272 replies to this topic

[hairy]

A few mm in Bristol last night, mostly gone this morning though.

 

Enough to close the airport mind.

Edited by hairy, 05 January 2025 - 09:19 AM.

[Ivor]

Nil in Pembrokeshire

[oblomov]

I love snow and I love driving in the snow.  When I used to ski, I enjoyed sitting on the lifts, slowly passing through the fantastic countryside more than the actual skiing itself.

 

I only ever used to go up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) if there had been good overnight snow.  I had a car that would get me up to Pen y Pass car park no matter what the conditions so I would be there by 0700 and off solo up via the Pig Track or Crib Goch, fully kitted - ice axe, crampons, survival gear (arctic and mountain warfare trained) - route depending on conditions.  Usually I would be first to the summit and actually returning down when most people were still on the way up.  The percentage of these who were inexperienced and ill equipped for the conditions was unbelievable, some wearing trainers.  I've always considered the Pig Track to be dangerous because the easy steady incline up to the Cwm lulls the inexperienced in to a false sense of security.  From the Cwm the summit looks close and easily accessible, just the zig zags to the ridge, which is why it tempts people who are not suitably equipped or prepared for the weather.

 

Once I was at the summit station, the cloud well down, bitterly cold, blowing about 40 knots, icicles on the handrail were horizontal and windchill was minus 20+, when a figure appeared out of the cloud.  A girl, from New Zealand. Said she'd followed my tracks.  A complete stranger to the mountain, alone, following unknown tracks to fcuk knows where, with visibility less than fifty feet in killer weather conditions. Unbeleivable.  It was too cold to stay for the usual cup off coffee and a sandwich so I said I was starting back down and she shoud follow.  Said she was going back down the railway track.  I pointed out that for various reasons this was actually a dangerous route to take given the weather condidions, but she ignored me.  Amazingly I saw her in town the next day.  "Was that you?" she said.

 

Started snowing about 1900 yesterday, but very fine and almost sleet so didn't stick much.  Got up at 4 a.m. and went outside to see how much snow and if it was worth a trip out somewhere but there was just an inch of very poor melting snow and it was sleeting so I went back to bed.  Snow on the mountains now but not a lot.  I'm disappointed by how seldom we get good snow here these days.

[Ivor]

I love snow and I love driving in the snow. When I used to ski, I enjoyed sitting on the lifts, slowly passing through the fantastic countryside more than the actual skiing itself.

I only ever used to go up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) if there had been good overnight snow. I had a car that would get me up to Pen y Pass car park no matter what the conditions so I would be there by 0700 and off solo up via the Pig Track or Crib Goch, fully kitted - ice axe, crampons, survival gear (arctic and mountain warfare trained) - route depending on conditions. Usually I would be first to the summit and actually returning down when most people were still on the way up. The percentage of these who were inexperienced and ill equipped for the conditions was unbelievable, some wearing trainers. I've always considered the Pig Track to be dangerous because the easy steady incline up to the Cwm lulls the inexperienced in to a false sense of security. From the Cwm the summit looks close and easily accessible, just the zig zags to the ridge, which is why it tempts people who are not suitably equipped or prepared for the weather.

Once I was at the summit station, the cloud well down, bitterly cold, blowing about 40 knots, icicles on the handrail were horizontal and windchill was minus 20+, when a figure appeared out of the cloud. A girl, from New Zealand. Said she'd followed my tracks. A complete stranger to the mountain, alone, following unknown tracks to fcuk knows where, with visibility less than fifty feet in killer weather conditions. Unbeleivable. It was too cold to stay for the usual cup off coffee and a sandwich so I said I was starting back down and she shoud follow. Said she was going back down the railway track. I pointed out that for various reasons this was actually a dangerous route to take given the weather condidions, but she ignored me. Amazingly I saw her in town the next day. "Was that you?" she said.

Started snowing about 1900 yesterday, but very fine and almost sleet so didn't stick much. Got up at 4 a.m. and went outside to see how much snow and if it was worth a trip out somewhere but there was just an inch of very poor melting snow and it was sleeting so I went back to bed. Snow on the mountains now but not a lot. I'm disappointed by how seldom we get good snow here these days.

Seen a family in trainers, in the snow, on the steep section of the PYG track

[oblomov]

 

[oblomov]

On one occasion there had been very heavy snow and the zig zags were obliterated.  The only way up to the ridge was straight up the Cwm - very steep.  At the top a a small cornice had formed so had to hack my way through that.  It was a fantastic day and I spent a coule of hours at the top.   Coming down, I was about half way down to the Cwm, proceeding backwards when there was a piercing scream from above and a body came hurtling down.  I stepped across in front of it, planted my crampons firmly and as the body hit me in the knees I fell across/over it, digging my ice axe in to the snow.   It was a black girl, absolutely devastatingly good looking.  She was in total shock and hyperventilating.  She clung on to me like people cling on when they're drowning.  In the end I had to slap her across the face to bring her out of it.  I wanted her to face in to the mountain but no way could I get her to leave go and turn, she just refused with her eyes tightly closed.

 

So, I had to bring her down by holding her ankles and planting her feet in the snow slowly step by step as she slid down on her back.  Every so often we had to stop and she would cling to me. Eventually towards the bottom I got her laughing by saying things like "How am I going to expalain to my wife that I spent the afternoon with this gorgeous black girl with her arms around me cuddling up at every opportunity and refusing to let go.  Took about an hour to get to the bottom.  Her boyfriend who we'd seen no sign of was there.  He asked if she was O.K. and without looking at him she said "Fcuck off you bastard," and walked away to catch up and chat with me the rest of the way down.  She was a model from London.

 

The next day, John Guinness 52 an Irish banker, slipped and fell to his death on the mountain - came through the gap in the cornice and...

 

They said he apparently slipped on ice 3,000 feet up Mount Snowden and hurtled down a snow slope, suffering multiple injuries.

In Wales, a veteran mountain rescuer said Guinness, former chairman of the Guinness Mahon Investment Bank, had been wearing soft mountaineering boots that were not suitable for the conditions and was not carrying an ice axe.

'The weather was not particularly bad, but the conditions underfoot were very hazardous where the accident occurred,' a police spokesman said.

 

 

And then, there was the family with two young children who decided  it would be a good idea to cut across and down from the Pig track to the Miner's track and got stuck mid way on the scree slope...

Edited by oblomov, 05 January 2025 - 07:38 PM.

[oblomov]

https://thumbsnap.com/hzs7twtK

 

18th March 2006

[KurtVerbose]

oblomov - you're a hero.

 

Bonnie Tyler's being holding out for you.

[hairy]

https://thumbsnap.com/hzs7twtK

 

18th March 2006

 

Beautiful.

[oblomov]

oblomov - you're a hero.

 

Bonnie Tyler's being holding out for you.

 

I should clarify, I don't relate these occurences as an exercise in self congratulation, they simply happened.  Rather, they are illustrations of the stupidity of people when out in the mountains, which for those of us who are responsible, is extremely irritating not only because it's a daily occurrence but because it places others at risk. 

[KurtVerbose]

I hope you got something in the new years honours.

 

I was passed over again....

[KurtVerbose]

 

oblomov - you're a hero.

 

Bonnie Tyler's being holding out for you.

 

I should clarify, I don't relate these occurences as an exercise in self congratulation, they simply happened.  Rather, they are illustrations of the stupidity of people when out in the mountains, which for those of us who are responsible, is extremely irritating not only because it's a daily occurrence but because it places others at risk. 

 

 

By the way, it didn't read like you were making yourself out to be a hero. It read just as you describe.
 

[oblomov]

 

 

oblomov - you're a hero.

 

Bonnie Tyler's being holding out for you.

 

I should clarify, I don't relate these occurences as an exercise in self congratulation, they simply happened.  Rather, they are illustrations of the stupidity of people when out in the mountains, which for those of us who are responsible, is extremely irritating not only because it's a daily occurrence but because it places others at risk. 

 

 

By the way, it didn't read like you were making yourself out to be a hero. It read just as you describe.
 

 

Then there was that time on Cnicht...