OUTDOORSmagic
/ Gore-Tex competition winner Chris Ward - right - couldn't
have asked for better conditions for his Plas y Brenin winter
skills course this weekend. No more North Wales drizzle or
greeny-brown hills for him. Instead, it was white underfoot and blue
overhead as he tried out ice-axe arrests on the slopes of Y Garn.
Winter skills courses can be a little unpredictable - and
imaginative - in Wales in early March. If there's no snow to
practice ice axe braking, no problem - participants just slide down a
grassy slope on a bivvy bag. Even better, there's always the mighty
peak of the Plas y Brenin artificial winter slope to practice walking
on in crampons. No one complains if the climate offers a helping
hand, though.
On this occasion, artificial snow was definitely superfluous to
requirements, as Chris's brand new Mountain Equipment Gore-Tex jacket
shielded him from snow rather than a dose of Snowdonia drizzle.
Walking in crampons, cornice-spotting, and snowball fights were more
than just theoretical activities for a change. The same goes for
photography, with some fantastic winter landscapes begging to be
snapped. Tryfan took a promotion from looking merely lofty to
looking positively Alpine, as in this shot.
