Splatcher, that was exactly my experience last year. When everything is covered with snow, the nav is not obvious in the dark on the moor above Askham where the fell ponies roam. It's never been obvious so far because it's always been plastered with snow.
Sticks pass last year was a white-out pathless challenge - almost a compass bearing job.
Could it be snow-free this year? Bet you it will be. I haven't bothered to enter (yet?) but I have magical memories of surviving the frozen years - minus ten in 2010 even without the wind chill. With the wind chill above Grisedale Tarn it was becoming a survival job. Without decent kit an' all that..... I jest not.