Jump to content

Recommended Posts

TUESDAY 23 OCTOBER 2012

 

The Met Office is calling for the freezing level to drop to 600 m in the Brecon Beacons National Park and 500 m in Snowdonia National Park this Friday with the possibility for the first snow of the winter falling on the highest peaks.

 

BRECON BEACONS NATIONAL PARK

 

Friday

 

Perhaps cloudy with a little rain at first but once this clears southwards it should be a much brighter, clearer, colder day than of late with plenty of sunshine developing. One or two showers are possible and, with the freezing level around 600m, these would be wintry on the hills if they occur. Fresh easterly winds will make it feel cold.

 

 

Saturday

 

Another bright day with sunny spells and perhaps the odd wintry shower. Still cold, and feeling especially so in fresh to strong northeasterly winds. Freezing level falling to about 200m.

 

http://www.metoffice...t_pressure.html

 

 

 

SNOWDONIA NATIONAL PARK

 

Friday

 

A much brighter, clearer, colder day than of late with plenty of sunshine developing. One or two showers are possible and, with the freezing level around 600 m, these would be wintry on the hills if they occur. Fresh easterly winds will make it feel cold.

 

 

Saturday

 

Another bright day with sunny spells and perhaps the odd wintry shower. Still cold, and feeling especially so in fresh to strong northeasterly winds. Freezing level falling to about 200 m.

 

http://www.metoffice...t_pressure.html

 

 

Took a trip to Snowdonia in September and with snow there are some easily accessed lines straight from the summit and from the path running beside the train line.

 

MikePow_1408.jpg

 

 

 

MikePow_1409.jpg

 

 

 

The previous three winters saw the first snow and turns on the peaks of the Brecon Beacons National Park in November (the 27th & 30th in 2009; the 8th and 27th in 2010) and December (5th and 16th in 2011).

 

Fingers crossed that this winter the first snow falls this week with turns possible in late October / early November.

 

TR: Wales 2009/10 - Between A Rock and a Hard Place

http://www.snowjapan...__fromsearch__1

 

TR: Cymru 10/11 - Eto, os gwelwch yn dda! (Wales 10/11 - Again, if you please!)

http://www.snowjapan...html#Post383386

 

SR : Wales 2011/12

http://www.snowjapan...-wales-2011-12/

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • Replies 90
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Posts

mate, great pics but truly sketchy conditions - you are a brave lad

WEDNESDAY 15 MAY 2013     I returned home to Wales a month ago hoping for April turns but the snow which fell at the start of the month had unfortunately long since disappeared.   With Scotland s

Went for a bit of a drive up Uonuma Skyline this afternoon, hardly any up there. Will post some pics.   In another thread, sorry Mike!

Nice one Mike, hope you can get out before getting over here to Japan.

 

Thanks.

Going to be a short one for me in Wales. I head to Hokkaido on 14 November, so this chance of early snow is great.

Back in Wales mid-April so late season turns aren't out of the question smile3.gif

Link to post
Share on other sites

SUNDAY 28 OCTOBER 2012

 

Nixed this weekend.

 

The below freezing temperatures and frost showed up but the precipitation was late to the party.

 

Glorious sunshine and high pressure on Friday and Saturday but no snow.

 

Wetter today but the thermometer has climbed to around 8 C

 

Another cold front sweeping through towards the end of next week.

 

Here's hoping.

Link to post
Share on other sites

THURSDAY 01 NOVEMBER 2012

 

Yr eira gyntaf - the first snow - fell on Cadair Idris in North Wales today.

 

https://pbs.twimg.co...AO_wW.jpg:large

 

 

The highest peaks of the Brecon Beacons were cloaked in cloud for most of the day and hard to tell from the live web cam images if any has fallen, but it looks a little white up top.

 

Brecon Beacons National Park Webcam

http://www.breconbea...ges/livewebcams

 

 

Snow showers forecast overnight and heading up early tomorrow morning to have a look.

Link to post
Share on other sites

FRIDAY 02 NOVEMBER 2012

 

Well the first snow of the winter - yr eira gyntaf (in Welsh) - did indeed fall on the highest peaks in the Brecon Beacons National Park yesterday.

 

Derek Cummings pic

https://twitter.com/derrylynne/status/264030813484617728/photo/1/large

 

 

Headed over this morning to see if there was enough to make the first turns of the winter.

 

Unfortunately not.

 

Overnight rain had eaten into what had fallen and the snowline had crept back up to aound 700 m.

 

So spent the morning driving around the park seeing where the snow had fallen.

 

Cefn Crew

 

MikePow_1410.jpg

 

 

 

Cribyn and the NE Face of Pen-y-Fan

 

MikePow_1411.jpg

 

 

 

Corn Du and Pen-y-Fan from Upper Neuadd Reservoir

 

MikePow_1412.jpg

 

 

 

I went back over in the afternoon for a walk to the top of Pen-y-Fan and some late afternoon pictures. Glad I did.

 

Upper Neuadd Reservoir from Pen-y-Fan

 

MikePow_1413.jpg

 

 

 

NE Face of Pen-y-Fan

(going to need just a little more snow)

 

MikePow_1414.jpg

 

 

 

The Pen-y-Fan slope down to Llyn Cwm Llwch with Corn Du in the background

 

MikePow_1415.jpg

 

 

 

The Pen-y-Fan slope down to Llyn Cwm Llwch

 

MikePow_1416.jpg

 

 

 

Corn Du from Pen-y-Fan

 

MikePow_1417.jpg

 

 

 

MikePow_1418.jpg

 

 

 

There's snow forecast tonight and tommorow.

 

Who knows?

Link to post
Share on other sites

SATURDAY 03 NOVEMBER 2012

 

Cold, dry, and sunny in Aberdare mid-morning when I received a text from my friend Martha Makin.

 

She was on her way to Brecon and took a quick snap on her phone from the back of the car as she sped by

 

Cefn Crew in sunshine and the new snow that had fallen in the past 24 hrs

 

MikePow_1419.jpg

 

 

 

I hadn't expected that much snow to have fallen overnight, so I wolfed down the remainder of my breakfast and I was off.

 

 

OPENING DAY IN THE CENTRAL BEACONS MASSIF 2012/13

 

Very busy in the toilets car park, with crowds of people coming back off the mountain and many more just starting up.

 

The snowline was halfway down Cefn Crew with between 5-10 cm of new snow falling since sunset the previous day.

 

From whence I came - the view down to the car park and the flank of Fan Fawr

 

MikePow_1420.jpg

 

 

 

Looking up the path to the snowladen slope below Corn Du

 

MikePow_1421.jpg

 

 

Cefn Crew panorama

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the time I got to the saddle between Corn Du and Pen-y-Fan the sunshine had disappeared and a storm was imminent.

 

Cwm Llwch (Powder Valley) panorama with the slopes of Corn Du on the left and Pen-y-Fan on the right

 

MikePow_1422.jpg

 

 

 

Corn Du panorama - what a difference a day makes

 

Friday 02 November 2012

 

MikePow_1418.jpg

 

 

 

Saturday 03 November 2012

 

MikePow_1423.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 'snowpack' that had stuck around in Cwm Sere (the valley between Pen-y-Fan and Cribyn) had doubled from the new snowfall and significant wind transportation.

 

With consolidation this evening and additional snowfall overnight it could be good to go.

 

The NE Face of Pen-y-Fan and Cribyn from the summit of Pen-y-Fan

 

MikePow_1424.jpg

 

 

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

I walked down the notch off Pen-y-Fan onto the slopes of Cwm Llwch and clicked in for the first turns of the season.

 

Snow this early in the Beacons is not unprecedented and my Aunty Val, a retired schoolteacher in the area, often recites the tales of taking her class for a walk on the last day of school before the October half-term holidays and seeing snow on the peaks of Fan Fawr and Pen-y-Fan.

 

But this was the earliest I've made turns in the Brecon Beacons National Park, by almost a month.

 

Cwm Llwch panorama

 

 

 

 

First turns of the 2012/13 season

 

The snow / tufted grass hybrid was suprisingly accommodating and slick

 

 

 

 

The hike back up to the summit plateau of Pen-y-Fan was brutal with driving snow and high winds.

 

Homeward bound but not before a run below Corn Du (the slope on the left of this pic) and to finish off a great afternoon I hiked up to the cefn Crew ridgeline and dropped in for my third run (the slope on the right).

 

MikePow_1425.jpg

 

 

Corn Du about to get engulfed by the latest storm rolling through

 

MikePow_1426.jpg

 

 

 

Great to be making turns again.

 

It was about a 20 minute walk out from where the snow finished and by the time I got back to the car park I was famished.

 

Thankfully the Pit Stops mobile food wagon was still firing on all cylinders.

 

A steak roll with fried mushrooms and onions and a cup of coffee went down without touching the sides.

 

And all for under 5 quid. Highly recommended.

 

Pit Stops mobile food wagon

 

MikePow_1427.jpg

 

 

 

MikePow_1428.jpg

 

 

 

MikePow_1429.jpg

 

 

 

As I left the car park the sleet was turning to snow.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Great pics Mike. I am intreaged - Just how do you phoneticaly pronounce "Cwm Llwch'...................apart from Powder valley

 

Thanks.

 

Tough, no real matching sounds in English.

 

Closest would be

 

'some' said in a Birmingham accent, and 'look' with a mouthful of saliva

Link to post
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...