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Posts Tagged Crib Goch

Back again

Jun 11

Posted by Haydn in Outdoors | No Comments

For various reasons too mundane to detail here, I found myself back in Snowdonia again a couple of weeks ago. Arriving at Pen-y-Pass at 18:00, I set off up Crib Goch with hopes of getting around the Snowdon horseshoe before meeting Jono and Gareth in the pub. Despite making good time, it became clear that the late start meant the horseshoe would be best saved for another day (especially since I once again couldn't bring myself to take the fast-but-boring paths instead of sticking to the most fun scrambling lines). Nevertheless, I was over the ridge, across Carnedd Ugain to Bwlch Glas and back to Pen-y-Pass within two hours.

Sunset over Anglesey. © Haydn Williams 2012

Sunset over Anglesey. © Haydn Williams 2012

Views from the top over Anglesey were glorious, and I only passed a few people on the entire loop. Shortly after getting back to the car I met the chaps, and we had a wild night involving class A substances, girls of dubious morals, and Haribo. One of the previous three things is true.

The Llanberis pass looking pretty glorious. © Haydn Williams 2012

The Llanberis pass looking pretty glorious. © Haydn Williams 2012

Waking on the Sunday, morning, I was feeling the effects of a late night, the run, and spending most of the Saturday (pre-Crib Goch) digging a new vegetable patch in the garden. I'll admit to retiring home via my parents' house without any more running!

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Weather: variable

May 13

Posted by Haydn in Outdoors | No Comments

More running last weekend, this time over Snowdonia's high point as part of a longer day on the Saturday. Greg and I started from Pen-y-Gwryd in glorious sunshine and ran over Moel Berfedd to Pen-y-Pass. From there it was over the Horns to Crib Goch (incidentally, the Horns are lovely!). We despatched Crib Goch with aplomb, passing most of the morning crowds on the approach and therefore getting the ridge itself mostly to ourselves. Warm in the sun, but cool in the breeze, the weather couldn't decide what it was doing all day. Continuing up Crib y Ddisgyl to Carnedd Ugain we could see the summit of Snowdon getting busy. A quick stop at the top and then down to Bwlch Cwm Llan, before climbing once more to Yr Aran. Nice to get some views (I was in cloud last time), before the long descent to the campsite.

Saturday's route in green (top-right to bottom-left) - I forgot my camera so there aren't any photos!

Saturday's route in green (top-right to bottom-left) - I forgot my camera so there aren't any photos!

Sunday saw us take up arms for round two of the battle with the Welsh countryside. It's fair to say that the countryside definitely took the upperhand to begin with. Parking at Aberglaslyn, we aimed for Yr Arddu on our way to Cnicht. Calling the terrain around Yr Arrdu a "godforsaken wasteland" is probably going a bit far, but it's definitely rubbish for running! We finally escaped the heather and made it up onto Cnicht. A great run down to Llyn yr Adar was followed by continuing undulation in a northwards direction for the rest of the day. The arrival of snow at Moel Merch, despite it being warm enough to run just in a vest, imbued us with a renewed sense of urgency, and it was with relief that I pulled up onto the last big summit of the day, Carnedd y Cribau. Another fast drop, this time to Pen-y-Pass, saw us once more waiting an inordinate amount of time for a Sherpa bus back to the car.

Snowdon Massif from Llyn yr Adar. The far skyline was our route the previous day. © Haydn Williams 2012

Snowdon Massif from Llyn yr Adar. The far skyline was our route the previous day. © Haydn Williams 2012

Brownie points were earned by giving a lift to an old lady who'd tried to walk a bit further than her aging legs could carry her; with a good deed for the day done, we headed home. I leave you with some quotes from Greg, arranged in order of how amusing I found them:

  1. (Running along Crib Goch): "Well if you fell from here, you'd really only graze your knees."
  2. (This might be my new mantra when trudging along knackered under inhospitable weather): "Still snowing, still going."
  3. (On approaching crags below Yr Arddu. Rudest comment of the weekend): "It's almost *too* nice to be Welsh."

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Welsh Winter

Dec 16

Posted by Haydn in Outdoors | 2 Comments

Friday saw another Snowdonia trip, in the company of Chris, Gareth and Luke. The plan was to find some snow given the excellent conditions over the last week. Things didn't start well, with torrential rain on the way through, but they certainly picked up over the course of the weekend.

Saturday morning found us having abandoned all ideas of snow, and setting off for a round of the Bochlwyd Horseshoe in the rain. The rain quickly turned to snow, and there also turned out to be a decent amount of snow higher up. Thus followed a snowy romp up the North Ridge of Tryfan, followed by Bristly Ridge, the Glyderau, and finally Y Garn. The descent down the East Ridge to Idwal was lovely and snowy, and a nice finish to the day.

Climbers high above Glaslyn on Left-Hand Trinity (II,*), Snowdon

Climbers high above Glaslyn on Left-Hand Trinity (II,*), Snowdon


On Sunday we decided to have a look at Trinity Face on Snowdon, and it turned into an excellent day. There was a reasonable amount of snow in the gullies, so the four of us went up Central Trinity (I/II, ***). This was my first proper graded snowy route, and it was very enjoyable. We topped out in glorious sunshine exceedingly close to the summit of Snowdon – a weird but very cool experience! Less cool was the way in which Grivel had assembled Chris' new crampons with a 'dissasemble when least expecting it' feature built in. On the way back down to the car we decided to keep it interesting and go over Crib y Ddysgyl and Crib Goch. Despite moving pretty slowly, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Team Mindsey head up Central Trinity (I/II,***), Clogwyn y Garnedd

Team Mindsey head up Central Trinity (I/II,***), Clogwyn y Garnedd


So in spite of having to live, as Chris so eloquently put it, on "the bare minimum" (including, but not limited to, pizza, brownies, ginger bread, spaghetti bolognese, scotch eggs, quiche (qwee-ch), bombay mix and flavoured water), we had an excellent weekend. Kudos to Luke for driving, to Chris for patiently waiting while I revelled in the joys of leading the second half of Central Trinity, and to Gareth for coordinating a truly stunning F1-style pitstop on the way home.

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