Hiking, backpacking, trekking, mountaineering...

MichaelAwkward said:
Did Scafell Pike last October with a friend and looking at doing Snowdon - does anyone have any experience doing it in late March? Thinking the second to last weekend specifically. Are there any preferable routes when snow is present? Will be packing crampons as a matter of course.
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You'll be lucky if you hit any winter conditions this year. I've been waiting for winter climbing season to start since December but I think this season is going to be a wash out! :(

I've just had a look at my pics from the end of March last year and I was out climbing in the Llanberis Pass in just a tshirt, my previous years pictures are very similar as well. If you aren't that experienced, I'd avoid Crib Goch in winter conditions, but all the other routes are fine, especially if you have crampons. If you're staying in Beddgelert, the Rhyd Ddu path is probably the best option. It's closer and it'll be much quieter.
 
Street said:
You'll be lucky if you hit any winter conditions this year. I've been waiting for winter climbing season to start since December but I think this season is going to be a wash out! :(

I've just had a look at my pics from the end of March last year and I was out climbing in the Llanberis Pass in just a tshirt, my previous years pictures are very similar as well. If you aren't that experienced, I'd avoid Crib Goch in winter conditions, but all the other routes are fine, especially if you have crampons. If you're staying in Beddgelert, the Rhyd Ddu path is probably the best option. It's closer and it'll be much quieter.
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Thanks for the advice.

Was just looking at photos on Google Maps back to last March and it really does look like the luck of the draw. On the days we had snow here in Oxfordshire last year the photos from Snowdon are dry and bright. Will plan for all possibilities and see how it looks on the day.
 
MichaelAwkward said:
Was just looking at photos on Google Maps back to last March and it really does look like the luck of the draw. On the days we had snow here in Oxfordshire last year the photos from Snowdon are dry and bright. Will plan for all possibilities and see how it looks on the day.
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Yeh pretty much. I'm still clinging onto a small hope that winter might just hit for a few days at least.

Both photos are from the end of March, first one in 2017, second in 2019! 2016 and 2018 look very similar to 2019 though.
wrgl5fnl.jpg

uC1Fgk2l.jpg
 
Couple years ago in Feb it was white out for me, but with small crampons and 2 dogs we managed it up Pyg Track, the best route aside from Crib Goch (which is the ridge and best avoided in winter unless you're very confident and experienced or just mental like me). Late March will be fairly easy. If there's any winter conditions it'll only be close to the summit but for January so far it's very mild this year.

I ran up Pen-y-Ghent yesterday, 50+mph winds actually moving me around. Mental. Loved it :D Running the Lakeland 50 in July and need to get my training in order before it's too late so weather can do one.
 
Dup said:
I ran up Pen-y-Ghent yesterday, 50+mph winds actually moving me around. Mental. Loved it :D Running the Lakeland 50 in July and need to get my training in order before it's too late so weather can do one.
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I saw your pic and thought it was a bit wild! I was going to head over to North Wales for a run yesterday morning but woke up, looked at the forecast, bottled it and went to the climbing wall instead. Hope the training goes well, gives you an excuse to get out more too. :)
 
Street said:
I saw your pic and thought it was a bit wild! I was going to head over to North Wales for a run yesterday morning but woke up, looked at the forecast, bottled it and went to the climbing wall instead. Hope the training goes well, gives you an excuse to get out more too. :)
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Weather generally doesn't bother me to be honest. Wind has to be the worst of it all, and thunder storms if you're up a mountain (one of the wildest but most exhilarating walks I've had was up a local hill getting hit by a storm). Does need some mental encourment though and it's never as bad as you imagine when you get on with it. Could experience anything during the Lakeland 50, very much looking forward to what that throws at me :)
 
Dup said:
Weather generally doesn't bother me to be honest. Wind has to be the worst of it all, and thunder storms if you're up a mountain (one of the wildest but most exhilarating walks I've had was up a local hill getting hit by a storm). Does need some mental encourment though and it's never as bad as you imagine when you get on with it. Could experience anything during the Lakeland 50, very much looking forward to what that throws at me :)
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Have you seen the Montane Spine race? That looks brutal, especially as they do it in the depths of winter to guarantee the worst weather.

PermaChanged said:
2 weeks until I start trekking up Kilimanjaro - who knows if I'm well enough prepared!
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Awesome! Not much you can do to prepare for the altitude but hopefully if you're reasonably fit you'll be fine. :)
 
Street said:
Have you seen the Montane Spine race? That looks brutal, especially as they do it in the depths of winter to guarantee the worst weather.
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Yeah i was reading the winners account of it the other day. Definitely not one for me that!

Anyone here used Viewranger? I've been eyeing up the Fenix range of watches as i'd really like the mapping function but seems that Viewranger has a similar option for the Apple Watch.

Their pricing gets me a little though, it's either £5 a month or £25 for the year. Usually you only get around a 20% discount so offering about 60% seems odd!
 
Marvt74 said:
Yeah i was reading the winners account of it the other day. Definitely not one for me that!

Anyone here used Viewranger? I've been eyeing up the Fenix range of watches as i'd really like the mapping function but seems that Viewranger has a similar option for the Apple Watch.

Their pricing gets me a little though, it's either £5 a month or £25 for the year. Usually you only get around a 20% discount so offering about 60% seems odd!
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I use Viewranger and a Fenix 3. The 3 doesn't really have the same mapping ability as the newer ones so I just use it for tracking and my phone for Viewranger. Most of my maps on Viewranger have been paid for by Google rewards surveys. It's the only thing I spend my credit on. I generally pay a year subcription for the French IGN maps as well though for when I'm in the alps which is about £15.
 
Cheers, i've signed up for the free trial as £2 a month isn't too expensive if it's beneficial. Hopefully give me a bit more confidence to get further away from civilisation on runs without me doing my usual and turning a 10 mile run into a 15 mile run in circles!
 
I tried to get to Cape Wrath aiming for a night in the bothy last weekend. There's a small passenger ferry running in the summer but the only way to get there in winter is across ~5 miles of open moor/bog/heather.
It ended up taking a lot longer than I was expecting so we decided to turn back as we had a meeting the next day and the walk out again would have made us late.
Decided that a shortcut across the tidal estuary to cut out about a mile of bog trotting was a good idea:
JfmgOXQ.jpg
 
Dup said:
Weather generally doesn't bother me to be honest. Wind has to be the worst of it all, and thunder storms if you're up a mountain (one of the wildest but most exhilarating walks I've had was up a local hill getting hit by a storm). Does need some mental encourment though and it's never as bad as you imagine when you get on with it. Could experience anything during the Lakeland 50, very much looking forward to what that throws at me :)
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Was near the top of Black Star near Honister Crag a few years ago when a thunder storm came in - lighting bolts were hitting the ground only a few feet away from me - was like being in an episode of Fullmetal Alchemist.

A lighting bolt almost got me in Switzerland the other year - saw the flash right in front of me - was quit exciting !

I love bad weather in the mountains.
 
do any of you own the Pantogonia R1 Fleece ?

im trying to find the full-zip "non-hoody" version, ive seen it via google (pantagonia site only lists the hoody or the pull over versions)
any ideas ?
 
Those Patagonia R1 fleeces are like rocking horse poo over here it seems. When I retired my old one that was full of holes I couldn't find another at the time.
 
so who is the good patagonia supplier in the UK ... tbo most of their stuff is good -
I need some new patagonia capilene base layer tops - have 3 I've used in rotation for running/walking/cycling/(climbing/skking) base layers, 5days a week.

last addition to the family was from chamonix patagonia shop ... gear and climbing mecca ... I never complain about going shopping there.
 
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