UKH

For 2 people who have:

Never done any winter climbing

physically fit for regular hillwalking

Have good clothing but no crampons

Are confident scrambling 

Looking for something that will be somewhat adventurous and wet our appetites for later progressing to proper winter climbing, but not get us in over our heads.

Willing to buy a guidebook if needed. 

1).  Crib Goch to Snowdon from Pen y Pass

2).  Tryfan North Ridge and Bristly Ridge, over the Glyders and down Y Gribin (or by the Devils Kitchen path).

Both the above, if done between the middle of May and the end of July, will meet all your objectives.

Save the guidebook money and put it in the crampon fund.

Willing to buy crampons asap. Anything suitable this weekend with crampons? 

Do you have access to axes as well?

You can cover a lot of fairly serious ground in winter conditions without crampons but you need the experience to know when that is ok - note, *when* it is ok, not where - so you cannot blanket recommend anything more than, say, the Llanberis Path without crampons.

If you get crampons and axe then the final zig zags on the Pyg Track would be a good first taste if snowed-up, just as long as you practiced a bit with the crampons and axe further down

Pyg track looks great and I was looking to get some b2 boots anyway. What type of axes will we need? 

Access to axes aka money yes! if there's a good route to justify their purchase of course

You may be able to hire crampons & axes at Plas y Brenin if they are not in use for teaching.  You'd want straight handled axes for plodding up a straightforward snow gully like Parsley Fern

I’ve had one of these for nearly 15 years now- love it 

https://www.trekkinn.com/outdoor-mountain/grivel-air-tech-evolution/1363675...

Thanks for info people.

I've been having a look pricing axes and crampons for 2 people and obviously it's going to cost a lot. Decathlon is usually my go to for climbing gear as its usually the cheapest and more than serviceable. They do their cheapest crampons at £55 and ice axes about the same 

How long are we likely to have conditions that require axes and crampons in snowdonia? How longs a piece of string I know... but if it's likely only weeks then I might wait until next year to shell out for equipment and consider getting gear more suited to harder climbs after a bit more planning and research.

not cheap- but the right pair will last for ages. i got the grivel axe and G12 crampons in 2004. light use, a few outings per season- but they are showing no signs of age, be good for a decade or two yet i reckon... 

And they will get you from winter walking up to classic ridges at grade II, probably higher if you're proficient (i'm not...)

so worth holding and buying the right ones, as you'll be stuck with them for some time...

Hiring sounds a good idea to start, in time you will be wanting a shorter, curvier axe

G12s have got me up WI5 Ice when seconding, pretty sure they would outclimb me, however vertical front point crampons are rather more reassuring!

I would expect that much of the snow will be gone by the end of next week looking at the current forecast.

We're lucky to have anything now TBH. I've been out on the hills for the last 2 days and only used crampons and axe for one 20 foot step. Lots of areas are snow and ice free, even high up.

Just buy some good gear at the start off. Don't mess about with borrowed and cheap gear. Scarpa SL boots and Grivel  crampons. And practise putting them on and walking about in a safe place. Mostly it's instinctive but you don't want to be tripping yourself up on Crib Goch. 

True - I hate buying twice.

With the snow and ice conditions coming to an end I think I will just avoid the mountains for a few weeks and then plan what winter gear I want to buy for next year. There's no point buying boots, crampons and axes suitable for winter walking now if I want to have a go at proper climbing next winter. 

I think that would be sensible. Better not to go out in serious winter conditions without the kit. I see from the Twitter feed of the Lake District fell conditions assessors (search Lake District Weatherline) that there have been two serious accidents, one of them fatal on Helvellyn in the last week. Both occurred at the same point on what is probably the easiest route to the summit, the route from Swirls car park. While there may be plenty, even most, of the Welsh and Cumbrian mountains now ice free, such conditions can be most dangerous because people go unprepared and unequipped to cope with the odd unavoidable bit of sloping ice (general point, as I know nothing of the details of these two accidents).

With regard to what equipment you need, I would say that for winter walking an ice axe is not the priority, crampons are. But as winter walking melds into easy winter mountaineering (say Striding Edge) you must have both. Personally, I would advise against buying a so-called walking axe, because as soon as you get on to steep ground like Grade 1 winter climbs you will find the length of the shaft to be excessive and you will be wanting a general purpose mountaineering axe. This will have a 55cm straight shaft if you are above average height but a 50cm shaft if average height or less. Technical climbing axes with aggressive picks and weirdly bent shafts are not really a good idea until you get into technical ice climbing rather than winter mountaineering. In my opinion, for most winter walking as opposed to mountaineering if you have crampons and keep off steep ground walking poles will be all you need. On the other hand, I have often found a 50cm climbing axe in one hand (uphill side) and walking pole in the other (downhill side) gives adequate security on easy grade 1 terrain (with crampons, of course). You shouldn't need to do ice axe arrest in such terrain, but in case the unexpected happens use the pole without its wrist strap and prepare yourself to toss it aside if you do overbalance and then you can concentrate on the ice axe.

 If you can afford it a winter skills course is really useful and would give you a little experience and some confidence. The fell top assessors mentioned above do provide such courses. (I hasten to add I have no connection with them - other providers are available!).

Hope this helps. And go carefully to begin with.

Tryfan North Ridge and Bristly Ridge, over the Glyders and down Y Gribin

That's excellent advice!    It may even be the best reply to this topic so far.

Good at this time of year?

I've managed to borrow 2 pairs of crampons and a single walking axe from a friend should they be required. 

I would think if there's any ice left it's likely to be on those north-facing ridges. May not be visible from the road either.

I'd have your first go in crampons on some flattish to low-angle neve so you can trip yourself up in relative safety.

You don't say when you're planning to do this hike/ climb. But whenever it's scheduled, buy some crampons anyway. They're really not dispensable. Just get them. You won't regret it if you do. You'll certainly regret it if you don't.

That aside, the best trips I've ever done myself in Snowdonia were

(a) the Carneddau, all of them, from Pen Yr Oleu Wen to Drum, and back contouring round the sides of the mountains till I hit the A5 again,

and

(b) up Clogwyn y Person, along Crib Goch, down and round.

(a) is a long and beautiful hillwalk, (b) is more of a mountaineering trip. Neither is a climb. Both are brilliant. And both can be done at any time of year in any condition--provided you have crampons!