Your Winter Weekend Snapshot :-)

Wow, what a cracking winter weekend that was - OMers have been out and about from Scotland to the West country, leaving a few footprints in the snow and taking only digital snaps.

And here they are.... big thanks to everyone who took the time to send us their weekend snapshots :-)

Blue skies, brilliant sunshine, and a foot of fresh powder snow made the Glyders a fantastic place to be on Saturday. The new snow also made it tough going.

A day for a short walk and lots of photographs. No-one else had forged a trail through Cwm Gwern Gof, so we cut a trail up the side of the valley. However hard the going, there was always a superb view of Tryfan to keep us entertained on the way.

Some steep ice and snow took us up to Foel Goch, where a wind-crust made the going easier, and just over the summit, we got a fabulous view of the Snowdon Horseshoe - below. It was incredibly cold in the wind, and we didn't stay long before wading through more deep drifts down to the col below Glyder Fach.

For the first time that day, we met other people, and got some easier going on the climb following a trench cut by other people. Two guys on their way down got tangled up in their walking poles and fell nose-down into the white stuff, a party of scrambler emerged from the top of Bristly Ridge, trailing helmets, ropes, twin-axes and getting tangled up in their crampons.

Five people stood precariously on the cantilever stone while their friend crawled up on hands and knees to join them. It was the usual summit party on Glyder Fach. Castell-y-Gwynt looked superb in the last of the sunshine, but dark clouds were coming in from the north-west and it was time to head back down Braich y Ddeugwym.

A perfect day ended with a pint in the Bryn Twrch , wedged in between a gang of brightly coloured students with sunburn and a man wearing a liquorice allsort jumper and Ronhills.

Same team, different photographer, we just liked this one, as Marcus says, it 'sums up the pioneering feel of fresh snow!'

Myself and two friends had planned for some time to attempt the Langdale Horseshoe this weekend.  We set off from Elterwater at 7.30 on a fabulous, freezing, snowy Saturday morning with preposterous optimism. 

As the morning wore on, and our legs started to wear out, we climbed Lingmoor, Side Pike and Pike o' Blisco enjoying glorious views and blue skies.  The snow and ice made us feel every step of  the way.  Icy gusts welcomed us to the Crinkles and Bow Fell loomed large and snowy ahead. 

After briefly enjoying unbeatable views of the Scafells - below- we slithered our way down to Ore Gap and were buffeted up to Rossett Pike as the clouds gathered, the wind strengthened and the afternoon dwindled.  As we sheltered on the top of Rossett Pike at 5 o'clock, contemplating the Pikes and the long ridge down to Silver How, we knew that we were beaten and would have to abandon the Horseshoe. 

Snow, ice and tired legs meant that bravely retreating down Rossett Gill still took some time and we finally reached the valley some 12 hours after setting out.  We trudged down the road to the FRCC hut and one of the most welcome fires I've sat by for some time.  It was a fantastic day to be out in the Lakes - we made the most of it but it got the better of us.

Wasn't any snow on the ground on Sunday on the Cotswold escarpment at Broadway Tower, however i could see where it was snowing over the Vale of Evesham below. I had a great time on the swing, there was no one else around (that late in the afternoon). :-)

A man of few words, but some nice photographs :-) Here are some snaps of my Saturday trip to the Brecon Beacons, which you may want to use (or not).

Spring is almost here, but this was only the second day of real winter conditions encountered on a weekend this year; I get to the Brecons / Black Mountains most weekends.

Pen y Fan - above - Facing west from Waun Rydd. Glorious winter weather with a steady breeze giving lots of drifting snow, with some deep drifts on the downwind slopes.

The track towards Pen y Fan - Facing west from Waun Rydd. Fresh knee-deep snow, with only a slight crust, made for some heavy going across the frozen peat gulleys.

Facing south into Blean y Glyn. Close to the centre of the BBNP, Blaen y Glyn is far quieter than the nearby more popular routes, offering some classic edge paths and good views in a remote setting.

Attached are a couple of shots from a superb couple of days on Aran Benllyn. An exhausting climb of the North ridge of Aran Benllyn in very deep snow is rewarded by a superb tent pitch - below.

The fine sunset casts a reddish light on the snow near the tent.

It's not just about mountains :-) 'Here is a shot of Cwmyoy church in the Black mountains which I passed on my way to the hills.' Crazy lines...

This is Helen on the accent of Grisedale pike on Sunday. It was cold but the views were fantastic.

I heard the call of snowbound hill after a real blizzard on Friday night. Travelling up through Yorkshire there was total whiteness, but when I arrive at my chosen destination  I found bright cold and windy Cumbria fells with what looked like a sprinkling of icing sugar on the tops, but as always I found the whole day totally immense. Below: view of High Street and Long Stile from Harter Fell.

My route saw me heading up to past Kentmere reservoir through Nan Bield Pass following a very icy path down to Haweswater reservoir then a steep climb up to Gatecrash pass then further up  Harter Fell and Kentmere Pike.

From left to right,Rainsborrow Crag,Ill Bell And Frostwick taken from Kentwick Pike.

After getting a weekend pass for the OM winter skills course, it seemed only fair that a "proper" holiday was in order so we headed up to Gairloch for 5 days. This coincided with the heaviest snow falls in the area for about 10 years, according to the folk in the hotel, so the travelling was never less than interesting.

 You have to do the traditional holiday stuff regardless, so here is a nice sunny shot of Marion on Redpoint beach.

The wind then started to get up a bit, as can be seen from the action shot (!) of the waves piling onto the rocks.

Ten minutes later, the weather had taken a slight turn for the worse. Thankfully the lifebelt wasn't needed. It's been a while since I've been snowed off a beach, mind you.

The following day was a big improvement, so I decided to chance a trip to Slioch. The roads were decidedly dodgy, with a 20 mile drive taking an hour & a half. The temperature gauge on the car was at minus 11 at one point.

 It was a beautiful walk alongside the river towards Loch Maree, and there wasn't another soul about. The picture shows a very tranquil loch.

The next one has a view of the southern end of Slioch &endash; no complaints about the weather at that point!

Once the climb started though, it became clear that it was a losing battle against the snow. After four hours walking altogether, struggling up knee deep snow on the slopes, and really deep stuff in the corries, I was no more than about 2000 feet up. I took the last picture, looking across the loch towards Beinn Eighe, just before the weather broke, which made up my mind to beat a retreat.

Still a cracking day out.

It was a tough assignment for OM's editorial assistant Susan, not only did she have to travel to Snowdonia to report on the winner of the recent OM/Gore-Tex competition, she also had to endure a Plas y Brenin winter skills weekend in near perfect winter conditions... poor lass.

'It was', she says, 'great! I was expecting to tramp around in the drizzle when I first signed up for it, and instead I even got in a bit of ice climbing.' As you can see, it looks horrible, some people have all the luck ;-) Watch out for her report on OM shortly.

No exotic trips to foreign countries the size of, well, Wales, for the OM editor. Instead I stayed close to home in the Peak and tramped over familiar hills in unfamiliar conditions with a mystery companion.

The top of Bleaklow was coated in a crisp layer of snow that occasionally even allowed you to walk on top of it without crashing through into a lurking peat grough. We wandered around the plateau, surprised an embarassed looking man dancing on the spot by the trig point then wandered down the open hillside in the sunshine opposite a frozen-looking Doctor's Gate path. Class :-)

Meanwhile, and this is cheating, because the photo is from last Friday, but who cares, Kinder was looking positively alpine, particularly when viewed from Middle Moor above Little Hayfield :-)

And now it's all melting, but hey, it was nice while it lasted...