I die-ice the windscreen with whatever comes first from the glovebox, this time its a copy of 'Welsh Winter Climbs', the spine has an excellent edge and firmness and its body just the right mount of flexibility, I quickly realise how wrong this is and switch to the cars maintenance manual, thank you Volvo for this multifunctional tool. We head up to North Wales for the first decent sunny weekend in a while. Unfortunately there is no snow. Only a few contoured remnants from the pre Christmas flurries hang from the highest and coldest flanks of the Carneddau. Upon the Siabod ridges it's crisp and clear, stubborn ice is still impacted into crevices of North facing rocks. 
We have started up on mountain 'on time', by 'on time' I probably mean the wrong time as everybody else is setting off as well. This time of years is always good for bit of quietness. Even in winter, most of the main peaks in North Wales can be done in 5 hrs, so if you don't mind descending in bit of dark then you can still set off around midday. This gives you the opportunity of catching a sunset and the long winter shadows. As we head down, the sun disappears, and the cold follows us into the forest, a hoar frost slowly rises from the valley floor.
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