Posted in family, fell running, gulley scramble, outdoor climbing, sailing, treking, tagged animals, climb, climbing, fell, walk, wildlife on March 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »
OK from the headings below you can pretty much see where this is going. I’m trying to put together a guide of what you should do when you’re out enjoying the moors and you come across the various animals who make it their home, for their safety and yours. Please feel free to help me build this resource in the comments section.
Posted in snowdon in the snow 2011, treking, tagged snow, Snowdon, Wales, walk, winter on March 21, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Only a handful of people at Marsden on a drizzly grey morning and most of them new faces to this event which was great. No snow on the roads this year saw an easy journey, stopping at the usual spot on the A55 for breakfast where we also met Hawksey. I was pleased to see several groups of people already waiting for us at Electric Mountain carpark but not so happy about the rain. Still, it was forecast to brighten up and the forecast wouldn’t let us down, would it?
39 people in all (one – the mysterious cagoule man) turned up. After a quick talk indicating some of the danger areas and pointing out the guides, helpers and first aid kit carriers we were off, a huge line of us snaking through Llanberis.
We paused briefly at Pennceunant Isaf to warn Stephan that there were actually twice as many people than I had told there would be when I rang him the previous day and that we would be calling in for tea and bara brith on our way down.
I must admit at this point to being a little more worried than usual about looking after such a large group. This year, in order to prevent the group spreading across the mountain too much, I decided to lead from the front. With the ever dependable Richard Statham at the back and the expertise and experience of Jeff, Mac, Stephen Fraser, Jude, Judy, Woody and others in the middle knew it was covered.
One of those waterproofs on, waterproofs off days left us quite well spread by the time we reached the half way point but conditions were fair and everyone was having a good time.
half way
People were happy to drift off up to Clogwyn Station at their leisure where I arrived later to find them all waiting. 
Conditions ahead were foggy but fine and with no snow on the ground the path was unmissable. I didn’t get to do the usual stop at Cloggy and lead straight through and up to the summit. Before nipping back down and brining up the rear with Richard and Mac.
Though there was no snow on the ground this year, almost as if to qualify the name of the trip it did snow during the time were on the summit. Then, on the descent the fog lifted and we were treated to 20 minutes of scenery before it fell again. All too soon I was back at the bottom and after making sure the rest of the group were safely down retreated to Pete’s Eats for a hearty fill.
It was a great year for many people who had decided to conquer their fears and give this sort of thing a try for the first time. I’m proud and honoured to have spent the day with so many wonderful people.
Lots of photos and stories of the day by other people who came can be found by following the links below.
Barnsley Kilimanjaro Charity Trek 2011 account
Snowdon in the Snow meets Spencer’s vertigo
Up Snowdon and Up my vertigo – Spencer Wilson
Posted in snowdon in the snow 2011, treking, tagged snow, Snowdon, Wales, walk, winter on February 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Started to keep my eye on the weather. Bloody awful from now until Friday – wet, windy and claggy. Getting better on Saturday clouds lifting and getting cooler with excellent visibility. Fingers crossed for Sunday.
Posted in treking, tagged monday night, pule, snow, walk, winter on December 7, 2010| Leave a Comment »
It was probably about -8 when Diver-Driver, Dr Ali and I set off up Pule Hill at 8pm on a frosty Monday night. The air was crystal clear and there was still lots of snow on the ground from the week before. I don’t think we’d got off the track that leads up to Intake Head Farm before Diver-Driver’s appreciation of mine and Dr Ali’s comedic and intensely funny Scottish accents wore off. By the time we arrived at the air shaft Diver Driver was walking off into the darkness by himself and threatening an early bath. Gritting his teeth he stuck with it and was still there to provide a flask of fortifying brandy on the summit of Pule. This along with Dr Ali’s hip flask of whiskey warmed the cockles and raised the spirits as expected.
Under shooting stars we set off down towards Worlow Quarry then followed ‘the bumps’ down to Hades Farm where we paused again to take on more fortification and admire the stars. We were back down to the village and in the pub by 10 where we were greeted by several chaps drinking whilst huddled round the only source of heat in the place – a small fan heater perched on the bar. Happy days. 🙂
Awaiting photos from Dr Ali.
Posted in outdoor climbing, treking, tagged cairngorm, scotland on June 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Ooops! thought I’d done this in June. Oh well here’s a video and some photos, I’ll get round to a brief write up soon(ish).
Posted in cuillin, outdoor climbing, treking, tagged climbing, cuillin, scramble on April 21, 2010| 1 Comment »
A couple of videos I found that give a good idea of the ridge.
Some good footage of the whole route in this
Stick with this there’s a great footage from the TD Gap and some of the climbs
The Cuillin Ridge – Tips for success by Mike Lates
I think this is the one that Dr Ali emailed around.
Posted in snowdon in the snow 2010, treking, tagged snow, Snowdon, Wales, walk, winter on February 20, 2010| Leave a Comment »
The weather forcast for tomorrow from http://mwis.org.uk And it couldn’t really be much better.
Posted in snowdon in the snow 2010, treking, tagged snow, Snowdon, Wales, walk, winter on February 20, 2010| 1 Comment »
Penceunant Isaf
I spoke to Steffan at Pennceunant Isaf this morning who has extended his usual, fine hospitality (hot drinks, warming up our food, bara brith etc) to us for tomorrow’s walk. Pennceunant Isaf is a beautiful tea rooms and art gallery at the foot of the mountain path (Llanberis Path) on Yr Wyddfa (Mount Snowdon).
Every year Steffan allows us to park a few cars up there. This means that the people who would prefer not to do the walk up the steep road which leads up to Pennceunant Isaf can start the walk from there instead – though I am trying to discourage it this year as the group is so big. Steffan also provided me with a report on the conditions and the weather. SNOW! lots of it. Eveywhere. It’s even snowing now and he has warned me that we may not be able to get cars up the road anyway.
On the picture below you can clearly see the route we will be taking. Where the path disapears at the top of the mountain is not the destination. At that point (Clogwyn Station) we turn sharp right and traverse the west face of Garnedd Ugain (centre of the picture). The sharp turn at Clogwyn Station is a danger spot in bad visibility as failing to turn here will take you over the cliffs of Cwm Hetiau – Valley of the Hats (So called because the wind at this point would blow the hats off the heads of the Victorian ladies and gentlemen riding the train, into the valley below where they wold be found and used by the locals) . If visibility is bad I would urge anybody who is not familiar with the route not to proceede past this point without help. From there it’s just a quick hop, skip and a jump to the summit 🙂 See you there!
Penceunant Isaf and the Llanberis Path
Posted in snowdon in the snow 2010, treking, tagged snow, Snowdon, Wales, walk, winter on February 19, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Moel Eilio from Elidir Fach
Snowdon Summit from Elidir Fach
Electric Mountain weather Station, tea garden, Llyn Padarn and Vivian quarry
Posted in snowdon in the snow 2010, treking, tagged snow, Snowdon, Wales, walk, winter on February 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »
As much as you can trust long range weather forecasts it’s looking bright and sunny with the risk of the occaisional snow shower – about as perfect as it gets.
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