A wild and woolly day in the Lakes to get my winter season up and running. Headed up onto the Eastern Fells to stretch the legs and give the winter navigation a shake down. Full white out on the tops with a strong South Westerly blowing but managed to tick four more Wainwrights and didn't see a soul all day.
The freezing level was around 500m as forecasted but there was full snow cover from the road. Despite the strong winds up top there was surprisingly little wind slab about although a few sloughs of loose snow had come down some steeper North East facing slopes. The unconsolidated snow was around 10cm deep but extensive drifting behind walls and in hollows made it slow going at times (<60cm). The turf was well frozen but there was very little ice about. We had some good views this morning with plenty of blue sky around but it didn't last.
