Visit Lake District

Cwm Idwal Winter Climbing Information Project

This pilot project aims to give winter climbers live up to date temperature readings directly from the cliffs of the Devils’ s Kitchen in Cwm Idwal, Snowdonia. This will help climbers judge for themselves if conditions are suitable for winter climbing. These cliffs are within a National Nature Reserve which is designated to protect the nationally rare and fragile vegetation that’s found there. Climbing on turf that is not fully frozen or in marginal conditions when there is only a thin cover of snow and ice could damage these rare plants, which in turn could lead to formal restrictions on climbing activities.

More information can be found in the North Wales White Guide and in this BMC article.

The graph gives four temperature readings – the current air temp and the temp of the turf at 5cm, 15cm and 30cm depths. Readings are taken at 5 minute intervals from a site in the Cwm that is at an altitude of 600 meters. Climbers will need to use their judgment on how to interpret the data, keeping in mind the basic principles of safe and sustainable winter climbing.

To verify the temperatures and compare the data to the actual climbing conditions please take the time to complete the feedback form here after visiting the cliffs.

This is a pilot partnership project between National Resources Wales and the BMC.