UKC

To be honest, although I had heard of it, I didn't realise where it was until last week. I was planning a loop of the Carnedd this Saturday but now realising where it is I am going to do Crib Lem instead. 

It seems pretty straight forward, but any advice from those who have done it? 

My understanding is as you are facing the large wall (Llech Ddu?), follow the right hand side up into the Cwm, then almost back on yourself following a shoulder until you are on the ridge itself, then there is only up! 

The hardest part looks to be finding parking in Gerlan.

UKC has a route description here - https://www.ukhillwalking.com/logbook/r/?i=1209 (albeit in summer).  The difficulty of the route itself will depend on conditions and your level of experience.  I remember it (with a light covering of snow) as nearer Grade I with a slightly awkward short wall near the end.  UKC photos of it in winter will give you a good idea.  Have a great day!

I did it in snowy conditions a few years ago and found it tricky to find the way actually onto the spur. Once you're on it, you're fine (although I think there is a slab which might be tricky if at all icy - maybe have some micro-spikes at least). I think we ended up free-styling it a bit as there looked to be a lot of options getting onto it but probably made it a fair bit harder than it should be. 

The walk in is quite nice and flat into a very quiet bowl and parking wasn't an issue. Didn't see anyone else until the summit of Carnedd Dafydd.

I don't remember there being much exposure but a lot of fun scrambling. 

Finding the actual spur is my main concern really. Having looked at google earth of all things I am fairly confident on the route now as you can see a path - finding it in the snow is another thing! It looks fairly wide from what I can see so hopefully some route options.  Cheers for that 

Thats where I stole the route from, weirdly google earth is super clear and that helped a lot. Looking forward to it, thank you  

In summer finding it is fairly straightforward. You head up the wide scree slope to the right of the main cliffs, then traverse left along a broad ledge until you find some distinct quartz rocks. At that point just start heading up the ridge. In winter I don't remember having issues finding the start, although I had done it in summer before. Its never too difficult, feels very much grade 1 in summer and not too much harder in winter - so if its getting hard you've gone wrong! I may head up it tomorrow so perhaps you'll have some tracks!

As  noted in the previous post, large quartz rocks mark the start.

I did this on a dry summer day in 2020. It was an excellent afternoon excursion. My log reads:

"We drove to Bethesda and parked by the school. After leaving Gerlan (walked) along the splendid Afon Llafar valley. Reached Llech Ddu and followed the UKH routecard print-out to the start of the scramble (which was all Grade 1). We stuck to the ridge line throughout. From Dafydd summit we walked half-mile southwest then an unhurried descent on unpathed grass. Approx 7 miles with total ascent of 2,800 feet. Weather clear; calm in valley but breezy on the summit; very strong sun."

You can approach from the left of the main wall as well. There's a way up which starts at the far left edge of the wall.