at Ogwen Cottage at 5:30pm.

Interesting! I just saw a pic of another instructor who had done Crazy Pinnacle Face. Do you reckon they were pushing their luck with the turf? The first pitch I thought was very turf dependent. Or maybe it's better on steeper faces?

I heard from my partner today that the person in question nearly whipped pulling a lump off. Unfortunately it's not been quite as cold as it was forecast at the start of the week, otherwise we would have been racked and roped today.

You should try living in Cornwall.  I was in the Cairngorms last weekend.  Warm as toast in the bothies. Be wary of the very short hours of day light at the moment though.  What a difference a week makes. It was colder on Dartmoor today. Alas no snow down here though.

Enjoy!!

Yes excited. Yes, Sunday plan made but am cheating by going North of the boarder. 

I'm in Inverness. I'll perhaps go mid week sometime when conditions are good and it's quite.

<Wanders off smugly.>

You can use the time before then to learn how to spell "quiet". And don't tell me you weren't asking for that. More seriously, have you got lots of snow up there? The Cairngorms look rather snowy now, but I'm surprised how unsnowy it looks in Glencoe, Ben Nevis etc. Actually Snowdon looked more snowy than the Ben in pics I saw today!

None actually here but the hills are white. I don't think there is much snow but it is cold and looking like staying that way so there should be options 

You have my sympathies sir! Although I'm sure Cornwall has its moment for many other activities and types of climbing. I wrote this a few years ago: https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/chasing_the_very_bloody_epheme... which includes the bit:

"Winter climber of Manchester, I'm jealous of you – you get another hour in bed. Winter climbers of London, I feel for you - #vanlife, or maybe a nice B&B, might be the solution. Leeds climbers I guess will favour the Lakes, while Brummies will get to North Wales faster. Geordies are virtually in Scotland anyway, while Bristolians and those further south should probably just sell their ice tools."

I'm well south of Scotland but it does look quite encouraging. Later next week for frozen Idwal watercourses?

Definitely some ice forming around the Devil's Kitchen in some pics I've seen from today, but the report was it was all still very fresh and delicate - not really climbable yet. But fingers crossed! It doesn't look like there is going to be an obvious warm front coming in for some time still, so who know! 

Can confirm that Back Tor is NOT IN. 

Not frozen, or frozen but not white at all?

Not really frozen, and the freezing level was rising as the day went. The snow that fell today has melted back to all but the tops of the hills. 

A mate of mine was on Crib Goch yesterday and reported a covering of powdery snow with turf underneath not frozen. I'm hoping today was a better shout.

Next weekend looks cracking for the Ben if the forecast holds! I'm rallying the troops.

As a Derbyshire resident I’ve swapped early season hit and miss weekend Scotland for weekend Alps. Surprisingly little difference in cost (flights still sometimes available in the £50-100 range) but a lot more climbing gets done. Can’t beat Scotland in the deep season though.

Was up Tryfan this morning and still only loose snow and no frozen turf. Snow was 6+ inches from about 600m. Felt pretty warm on the way down at noon, getting slushy lower down....no bad thing with some harder freezes coming up this week.

Tryfan is too low. Our crag started almost at the top of Tryfan height. Here's a pic Joe took of me today on the East Face of Bristly Ridge on the IV we climbed. And one from Bristly Ridge that we continued up. Superb conditions. 

Looks great - well done for aligning all the stars. 

Everything very white in the southern Highlands. Great day yesterday - I took a wander up Ben Chonzie from the Lednock side although the upper glen road was too dodgy to drive (a few people managed it but not me). I turned the car round and parked down by the wood then went up the Carroglen track, a nice way on to the hill. Then down the main track and an hour back along the road (or more accurately along the verge to avoid the glassy tarmac). Almost windless on top - I got there at ten past two and could have sat any side of the cairn to eat. Met someone on skis at the top, also a couple of runners. Great snowy/sunny/sparkly views. Not masses of snow on the higher ground but a nice covering. Tricky lower down with the icy paths/tracks. Good wildlife - a couple of red kites, more white hares than I've seen on Chonzie in recent years (possibly helped by not having much daylight left when I came off), and a big stag standing on the road as I drove down the bottom bit of the glen road in the dark at the end.

(Also good progress on the long-term game of doing a calendar round of Munros - yesterday was a gap, now just four to go.)

Cornwall Schmonwall, Guernsey (where I live) is closer to the Alps than Scotland!

White in the Southern Highlands - we climbed on Ben Cruachan which had almost no snow on the southern aspect, but very wintery from 800m up on the northern aspect. As Dave said, the Southern Highland peaks further in land looked very white.