Mike Pow 52 Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 Cheers guys Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 FRIDAY 16 DECEMBER 2011 Many didn't get the snow forecast by Derek, but as I drove up the A470 from Cardiff the new snowfall started getting deeper and deeper. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/walesnature/2011/12/snow_disappointing.html Welcome to the Brecon Beacons There was a good 5cm settled in the Toilets car park. More had come down overnight as evidenced by the laden conifers lining the car park, and the slopes of Cefn Crew looked to have a good coverage. Toilets car park with the slopes of Cefn Crew in the background Met up with Chris from the Goneboarding forum who had joined me for bithday turns (mine, not his) and first turns of the Winter in the Beacons last November. Your adventure starts here Chris And so does mine Chris on the bridge at the start of the trail. The slopes of Cefn Crew behind him. That's the best the weather would be all day. Yours truly ready to make the first turns of the season. Happy Days. How cold and windy was it Chris? Me back at the bridge The visibility was poor to very poor but the snow was very good. Powder and wind buffeted packed powder right back to the bridge. And it was snowing as we got back to the car park. Fabulous to be making turns again in the Brecon Beacons National Park. Link to post Share on other sites
Neil Tilley 0 Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 nice photos, great to see the welsh hills in their winter coat Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 Cheers FRIDAY 16 DECEMBER 2011 continued Chris headed back home, and I took a drive around to Brecon to see if I could see how much snow had fallen in Cwm Llwch (the bowl between Pen-y-Fan and Corn Du). I couldn't. Pulled in to the Storey Arms car park for a cuppa and saw Colette Hume of BBC Wales News interviewing Alwyn (skier) and Scott (boarder). http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16215181 Scott and Alwyn then proceeded to make a little jump to jib off for the millions watching at home And Alwyn also made Page 7 of The Sun http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4004725/Britain-on-white-alert-as-big-freeze-follows-snow.html Scott shaping Alwyn spinning and crossing on the lower slope of Fan Fawr. Storey Arms car park in the near distance and the Cefn Crew ridgeline in the far distance The session completed and a great end to Alwyn's first day skiing in the Brecon Beacons. Considering the size of the kicker (tiny) the air and rotation Alwyn got was mightily impressive. Link to post Share on other sites
rider69 18 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Serious lack of snow awesome stoke pics! Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 Thanks rider69 SATURDAY 17 DECEMBER 2011 Groundhog Day in the Brecon Beacons. Snowing and blowing and very little visibility. Got to the summit of Pen-y-Fan today and then walked back down to the saddle between Pen-y-Fan and Corn Du and waited for an hour hoping for the mist to lift and the sun to shine through. Not today unfortunately. But whilst I was waiting I did see this guy and his dogs loving their walk in the snow. Skied back to the bridge on powder and packed powder from 5cm to 25cm deep and met up with AndAnotherThing from the Snowheads forum. Hiked back up for another run. It was blowing and snowing hence the one pic prior to skiing. AndAnotherThing getting ready to make his first turns in the Brecon Beacons And run completed the more difficult task for AndAnotherThing of getting the skis back in the car A quick cup of coffee at The Storey Arms van watching a snowboarder using a kite take far too many face plant slams, and then AndAnotherThing was on the road back to Shropshire. Another great day in the Brecon Beacons skiing and hanging out with like minded skiers. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Fab stuff. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 Thanks Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 SUNDAY 18 DECEMBER 2011 Nerys dropped me off at the Toilets car park just before 10 am to meet up with Alwyn from Friday's turns and Hayduke from the TGR forum who'd driven over from Bristol. Hayduke was attempting the enviable (and possibly ground breaking) feat of skiing in the am and surfing in the pm in Wales. Quite a lot of walkers already on the path at that time, and some already up & down and back in the car park. The prognosis? Blowing and snowing and zero visibility. ArseCaptain and friends from the Snowheads forum were in attendance and skiing the Cefn Crew side. Ever the optimist I was hoping that the clouds would part, the wind would drop, and we could see how much snow had fallen and been blown in to Cwm Llwch and Cwm Sere. The steeper faces in the Beacons were getting pounded and loaded. Alwyn and Hayduke on the way up to Bwlch Duwynt, Fan Fawr in the distance There was considerably more snow on the ground than yesterday, with from 5cm to 40cm in parts. And on the way up we bumped into Topsmoke from the Snowheads forum. The higher we got the worse the visibility and the stronger the wind, gusting to gale force at times and nearly knocking you off your feet. The crest of Bwlch Duwynt had been blown bare revealing red sandstone and ice, and the path leading round underneath Corn Du towards Pen-y-Fan had drifts up to 1.5 m in parts. After postholing up to our knees for what seemed like hundreds of metres but was actually about 75m we decided to turn around and spend our time on the Cefn Crew slopes from whence we came. I've been out in some pretty wild weather in the mountains of North America, South America, Europe and Asia and for those minutes spent making our decision to turn around and get in to our skis it was as bad as I've ever experienced. The wind was howling and the spindrift and falling snow was covering us completely in seconds. I was lucky to get these two pics before the camera was caked in fine, fine snow. Alwyn and Hayduke sheltering from the blizzard below Corn Du We skied and shuffled back round to Cefn Crew and made our first run back to the bridge. It was less windy on this side, but the vsibility was no better really. Hayduke ready to make his first turns in the Brecon Beacons Alwyn ready to make his first turns in Cefn Crew First run completed we hiked back up for another. And by the time we got to the bottom the sun made a very brief appearance. Both runs were great, despite the lack of visibility with powder and packed powder top to bottom. Not a rock was touched! Alwyn and Hayduke on the slope below Cefn Crew Alwyn and Hayduke on the slope below Cefn Crew with Fan Fawr in the background So nixed once again on the bigger prizes of Corn Du, Pen-y-Fan, Cribyn, and Fan-y-Big but an excellent day out in the mountains. And at times today, The Brecon Beacons were most definitely mountains. Always great to have company and Alwyn & Hayduke were great company. Cheers guys. On his way to go surfing, Hayduke dropped me off at The Nant Ddu Lodge on the A470 between the Beacons and Merthyr, and Nerys met me for Sunday lunch. http://www.nant-ddu-lodge.co.uk/ For the gentleman, chargrilled pork loin, brandy & peppercorn sauce, red onions, chips and the best crackling I've had in ages. And for the lady, a panache of fish - roast monkfish, salmon, prawns and scallop - with lemon & garlic butter and new potatoes. Both superb. Especially after a morning on the mountain. If you're in the area lunch and/or dinner is a must. And it would make an excellent base for a couple of days stay. Whilst I was waiting for Nerys to come over for lunch I read this story on the BBC Wales web site. Rotten luck. http://www.bbc.co.uk...-wales-16235480 Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 MONDAY 19 DECEMBER 2011 After a day of rain in Cardiff I drove up to the Storey Arms to see where the freezing level was and how much damage a day of rain had done to the snowpack. It had rained until 4pm and rained hard. And washed away a significant amount of snow on the Cefn Crew side. The cloud line was around 600m so it was anyone's guess whether it had rained or snowed up high. TUESDAY 20 DECEMBER 2011 Ever the optimist I set off before daybreak to see what was left up high. After a damp and miserable solo stroll to the summit of Pen-y-Fan I saw...next to nothing. Looked like a fair bit of snow left on the NE Face, but not enough and not enough visibility to warrant dropping in. I turned tail, and clicked in on the remaining snow on the Cefn Crew side. The path compacted by hundreds of walkers had spring piste like qualities and ran from Bwlch Duwynt 2/3 of the way back to the bridge. 3...2...1...dropping What was left downslope on Cefn Crew The White Ribbon of Death above me The White Ribbon of Death below me The piste bashers can be put away for another year The clouds cleared on my way back to Cardiff and my decision not to attempt the NE Face of Pen-y-Fan was justified. Cribyn and Pen-y-Fan from the A40 So just four days skiing the Brecon Beacons National Park in 2011. But four days I will remember for the turns made with friends old and new. Here's hoping that 2012 brings some serious snowfall to S Wales and Chris, AndAnotherThing, Alwyn and Hayduke can get to make turns on Corn Du, Pen-y-Fan, Cribyn and Fan y Big. Link to post Share on other sites
hellyer 216 Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Nice work Mike You guys are hardcore (or unsane) for getting out in those conditions. Respect. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Sugoi! Next stop, Niseko? Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted January 1, 2012 Author Share Posted January 1, 2012 Thanks snowjunky, and muikabochi I'm on Fantasy Island. Watch this space Link to post Share on other sites
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