Glyder Fawr max

Peaks: Glyder Fawr

Area: Glyderau, Eryri

One way of maximising a mountain! After a light breakfast I set off running from Pant y Fron, with the vague intention of breaking 30 minutes to Pen y Pass. The last time I ran this way was probably the Snowdonia Marathon almost 20 years ago. I would be surprised if I did it more quickly then, as I felt quite good this morning. It is pretty steep in places, but conditions were good, dank and misty and empty of traffic at this hour in December. My companions got the bus from Nant Peris and we met at PyP (precisely 28 minutes from the hut) where I changed into my mountain clothes and put my road shoes in the sac they had brought up for me! A novel start, and then it was into the slog from PyP. This is boggy and quite unpleasant, most familiar to me from the descent on Pedol Peris (and the 1000s). It led to a rather icy summit with some old snow - very cold feet as I only had my fell running shoes on. A spectacular clearance over Nant Francon as we descended to Llyn y Cwn, then Emma, Peter and I dropped down direct to the Pass. This path is easy at first, then surprisingly awkward and steep - I had only taken it once before.

Pedol Marchlyn

Peaks: Carnedd y Filiast, Mynydd Perfedd, Elidir Fawr

Area: Glyderau, Eryri

The little horseshoe works perfectly as a pre-hut night outing, so I deployed it again today as I only had a few hours of daylight left on arrival in Deiniolen. I usually start from the village but this time drove up the Marchlyn road and started higher. From here, it is quick progress up the unsightly tarmac road towards the lakes. At the end, a steep curving climb gains the pass overlooking Ogwen. Then it was into the clag for the awkward rocky haul to Carnedd y Filiast, just over 40 minutes from the car. Then the flat jog across to Perfedd before taking the direct shortcut to Elidir. I lost enough height here to emerge from the cloudbase temporarily. From the summit I dropped down in a fairly direct line through the scree to gain the grassy lower slopes, which are very runnable and enjoyable. Around 1.20 for the circuit, and then another convivial evening at the hut.

Dash in the Dark

Race: Dash in the Dark, race 2

Time/Position: 28.25 (7th from 68)

As my fallow year comes to an end, I have eased off the races and sessions even more, but this little race always represents a decent lung-buster to jolt me out of my torpor. I have done many variations of these nighttime races over many years, since they started in fact, and today was different again. I would never be able to recreate any of them, such is the complexity of the Llandegla forest with all its twists, turns and micropaths. I started conservatively but did pick up quite a few places during the race, which is always a positive sign. And I enjoyed it, which is another. Excellent beer and chip butties at the Rose and Crown, as Storm Darragh began to gather force outside.

Callow

Race: Callow fell race (8.5k/880m)

Time/Position: 1.15.20 (29th from 68)

This must be a contender for the hardest short fell race in the UK. Long Mynd Valleys (which I've done twice) is the famous race in these parts, but that is much longer and takes a while to build up to its brutal climax. In contrast, Callow gets to grips with it immediately. Little Stretton is absurdly picturesque, and the race starts from the beautiful valley (Ashes Hollow) which I remembered from the South Mynd Tour, one of many Shropshire races I have done. Not Callow though, so it was nice to finally put that right. After a short run up the valley, the race kicks right up steep pathless terrain which doesn't relent until the top of Ashlet, which is so obvious from the village. We had a wonderful little weather window for the race, and the views from sunlit Ashlet over to Caer Caradoc were superb - a tough contouring descent led down to Townbrook before entering another of the tight valleys that characterise this area. Then comes a savage climb up the front of Yearlet, long and draining. The descent into the top part of Ashes Hollow sadly gives no respite as it is extremely steep and awkward. After a brief run along the valley bottom (some locals had better lines than me here) you are into the next climb, brutally steep up the eastern slopes of Grindle. This hill is appropriately named, and the attrition really kicks in on this grinding climb. Took a bad line on the descent alongside the leading lady, culminating in thickets of impenetrable gorse. A few minutes relief down a very tight and awkward valley led to the final climb up Callow, where I started to lose places in earnest. A fast finish from the top of Callow to the edge of Little Stretton. A very memorable outing, and it started to rain the second I crossed the finish line!

Cwm Glas horseshoe (classic)

Peaks: Crib Goch, Garnedd Ugain

Area: Yr Wyddfa, Eryri

A return to Cwm Glas four days after my last visit, although this time prospects for an inversion seemed even better. The opportunity to do Crib Goch in a full cloud inversion was too good to miss, so I headed up towards Cyrn Las then took the very faint paths that lead to the boggy ground above Dinas Mot. I was aiming for the North Ridge of Crib Goch, and eventually located the horrible steep scree that leads up to the ridge itself. The mist was very thick, the weather dank and dreary, but I was growing increasingly confident about the conditions. The North Ridge gets narrow at the top, narrower than Crib Goch proper in fact, and was greasy and damp in the clag. Then, at the exact moment I arrived on the summit, I poked through the cloud: an absolutely stunning moment, one of the most memorable single experiences I have had in almost 40 years in the Welsh mountains. From then on, the day was stupendous: the narrowest part of the ridge was clear, then a layer of cloud framed Yr Wyddfa and Garnedd Ugain beyond. The Glyderau poked through, but in all other directions a sea of cloud. Even more remarkably, because it was still early I had it all to myself. The early part of the ridge was truly unforgettable, as occasional wisps of mist lapped over me then dissipated. I took the crest to maximise the impact, then traversed the first pinnacle. The exposed move up the final pinnacle had only just emerged from the clag so was damper than the rest, and then it was briefly back into the mist at Bwlch Goch before emerging into the light. The remainder of the ridge to Garnedd Ugain was stunningly clear, the sun higher up now, Yr Wyddfa glistening above a bank of cloud. I had a tremendous brocken spectre, my shadow framed against the shadow of the ridge itself and projected onto the cloud bank with rainbow halo. After a memorable few minutes on top of Garnedd Ugain I jogged back towards the Cyrn Las ridge that I had ascended on Monday. A triple 'glory' at one point, projected onto the cloud bank where Llanberis would ordinarily have been. More amazing effects over Cwm Glas and then it was back into the damp clag down Cyrn Las with some wet scrambling initially. I've been visiting Eryri very regularly since 1988, hundreds if not thousands of outings, but this was right up there as one of the most memorable days I have ever had in the Welsh mountains.

Elidir Fawr

Peaks: Elidir Fawr

Area: Glyderau, Eryri

I had originally planned a short Lakes break this week, and the weather was looking promising, but in the end circumstances dictated a short outing after a dental appointment in Flint. So it was mid-afternoon by the time I set out for this 'speed' outing up Elidir from Dinorwic. It has been at last a decade since I last did Pedol Peris but I jogged along to start what I remembered of that route up Elidir, the twisting quarry road as opposed to the direct ramp up the cable. This went reasonably well, and I got to the open hill fairly quickly. The weather was glorious: blue skies and perfect clarity, and I was on the summit in 40 minutes. Then came the real business of the day, to try to set some kind of time for the direct descent from summit to road, if only because it is all so obvious from the Vags hut directly below. It is rocky and awkward at first, but then eases a little (although always steep) to grass and bog before the lower section down a track: a few seconds over 19 minutes and an effort I inevitably paid for with aching quads two days later. A painful hobble back through the quarries in beautiful low sunlight.

Cwm Glas horseshoe

Peaks: Garnedd Ugain, Yr Wyddfa

Area: Snowdon, Eryri

Another of my crowd-avoiding variants up Snowdon, this was really just an attempt to give myself a cloud inversion opportunity. It is a game of chance, however, and I didn't win today (despite the fact that superb conditions prevailed a day or two ago). The Cyrn Las ridge is always a nice option, I remember first doing it in the 1980s when it felt like we were pioneers of the route. It is a bit more popular these days, indeed some people call it the Cwm Glas ridge, which isn't a bad description either, although I think of it as the former given the prominence of that crag as you ascend. I was tired after yesterday's race so it was slow, plodding progress into the mist. Sadly that mist stayed thick all the way up the ridge, through the scrambly sections, and up Garnedd Ugain. No hope of a clearance, but I carried on to the top of Snowdon anyway - no inversion, just damp clag, so I scampered down the Pyg track, tiring badly, and then cut down the craggy hillside towards Dinas Cromlech. There's a reason few people do this - it has several awkward crags and is generally arduous, but it does effectively cut the corner avoiding Pen y Pass.