L U G N A Q U I L L A F E B 2005

Winter Climbing in Wicklow

On Saturday the 26th of February Mick and I headed down to Lugnaquilla in search of some winter climbing. The week had been cold, with occasional falls of snow in Dublin. We were hoping that some of the snow and ice routes on Lugnaquilla might be in condition.

Having left Dublin at 06:00 we made good time to Fenton's pub in the Glen of Imal. We left the car by 07:20 and started up the spur of Lug that runs along the south of the Glen. The plan was to hike about half way up the mountain anmd then contour into the North Prison. This area is more sheltered and steep so it would probably be the best place for climbeable ice.

Number of images: 18
Created on: Wednesday 02 March 2005

Photos by SK and Mick Cunney. Canon Powershot A80

Mick feeling the early start	The Glen of Imal
There was a little snow down to the car park, but more as we went up the mountain. Initially it only was about ankle deep though. We could see a one other small party ahead of us. Otherwise we had the mountain to ourselves
Mick walking up Lug. The north prison is on the left.	Our destination, the north prison
The weather was fine for the day. Broken cloud kept the sun from us, but the cold wind was relatively light. Having made good progress on the ridge we found the going much tougher when we turned into the South Prison. Large amounts of powder snow had accumulated there after being blown from higher on the mountain. Mostly it was calf deep, but hidden in the uneven ground were drifts that could be up to waist deep.
Mick (on the left) struggling through rough ground	Deer herd in the snow
Snow Plodding	Mick on the slopes
We found the going quite heavy and it was quite tiring. It took about 2.5 hours to make it to the base of the climbs. Unfortunately the weather had not been cold enough during the week. There was little ice and the snow, while plentiful, had not consolidated. If it wasn't for all the rocks the loose powder would have been great for snow boarding. A friend of Mick's had even been out boarding during the week in Wicklow!
SK looking for ice.	Mick on ice
Mick is on the one piece of ice we found that day. It was a little under 2m high. Hardly worth the physical 3 hour trek in to it :-)
Mick in a snow gulley	Lugnaquilla summit with warning sign, cairn and trig pillar.
Snow climbing in the gullies was not possible either. The loose snow was waist deep and it was very difficult to make any progress uphill in it. We opted to climb the grassy sides instead.
Firing range warning sign, covered in frost	SK on top of a frozen Lugnaquilla
The wind had blown all the snow from the summit plateau of Lug, but there were beautiful delicate 10cm filaments of frost covering everything.
Happy dog	Djouce and Turlough Hill
We met a few other hikers that had come up the more normal route. The owners of this dog were driven demented by her when she twice ran back to the summit as soon as they took her off the lead. The clouds parted a few times to give us great views of Wicklow.
The path back into the Glen of Imal	Mick on bivvy bag home (with dog)

With all the snow about we had a perfect opportunity to do a bivvy run down the mountain (you use a large heavy duty plastic "bivvy" bag to slide down the snow). Although I had to relearn that it is much easier to do if you go on your chest, and Mick got chased by a dog!

Altogether it took us 4.5 hours to get to the summit. About 2 hours more than it would have taken if we just walked up the "voie normale". But while we didn't get any climbing we did have a pretty good day out. As Mick put it, it blew away "the cobwebs of mediocrity". If we were doing the same thing again we would go direct to the summit and then descend from there to the North or South Prison as needed. It was hard work getting in to the base of the routes, and it would have been faster and less difficult to make the approach from above. Still, it has to have been one of the best days I had in Wickow for some time.