Cwm Cneifion winter climbs

Crag: Clogwyn Du/Cwm Cneifion
Routes: Clogwyn Y Gully Righthand (wIII 3,3:led p.1), Tower Slabs (wII/III 2/3:led), Easy Route (wI:descent)
Peaks: Glyder Fawr
Area: Glyderau
An obvious choice of venue, given the recent weather pattern of freeze-thaw cycles which inevitably strip everything below 700m while solidifying north-facing cwms higher up. After a cold night, we hit upon perfect conditions here today after the steep walk-in. Iron-hard neve combined with a reasonable ice build-up to give superb conditions on the easier routes. A pseudo-Alpine feel to proceedings - crisp blue skies above - as I led the easy first pitch of Clogwyn Righthand, which traverses right to gain a shallow gully of excellent neve with interesting short sections of steeper ice. Vic then led a huge second pitch which proved the wisdom of the route choice - it was in near-perfect nick. Good solid ice leads to the narrow and atmospheric gully proper. Up this on iron hard snow and frozen turf, straitforward but superb climbing, to steeper moves out right to shallower slopes and a final few metres of good water ice over a constriction in the gully to the belay. I led a short, simple final pitch to finish: a great route on the day, really enjoyable. We moved up to the sun-drenched plateau of Glyder Fawr for fine views and a snack, before an absorbing and enjoyable descent of Easy Route on more good neve. I've been up and down this mountaineering route several times before (in fact, according to my records I did 5 long winter routes in one day in Cwm Cneifion in 1993: must have been fitter then!). After more food, we moved across to the other side of the cwm where I led Tower Slabs in one big pitch. Chose to focus on the central section, which seemed most continuous, with good snow leading to a few metres of water ice before quickly easing back to gentle slabby climbing. We descended slopes further right before the long walk back to Ogwen, during which it clouded over with a sharp snow flurry covering the lower slopes. A good day, topped off by lobster risotto in the evening!