Snow.

In a moment of madness a month or so ago I entered 'Le Tour De Helvellyn - En Hiver' and have spent the rest of the time leading up to the event fretting over weather, kit and my fitness! In the end it wasn't to be, the weather beat me.

We were very lucky to arrive back home in Wigan Friday night during a blizzard, an hour later and we would have been stuck on the M6. There was no way I was going to try and head further North early Saturday. It turns out they had a successful event and I was a bit disappointed not to have been there.

So Saturday afternoon I went for a trot up Winter Hill, it was a bit of a struggle to just get there in the car the roads were so bad. I was glad I did though; I took the camera and shot a few pictures.

The cafe at the Lower Barn, where I was going to park, was closed. I took this from up near the other barn as I turned the car round.

On the way up to the Pike there were some lads snowboarding, something I have not seen before up there.

It was getting quite hazy near the top with the wind whipping up the dry snow.

There were still a few people out on the hill enjoying the snow, one bloke was wearing a pair of snowshoes the size of tennis rackets. On my way back down I was breaking the path down from the mast and almost broke my leg, the snow had drifted over a culvert which my right leg fell into banging my shin on the concrete cover over the stream. I dread to think what may have happened if I was moving that bit faster and it served to remind me about the importance of taking proper kit and a means of alerting people when you are in danger.