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I worked down by Dolgellau last week with a group from Birkenhead School who were training for their Gold DofE. The weather was a bit damp (and cold at times) but we managed to stay mostly dry apart from some wet feet due to poor footwear. The two days I was out with the group were quite long days out with about 15-20kms covered each day. The students were very able and didn't complain at all. The above is a shot of the group on day two with the Rhinogau in the background.

It was hard to believe that there were so few people at Tremadog today. The weather was even better than yesterday with a slight breeze to take the edge off the strong sun. We decided to go for Great Western (VS 4b,4b,4c,-,4b) today and found it to be excellent, although I have done it before many, many years ago, so long ago, in fact, that I couldn't remember any of the route. The whole route has excellent gear just when you need it as we found the 4b pitches just as hard as the 4c pitch. All in all a brilliant day. The photo is of Andy on the second pitch. Follow the link for more photos.

The weather is absolutely beautiful at the moment so we couldn't resist a trip up the Llanberis Pass for a quick route. We decided on Brant and had a great time with a steady but warm wind blowing it didn't feel like mid March at all and the views were stunning. I was glad that we managed to get out during the week as I think the weekend will be busy if this weather carried on like it is. The photo is of Andy on the first pitch of Brant this morning. Here's a link to more photos of Brant.

Had a quick walk up Snowdon with Barti Ddu (my dog!) this morning and was surprised as to how much snow and ice there was around. Even though the temperature was a couple of degrees above freezing on the summit there was a substantial amount of snow around with a base of hard ice. The wind was fresh from the south with the damp mist down to about 600m. On my way down this morning I passed quite a lot of people on their way up (I presume) to the summit I was surprised as to how ill equipped some people were considering the conditions. I passed one party in trainers and jeans and had a chat with them when they asked me what it was like on the top. I just hope they heeded my warning and advice and only went as far as Clogwyn Station as this was were the snow started. Some people just seem to have a death wish and have no compulsion to prepare for the mountains by checking the mountain weather reports and ensuring they are properly equipped and know how to use that equipment. OK, I...

We had a constructive day looking at and practicing short roping techniques up in Cwm Idwal today. We worked our way up the right hand side of the Idwal Slabs up to Seniors Ridge and then down to the normal descent off the Slabs. We then went up the descent and over the top of the Slabs through some fantastic rock scenery back to the start point. The weather was changeable to say the least with strong winds, hail, snow and a little bit of sun thrown in for good measure with freezing level hovering around 500 - 600m. The above photo is of Geordie, Simon, Will and Alun at the start of the scramble in Cwm Idwal.

It was such a nice start to the day with blue skies and hardly any wind. The team decided that they wanted to look at Improvised Rescue and a bit of Multi Pitch Climbing. It was hard to believe that the forecast was for rain and wind by mid afternoon but we decided to go down to Tremadog in order to get some shelter in the trees. It started out dry and settled but, sure enough, by 11 o'clock the rain, wind and mist descended upon us and the remainder of the day was cold and damp but not as wet as I had anticipated. We did what we could and everyone seemed to be happy with the day. Mountain day tomorrow!