North Wales Meet Report 2002

Meanwhile, despite the terrible winds, Pete and John B found themselves making good progress up the Watkins Path to the summit of Snowdon. Clinging to the trig point to avoid being whisked away in a whirlwind, Pete pointed out that from here they could probably see his house 22 miles away - if it hadn't been so clagged in! They went back to the car park via the South Ridge, which was made all the more interesting by the strong winds, and found somewhere reasonably sheltered on the way down to have lunch.

The third party decided to tackle Snowdon from the Y Lliwedd Ridge, starting from Pen-y-pass. Lucy, Roger, Juliet, David, Vanessa and Wendy set off determined to stand on at least one summit over the weekend. Once on the ridge however, the high winds blew everybody back four paces for every two they took, and deciding not to follow Edmund's hat, they reluctantly decided to beat another hasty retreat to the nearest pub.

On Sunday, gloomier weather, sprained ankles and wet clothing dampened enthusiasm slightly. While the hobbling Edmund caught up on his Chinese in the warmth of the bunkhouse, everyone else braved the elements. John B went for a brisk walk with Chris up to Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr from the pub at the bottom of the hill below Pen-y-pass and returned to Chris' car at the Pen-y-pass car park. Phew! At last, they could stop walking and return to the bunkhouse for hot showers and tea. Even the Swinton High School Hut managed to looked positively welcoming after their wind-blown hike under such leaden skies. Even so, according to Chris, it was a surprisingly good walk - not much frequented and about the right length (three hours at Thring speed) for a Sunday.

Juliet, Lucy, David and Roger remained determined to crack at least one peak that weekend. Thwarted on their two previous days' attempts, they set up to Y Garn via Devil's Kitchen. At first, the weather wasn't too bad and they paused to look at a group of climbers on the Idwal Slabs before deciding on the correct route for Devil's Kitchen. This took some time as Lucy decided to find a Grade 1 scramble which the others declined in favour of the more obvious route via the steps to the top. On the way up, they met various passers by who all said that the wind and rain were intolerable on the top. So once again the party was met by howling winds of 70mph and driving rain as they battled on to the peak. Totally soaked, with visibility getting worse by the minute, Juliet and David decided to stop just short of the summit and waited while a determined Lucy sped to the top, followed by Roger, desperately trying not to lose sight of her. Twenty minutes later the two returned and they all made their way safely back to the cars, later joining Wendy, who after a run had spent most of the afternoon by a blazing log fire in the pub.

On Sunday John N and Faff, after a somewhat late start with brunch in Pete's Eats, followed this with a walk round the Padarn Lake with Chris Kiwi and his dog Stella (no relation to Stella Artois). A proper mountaineering expedition that involved bogs, woods, a mile or two of narrow guage railway, and a plod back in the pouring rain was undertaken - just like ol' times.....

Many thanks to Wendy for organising (dispite overcharing everyone!)

North Wales Meet Report
Rain doesn't stop play. With 14 flood warnings forecast for Capel Curig, the MMC descended on the wettest location in the country with distinct trepidation. Keen to extend their weekend, Juliet, David, Rob, Vanessa and Wendy arrived on Thursday night. Friday morning saw the rain bouncing down outside. Undaunted (at this early stage anyway), the fearless five set off to bag the nearest peak to the Swinton bunkhouse, the Carnedd Moel Siabod, 872m. Led by a storming Juliet, who had completed the walk on a previous MMC trip and was hell-bent on clocking a record time, the others narrowly avoided the many bogs and puddles lurking en route. Meanwhile, the rain turned heavy and with increasingly strong winds, the fearless five decided to avoid the Wind Zone on Moel Siabod's treacherous summit, opting for a low-level route back to the bunkhouse and an earlier than expected arrival at the Pen-y-Gwyrd hostelry. They then decided to squeeze in a second walk around the wild forests of Betws-y-Coed, which proved perfect terrain for an unexpected navigational faff. After wandering up and down the forest trails, which quickly resembled the Hampton Court maze, they tried to find a lake that offered the best reference point. As dusk descended, David's flash new GPS luckily came to the rescue. "It says we're at 556786," he announced triumphantly, only for Vanessa to retort, "That means we're IN the lake!" So, ignoring their three compasses and the GPS to hand, the fearless five decided to simply retrace their footsteps,eventually emerging by Cotswold in Betws-y-Coed just before night fall. With the arrival of the other meet attendees on Friday night, a triple assault on Snowdon was planned for Saturday. Disregarding lowering black clouds, gale force winds and rainfall on the drive-in, Chris Thring persuaded Edmund to ascend the Snowdon ridge by the Watkins Path. By the time they set off, the party had snowballed to include John Bradshaw, Pete (mate of John's), Rob, Faff, John Nolan (complete with fingerless rubber glove on hand to protect his plaster - rather like a cheap extra in Return of the Swamp Thing, said Chris), Sarah G and Sofie. They made good, and importantly, 'dry' progress up the Watkins Path until they emerged on the ridge between Snowdon and Y Lliwedd. Despite being battered by 70mph winds, they struggled up Y Lliwedd. <[>After a bellowed conversation at a distance of three feet, John N, Sarah and Faff retreated to the valley. John B and Pete had already split off to ascend Snowdon leaving Rob, Edmund, Sofie and Chris to struggle over Y Lliwedd and down the other side towards Pen-y-pass. Sofie, clearly made of the right stuff, thought it was a great adventure though the others thought that they might have to hold her down to prevent her blowin away. They then took a shortcut off the Miners Path following the water pipe straight down i nto the valley where Edmund provided a final piece of entertainment by leaping over a stream and spraining his ankle. They were back in the pub by 4.30pm, however.		Meanwhile, despite the terrible winds, Pete and John B found themselves making good progress up the Watkins Path to the summit of Snowdon. Clinging to the trig point to avoid being whisked away in a whirlwind, Pete pointed out that from here they could probably see his house 22 miles away - if it hadn't been so clagged in! They went back to the car park via the South Ridge, which was made all the more interesting by the strong winds, and found somewhere reasonably sheltered on the way down to have lunch. The third party decided to tackle Snowdon from the Y Lliwedd Ridge, starting from Pen-y-pass. Lucy, Roger, Juliet, David, Vanessa and Wendy set off determined to stand on at least one summit over the weekend. Once on the ridge however, the high winds blew everybody back four paces for every two they took, and deciding not to follow Edmund's hat, they reluctantly decided to beat another hasty retreat to the nearest pub. On Sunday, gloomier weather, sprained ankles and wet clothing dampened enthusiasm slightly. While the hobbling Edmund caught up on his Chinese in the warmth of the bunkhouse, everyone else braved the elements. John B went for a brisk walk with Chris up to Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr from the pub at the bottom of the hill below Pen-y-pass and returned to Chris' car at the Pen-y-pass car park. Phew! At last, they could stop walking and return to the bunkhouse for hot showers and tea. Even the Swinton High School Hut managed to looked positively welcoming after their wind-blown hike under such leaden skies. Even so, according to Chris, it was a surprisingly good walk - not much frequented and about the right length (three hours at Thring speed) for a Sunday. Juliet, Lucy, David and Roger remained determined to crack at least one peak that weekend. Thwarted on their two previous days' attempts, they set up to Y Garn via Devil's Kitchen. At first, the weather wasn't too bad and they paused to look at a group of climbers on the Idwal Slabs before deciding on the correct route for Devil's Kitchen. This took some time as Lucy decided to find a Grade 1 scramble which the others declined in favour of the more obvious route via the steps to the top. On the way up, they met various passers by who all said that the wind and rain were intolerable on the top. So once again the party was met by howling winds of 70mph and driving rain as they battled on to the peak. Totally soaked, with visibility getting worse by the minute, Juliet and David decided to stop just short of the summit and waited while a determined Lucy sped to the top, followed by Roger, desperately trying not to lose sight of her. Twenty minutes later the two returned and they all made their way safely back to the cars, later joining Wendy, who after a run had spent most of the afternoon by a blazing log fire in the pub. On Sunday John N and Faff, after a somewhat late start with brunch in Pete's Eats, followed this with a walk round the Padarn Lake with Chris Kiwi and his dog Stella (no relation to Stella Artois). A proper mountaineering expedition that involved bogs, woods, a mile or two of narrow guage railway, and a plod back in the pouring rain was undertaken - just like ol' times..... Many thanks to Wendy for organising (dispite overcharing everyone!)