UKC

I don't suppose anyone knows what the conditions of Black ladders in Carneddau is like?

Has anyone been lately?

In reply to Michael Morrell:

It's not ready yet.

I'm going out this weekend. I'll let you know.

In reply to Pay Attention:

Thank you!

In reply to Michael Morrell:

Snowdonia is nowhere near cold enough yet. There's plenty of snow higher up, but little if any of the ground water / turf is frozen.

Watch the BMC Idwal page - air temps at 850m have finally dropped below zero today, and turf temps are gradually creeping down.

In reply to Ron Rees Davies:
Agreed... The air temp at 850 fell below freezing about 24 hours ago. The turf temperature is hardly changing now though, probably as its insulated by snow at the test site. That said its not unusual in Scotland in similar conditions to find large areas of turf to take weeks to freeze, but the smaller blobs actually critical to climbs to be frozen solid.

In reply to Michael Morrell:
Was on Crib Lem today; the route had a lot of snow on it, mostly powder but dribbles of ice & spots of frozen turf where exposed. A party a short way ahead of us walked in to the Ladders but some friends saw them rap off in the afternoon. I'm not sure what they were on but my suspicion is that altho' it all looks very white there's not enough ice & frozen turf as it's all insulated under a thick layer of snow at the mo'.

In reply to geoff b:

My friends above Bethesda say that it is raining at the moment,but there is a pile of snow due to arrive in mid north Wales in the next few hours from the north/Irish sea.Yet that will probably not help really.It will be melting before long.

In reply to geoff b:

Agree completely. Was up there on Sunday and although it had a nice, alpine atmosphere, nothing except the ridges look fun - there was plenty of mushy stuff about and the cornices look wet and dodgy. What ice there was was the crappy, crumbly sort.
Seems to have held on to the ice/snow a little better than the Glyders, though, so I reckon it's nearly there. The recent thaw won't hurt long-term and I reckon it'll be fine after a few cold nights.
Be good to hear what other people think over the next few days. We've been patient enough this year.

In reply to bags:

Shame about the forecast from Friday onward

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Just seen it...just glad I got to bash some ice over the weekend.

Mind you, the forecast was pretty shoddy for last weekend. Let's hope they're out again, otherwise I'm eying up another 10hr drive up to Scotland!

In reply to bags:
its not looking good for Scotland for the weekend either

In reply to Michael Morrell:

Bump! Does anyone know if it's in condition yet?

In reply to Michael Morrell:

It'll probably be of the warm and damp variety at the moment.