Descents covered in ice sound like fun

mmm I take it you’ve not ridden on ice very often then? You can’t brake, you can’t steer, you can’t put any power through the rear wheel and you can’t shift about on the bike. Well you can but you’ll off. The landing is very hard, you will slide along the ground at speed and stones sticking up through the ice will go through your clothes and rip your skin.

But hey if you think that fun then crack on.

top tip: If you don’t like thread then don’t open it, there’s no need to start a thread complaining about a thread.

Sometimes, when someone asks a question, it’s the answers that are informative. But sometimes, the question itself tells you more

Love it 🙂

The OP clearly has no idea what conditions are likely to be like in the mountains, and is unwilling to listen to advice from others.

From the Met Office website:

The Lakeland Fells are in full winter condition with snow and ice at all levels. Recent heavy snowfalls driven by strong easterly winds have resulted in widespread drifting. There are occasional drifts of snow over 1m deep as low as 300m and this depth is common above 600m The depth of coverage at all levels does vary depending on the amount of wind scouring and drifting, but deep drifts can be encountered in all areas regardless of aspect. As an example – the Helvellyn summit plateau has patches of bare ground alongside drifts of over 1m. Some popular paths have become compacted with use, but anyone heading onto the fells should be prepared for some laborious plodding through deep snow. These conditions will will alter little throughout the Easter holidays, other than paths becoming more compacted and icy. Above 800m the fresh snow is lying on large areas of compacted older snow and ice and there are likely to be unstable layers within the snowpack. Although some steep snow slopes have consolidated, a careful assessment should be made of the stability of the snow on any steep ground. Swirral and Striding Edges on Helvellyn are covered with deep drifts of soft snow and windslab mixed with patches of more compacted snow and ice, especially on their steep exit ramps. The edges, and similar routes in the Lakes should therefore only be attempted by those experienced and equipped for such conditions. Full winter clothing and equipment are essential for anyone venturing out onto the fells. For those going onto steep or technical ground an ice axe and crampons are also essential. Excellent navigational skills are required as the depth of snow hides many landmarks and paths. Temperature: minus 5.6 deg C. Maximum wind speed 31.6mph. Wind chill: minus 16.9 deg C. Average wind speed: E 26.6mph.

Sounds like good conditions if winter mountaineering is your thing.
Attempting to do any high level trails on a bike would be a pointless exercise.
I don’t see the point of trying to get a ride in just for the sake of it. I’ll be leaving the bike at home this weekend and plan to do a couple of decent walks instead. 😉

At about 1,500 ft today – few inches snow

1,000 ft lower down (just 5 mins from home) – unrideable 3ft drifts

It’s hard to predict, so people ask.

The N facing descent from the summit was ace – wind hardened, smooth and grippy (apart from the 3ft deep soft bit where I face planted 😳 )

Descents covered in ice sound like fun

mmm I take it you’ve not ridden on ice very often then? You can’t brake, you can’t steer, you can’t put any power through the rear wheel and you can’t shift about on the bike. Well you can but you’ll off. The landing is very hard, you will slide along the ground at speed and stones sticking up through the ice will go through your clothes and rip your skin.

Don’t forget not being to fall-off properly. No tuck and roll on ice. My face[plant] and this morning’s misadventure is testament to that!

Gary_M – Member

mmm I take it you’ve not ridden on ice very often then? You can’t brake, you can’t steer, you can’t put any power through the rear wheel and you can’t shift about on the bike.

I ride on ice quite a lot, and I cna break, steer, pedal and shift around. But then I cheat 😉 taktaktaktaktaktaktak

IMG_1726 by Northwindlowlander, on Flickr

Hi all, I had planned to be up at Glentress on Tuesday. Would appreciate it if anyone with local knowledge could let me know what the current trail conditions are? And I don’t have the superior ice riding skills of some of our resident experts. Any local info would be much appreciated, cheers

I think I will be down on sunday or monday. Glentress is always a weird one because it gets ridden so much, so sometimes you end up with a compressed glacier of snow and ice even after all the ground around is thawed, but equally sometimes you get a perfect path through otherwise deep snow. It was beautiful riding up as high as the buzzards’ nest last week then very quickly went to hell above that.

Trails at Afan today were running well (NO SNOW) and the trails at home (Swinley etc) are running well aside for the regularly drained bits. Surrey hills should be drying well too. Little if any snow in evidence anywhere that I have seen so clearly SNOW IS NOT EVERYWHERE unless you live in the frozen north.

Interested to see the Malverns recommended as somewhere to ride by the OP. Malverns are completely cack at the moment IMHO – not enough snow to ski, but plenty enough (and lots of ice) to make riding not very much fun and unicycling nigh on impossible.

Cheers Northwind, weather forecast suggests it’s going to warm up slightly so fingers crossed

Peaks are as mixed as you like – anything between walls will be drifted (was riding at wall top height this morning!).
Where it’s melting it’s very soft.
Still a hoot, just more ride, push, carry, ride, push, carry – repeat as necessary.

Any particular good peak routes at mo? Ps. I hate a shit snowy descent after pushing up