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Do you love the winter?

Ever noticed how snow is a bit of a  'marmite' thing?

Most kids love it, commuters hate it and hillgoers - well, they seem to be split down the middle...some pray for the return of spring and all things green and grassy whilst others will happily throw a sickie from work and put a couple of hundred quids worth of petrol onto the post Christmas overdraft just to go play in the white stuff!

Much of this season's snow (and there's been so much of it) has been fairly poor from a climbing and walking perspective, with a lot of slabby snow lying on top of weakly bonded layers, plus deep drifts which made walking all but impossible in some areas (Cairngorms) where skis or at least snow shoes were the order of the day. there was also a lot of skiing activity in the Lake district, notably around Helvellyn, and even some intrepid boarders carrying their gear into the hills for that back-country experience. The plus side so far is that we've had some absolutely fabulous weather to enjoy, and that there has always been somewhere 'in condition' - let's hope we get a bit more before the year is out (sorry commuters)!

This picture is from the memorial to the 19th Century hunter who fell from the ridge of Striding Edge, Helvellyn and you can see it was in the most fantastic winter conditions most folks can remember! A wonderful day where we enjoyed both Swirral Edge (in descent) and Striding Edge, descending to our camp (yes, -12C :D) in the last light..

If you think you might like to give winter walking a go, then do it - you'll have some of your most memorable days ever! Just make sure that you have good navigation skills, and a well practiced ice-axe arrest before you set off into the winter wonderland!

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