Black Ladders

Crag: Ysgolion Duon/Black Ladders
Routes: Eastern Gully (wIII 3+,3,1,1,2,2+:led p.2,4,6)
Peaks: Carnedd Llewellyn, Yr Elen
Area: Carneddau
A complete contrast with the last big day out on Christmas Eve. If that was the ice-cragging trip, this was the archetypal full winter mountain day, almost exactly one year since our ascent of Central Gully on the same crag. That day was memorable because of the appalling conditions, whereas today was a delightfully benign contrast. Warm weather after Christmas has stripped most of the snow, but a recent re-freeze has bought easy high routes dependent on consolidated snow into fine condition. It was obvious even from the A55 that Eastern Gully was the most complete line on the crag. Given my injury, ski-poles were vital for the long walk-in, which was virtually snow-free. Surprisingly, we found that the initial icefall was quite well formed, so Vic led it. The ice was new, rather brittle and thin, and it gave a tricky pitch for the lowly grade - in many ways harder than Idwal's South Gully in December. Good snow-ice led to a ramp below a rock wall, then thin front-pointing on dinner-plating ice led to easier shelves and frozen turf. I then led up an almost bare rock wall, awkward moves up an iced crack to frozen turf, then up some of Eastern arete before we traversed into the main gully bed and romped up superb easy-angled neve for two long pitches. Great mountain atmosphere on this most rewarding of Welsh crags, and excellent gully scenery. The route was in great condition, its leanness only made it more interesting. Vic led over a tight constriction to more good neve and a mini cave belay. This gave me a great little pitch up the steeper right-hand exit, on fantastic frozen turf to steeper snow - more perfect neve led to the final snow fan and exit. Just a really enjoyable straitforward mountaineering route - perfect, given my injury. We lunched on the ridge with the sun trying to peep through a high layer of cloud. All the lines on the Ladders perfectly exposed by the thin conditions. A superb walk followed, along the ridge to Llywellyn on a potentially hazardous mixture of new snow and iron-hard neve. A quick dram of schnapps, and along the ridge to Yr Elen - one of my favourite corners of Snowdonia. Superb views to Cwm Caseg (see Feb 2010) and the Ladders. I was dreading the descent, given my injury, but it went OK with the poles, following the spur all the way to the end before a wet river crossing gained the path to Bethesda. A great way to end the holiday, and start the year, but the injury is still an issue.