Beautiful morning in Aberdare. 5-10 cm of dry powder on the ground. Cold and sunny. Mixed cloud rolling in once in a while.
Glorious day in the Beacons. Hundreds of people out in the park enjoying the snow and the sunshine. Mostly families sledding near the car park and walkers. Saw a few people boarding and bumped into Sharkymark from the Snowheads forum.
The lines off Pen-y-Fan into Cwm Llwch were fabulous. Around 60-100cm depth that had firmed up, covered by 5-10cm of packed powder. Made for fast, creamy, consistent turns.
With views to die for.
The wind was really smoothing things out.
Cribyn from Pen-y-Fan
Unknown rider dropping off Pen-y-Fan into Cwm Lwch
Unknown rider dropping off Pen-y-Fan into Cwm Lwch
Cwm Sere and Brecon from Pen-y-Fan
Sharkymark from Snowheads dropping off Pen-y-Fan into Cwm Lwch
Sharkymark from Snowheads dropping off Pen-y-Fan into Cwm Lwch
Sharkymark from Snowheads in Cwm Lwch
Said farewell to Sharkymark and took another run into Cwm Llwch. As I was hiking back out of the bowl, the sunset delivered.
The slopes of Pen-y-Fan and Corn Du at sunset
Skied all the way back to the bridge for the first time this winter to the sound of 'breaking chandeliers' as I skied through the frozen tussocks and grass.
Frozen tussocks on the home run at sunset
Cefn Crew at sunset
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Officially the best thread ever on snowheads!
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Mike - fantastic photos. I was born and brought up in Abergavenny so know the Beacons well. I remember tobogganing as a kid at the Storey Arms (must have been early 70s) and seeing people skiing there back then. Very jealous sitting here in London.
Fantastic photo's mike.Agreed thursday was awsome,full sun,no wind,looking down on the lakes and valleys.I found a natural little kicker in a drifted gully so made the most of it.Silence is a beautiful thing.let us know how conditions are up there dereck.
temp roughly changes 6 degree c per 1000 m , so 1 c per 150 meters...very roughly , brecon height around 150 - 200 meters , storey arms 430, pen y fan 886
with that info you should get a good idea...its what i used yesterday to get pure blue skys n powder
After all it is free
After all it is free
ps...disclaimer i find the temp thing is pretty inaccurate in uk..or until you start going up from at least 500m or even 1000m... below that there is change but i dont find it on the scale of 6 per 1000... more like 2 or 3 c for first 1000m .. but its all very wind n weather dependent....
lets just say it normally gets a bit colder
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Thanks all.
flow
great to read you were up there yesterday
david@mediacopy
Raining hard here in Aberdare and socked in on Merthyr mountain. Hard to tell where the freezing level is.
Which is such a shame as the conditions up there yesterday could easily have stayed wonderful until the end of January with no rain. Let's hope the cold weather returns quicker and this turns to snow.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Sunday 03 January 2010
After yesterday's glorious turns and colours, I set off in the dark hoping for sunrise and moonset off Pen-y-Fan.
Both of these events happened, I just didn't see them.
It was blowing a gale up there, with spindrift everywhere and about 10m visibility. Significant wind chill too.
The wind had blown the 5cm of fresh snow about and the turns into Cwm Llwch were better than yesterday.
Likewise the run back to the car park.
By the time I'd packed up and was driving back home via Penderyn the clouds dispersed and the sun came out.
Such is life!
There are wild ponies grazing all over the Beacons. This one was very accommodating.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
sninhosa, Just found this forum - I was the bloke on skis you met on Corn Du and the small black dot in the piccies. Excellent stuff. Wish I had more time thursday morning as would have gone into Cwm llwch but had to be back in work by 2.00pm! Superb day on the Beacons - a rare treat those sort of condidtions.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Monday 04 to Wednesday 06 January 2010
Bitterly cold daytime and nighttime temperatures made for clear sunrises and moon sets on Monday and Tuesday.
The Darren ridge above Bwllfa Dare and the Dare Valley Country Park in Aberdare
The Darren ridge above the miners' cottages in Bwllfa Dare (the far right of the ridge is where I skied on the 6th)
Woke to 15 cm outside my back door on Wednesday morning, most probably double that in the Beacons. With more on the way
All the roads into the Beacons were closed, so decided to make turns closer to home skiing The Darren, above Bwllfa Dare and the Dare Valley Country Park in Aberdare.
Took about an hour to walk from home to dropping in.
Snowing intermittently and cloudy, but great to be out on the local hills with skis.
Where the wind had done its magic it was knee deep, dry powder.
A gully off the Darren that would be superb with a tad more snow
Likewise this copse
When it was good it was very, very good and when it was bad it was horrid
Still it's not every day you can walk to and from skiing, especially in Wales.
When the roads open, the Beacons should be fabulous.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Thursday 07 January 2010
Today in the Brecon Beacons was as good as it gets. Anywhere.
Alpine start. Cold, dry temps. Started off at -11 C, warmed to -3 C
The sun took some time burning through the mist, resulting in lunar landscapes.
Upper Neuadd Reservoir in the mist
Cribyn in the mist
But when it did burn through, blue skies and amazing views, even as far as the ocean which was illuminated all morning.
Rhiw yr Ysgyfarnog, Corn Du and the NE face of Pen-y-Fan from Cribyn summit plateau
Close up detail of the prize - the NE face of Pen-y-Fan
Packed powder all over and light, dry powder stashes. Some up to knee deep.
Solitary signature on Cribyn
Skied some new lines for me off Cribyn and Pen-y-Fan. Dropped into Cwm Sere off Cribyn and then bootpacked up one of the spines lookers left of the main NE face spine - 'the prize'. Didn't manage to bootpack to the top - rock and iced out - but still got some great turns either side of the spine skiers right of the bootpack. There was some sloughing, but very manageable.
Looking down at the bootpack and line on the NE face of Pen-y-Fan. Nant Sere river at the bottom and the slopes of Bryn Teg ridgeline on the flanks of Cribyn above the frozen river bed
The run back to the car park was fast, smooth and creamy under cobalt skies.
The snow's not going anywhere and more in the forecast.
Happy days
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Quote:
Close up detail of the prize - the NE face of Pen-y-Fan
How much more do you think it would need to be doable - Must be close or too much ice ?
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Watch this space
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Mike, how are conditions after all the rain???
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Not sure.
Haven't had a chance to get up there
Nothing left in Aberdare, but cold and sunny here today.
Fingers crossed that there's still a base in the Beacons. More snow forecast for next week.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Mike Pow, wow...looks like you've been busy since I've been in Tignes. Great pics too - guess which part of my face had gone numb
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Saturday 09 January through to Wednesday 13 January 2010
Light flurries Saturday, Sunday and Monday didn't amount to much but cold temperatures and snow already on the ground meant that what did fall stuck around.
Tuesday started off cloudy and windy with the salmon hue of snow on the way. Flakes started falling around 3pm and the storm went through the night.
Wednesday morning greeted us with 14cm of light, dry powder on top of a settled base of 9-15cm around the house.
The roads in and out of the Beacons were closed, so it was a case of getting the gear ready for tomorrow and going to sleep hoping that this storm would offer up powder and new lines.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Mike Pow,
hi mike are you looking to go skiing today
andy evs (yellow jacket met you last thu)
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
for people who like this kind of stuff..... heres my gps track for the day, if you put the map on satelite or hybrid then it shows good view of the route down from pen y fan and the zig zag back up etc... not gripping i admit but some may find the idea of getting similar thing good.
and click altitude tick box on right hand side graph elemaents then you can put mouse on graph n get altitude
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
That's pretty nifty.
Not sure about the altitude and heart rate data though.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Mike Pow, That traffic camera is a bit spooky - it looks like the only one not located on a dual carriage way in all of Wales ?
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
i dont wear a heartbeat thing so ignore that part, and the altitude is done by gps , no alitmeter so its as you say a bit dodgy..but gives rough indications. also it tells oyu when you look at it when out how accurate gps altitude is i.e within 20m , within 80m , etc,etc ...so its a 'guide' , but the positional gps is pretty good judging by the route on the satellite photo
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Yeah spot on.
Snowing hard here in Aberdare at 14:45.
Mountainsides that were bare this morning are covered.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Mike Pow, Looking forward to seeing more fab photos.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
david@mediacopy wrote:
Mike Pow, That traffic camera is a bit spooky - it looks like the only one not located on a dual carriage way in all of Wales ?
Its part of a weather monitoring system and you can view its data here http://skylinkweather.com/metar/metarmapindex.php either click on the map or look up storey arms in the scroll menu below the map.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
nice post Sninhosa!
Downloaded it to my phone as well.
Planning to go up PYF on saturday - no skiing just a long walk - can't wait.
JulesC, Cheers. Do you know if you can grab the web cam feed on that site too - I'm trying to find a web cam in Mid Wales to keep an eye on the conditions. Cynwyd as listed on that site would be spot on.
I had hoped to make an early start on the summit of Pen-y-fan, but commitments at home kept me from the trailhead until 11am
This turned out to be a blessing, as the bootpack from the 'toilets' car park was well established and had hardened by the time I set off.
The early morning mist still sat in the valley bottom, but it didn't take long to break out into the sunshine.
Remarkably for the Beacons there wasn't a lick of wind and this made for a quick and very enjoyable ascent
Cefn Crew, Fan Fawr and the Black Mountain from the summit of Corn Du
Fan Fawr from the summit of Corn Du
The slope from whence I came (which had already seen turns from a group of snowboarders) and the drop into Cwm Llwch looked very inviting with the 20-30cm blanket of fresh, light powder but I carried on to the summit plateau of Pen-y-Fan to see what Cwm Sere had to offer.
Cwm Llwch and Pen-y-Fan from the summit of Corn Du
The army were out on manoeuvres and there were two guys packing away their tent as I arrived on the summit plateau.
I had a little look over the edge down the NE face and one of the soldiers asked if I was going to ski it. Before I could answer, he told me that a snowboarder had already ridden down.
In that moment I was excited knowing that someone had made turns and deflated knowing that they'd beaten me to it.
When I asked him where he had dropped in, he pointed down the right hand flank looking towards Cribyn.
I saw the boarder bootpacking back up and traced his tracks to a great looking line in one of the gullies. Turns out it was Sninhosa from the snowheads forum.
Sninhosa's line off Pen-y-Fan
'Winter had gripped the mountains for some weeks. An iron frost bound the land. We had trudged up the wild valley through some six inches of snow and a dense mist. Then as we arrived at the foot of our climb, the clouds began to lift, breaking in great masses of swirling grey vapour, and rising slowly upwards under the sun rays. Soon the entire mountain was clear of the mists and we gazed upwards at a scene of really awe-inspiring grandeur. Seen from the base, the north east face of Pen y Fan, in such winter conditions as prevailed that morning, loks every inch like an Alpine peak. Even in summer it looks savage and forbidding, but to-day, in its snowy covering, it appeared quite terrific. There was scarcely a spot of black to be seen on the whole great precipice. Huge icicles hung from every ledge and buttress of rock. The almost vertical grass slopes between the rock wals which run along the entire face, were deep in snow.
Delicate drifts had formed along the steep slopes and were moulded by the winds into weird curves and lines. And high above, outlined against the blue winter skies, the great summit rampart of vertical cliffs which guard the top, looked the very embodiment of grim inaccessibility.
Let those who declare that South Wales possesses no real climbing, gaze at this place under such conditions, and they will quickly change their opinion.
We stood there for some time and examined every foot of the huge face.
"Well..."? exclaimed Davies..."what about it?"
I confess that I did not know what to think.
"We will just see how it goes..." I answered.'
R.G. Sandeman writing about his and Alfred Davies' first ascent of the Central Gulley, NE face of Pen-y-Fan in 1939
R.G. Sandeman 'A Mountaineer's Journal' 1949 from Chris Barber's anthology 'The Romance of the Welsh Mountains' The Romance of the Welsh Mountains
I went back to looking how I could get in to the main spine on the NE face.
There were two guys preparing to walk down into Cwm Sere to ice climb back up the Central Gulley and I managed to convince one of them, Andy from furtech (http://www.furtech.co.uk/scripts/default.asp) to belay me onto the face. His partner Neil got this brief clip of me about to go over the ice and rock buttress.
Without Andy's help I wouldn't have been able to downclimb / scramble into position.
After negotiating the ice and rock and clicking into my skis on the windblasted, icey slope I undid the knot and signalled for Andy to pull the rope back up.
The overhang prevented me seeing Andy and Neil, and them seeing me. I wanted to take photos balanced below the buttress, but quite frankly I had other things on my mind.
The slope is not as steep as it appears in the photos, but any mistake on the bulletproof upper section would have seen me careening off the central spine into either the Central or Right Hand gullies.
I sidelipped, jump turned and picked my way through the rocky and icey upper section and then hit paydirt about a third of the way down and started to flow through the 20-30cm of fresh powder, the slough racing me down to the flats of Cwm Sere.
With my skis back on my pack, I stood and looked at this magnificent wall, this magnificent amphitheatre of snow, rock and ice, soaking it in. I'd been waiting over 10 years to be in this spot looking up at my line. It felt very good.
Central spine of NE face of Pen-y-Fan flanked by the Central Gulley (l) and Right Hand Gulley (r) taken from Cwm Sere
Central spine of NE face of Pen-y-Fan taken from Cwm Sere
Bootpacking up the central spine of NE face of Pen-y-Fan with the boulder strewn Right Hand Gulley loomimg above
Looking over the overhang to the face I'd skied
I skied round to Bwlch Duwynt, bootpacked to the top of Cefn Crew and traversed to the far right of the ridge as you look up from the 'toilets' car park. The ski back to the bridge was effortless and fast under blue skies.
A wonderful day in the mountains.
I contacted Chris Barber to see if anyone had skied this line and received this reply:
"Congratulations on your achievement.
Yes, I am sure that this is the first time that such a descent has been achieved and that you are justified in making the claim.
I am pleased that my book gave you inspiration.
Best wishes
Chris Barber"
1st descent line on the NE face of Pen-y-Fan
Friday and Saturday brought milder temperatures and torrential rain leaving no trace of winter on the hills around my home.
The window of opportunity had closed.[/url]
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Thu 21-01-10 14:19; edited 1 time in total
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Mike Pow, I remember taking a mate up Pen-y-Fan who has never skied saying to him as we looked over the edge that it was skiable, he laughed. Well done
After all it is free
After all it is free
Wow...just wow!!
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
i find the temp thing is pretty inaccurate in uk..or until you start going up from at least 500m or even 1000m... below that there is change but i dont find it on the scale of 6 per 1000... more like 2 or 3 c for first 1000m .. but its all very wind n weather dependent....
