Marchlyn horseshoe

Peaks: Carnedd y Filiast, Mynydd Perfedd, Elidir Fawr
Area: Glyderau, Eryri
After doing this route as a hill-walk with the scouts a couple of years ago, I'd squirrelled it away as a nice shortish run. It was the perfect option today: a cold, crisp winter morning, heading home from Beaumaris. It seemed likely to be tricky conditions high up, with a bitter windchill and 'icy' snow, so I felt the Carneddau race route (my original plan) might be unwise. I parked in Deiniolen and jogged up the very long tarmac road towards Marchlyn. You can park much higher up, but I felt the need for more mileage. I broke off to join the obvious snaking path (Minffordd) that slants leftwards to gain the shallow col below Filiast and the hill that marks the true start of the Glyder ridge. The normal path up Filiast was problematic: ferocious windchill, scoured, fully iced-up over a couple of inches of snow. Tricky in old Inov8s, as was the awkward bouldery summit (47 mins from Deiniolen). But the onward route to Mynydd Perfedd was superb - the sun breaking through banks of cloud above Glyder Fawr and superb views to the glistening white Carneddau. The wind dropped a little, and Elidir Fawr looked very inviting in the sunshine with its curving ridge. I kept to the ridge crest on perfect virgin snow. Huge banks of black cloud over Snowdon but the sun peeked through. From the summit, I descended direct - this was OK at first as the snow was soft and thick. Lower down, however, the slopes were scoured, hard ice. This was a real issue, and I actually had to retreat from the direct line to the lake. I found a gentler route down but still had to kick steps until the angle eased. Fast running all the way back to Deiniolen from the top lake (1.43 in total). This followed my usual 12 mile loop of the Beaumaris hinterland, and preceded a 14 mile Eglwyseg run the next day.