50th Birthday on Mount Snowdon
Well, as some of you may know I am now 50 years young! A great age to be. Years of knowledge with the tempering of age to give humility and the health to do something when you want to.
I've always been pretty active and have loved the outdoors. I had my 40th birthday party on top of Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons so what better way to celebrate turning 50 that to have a birthday on top of Wales's tallest mountain - Snowdon.
My 40th birthday was a bit of a washout (as you can see from the shots below), so I really was hoping for something better for my 50th. Oh Oh. How wrong can a guy be!!
40th Birthday on Pen y Fan
50th Birthday on Mount Snowdon
First off I must say I have some amazing friends and family. Asking them to walk up Pen Y Fan at 0430hrs is one thing only to get to the top to find it's the crappest weather you could ask for but then 10 years later asking them to join you at the top of a higher mountain, Snowdon, is another. Yet they did - and for that I am humbled. Even more so when I look back and see some of the very same faces (now 10 years older) and one, in particular, that is no longer with us but I'll always remember him. It makes me feel lucky to have you all as my friends - thank you again xx
Prelude. Plan A
The original idea was to stay in a local climbing hostel and have the party there. Unfortunately, we had totally glorious and amazingly hot weather in the previous 6 weeks which caused the water supply to the hostel to dry up. So that idea was canned at the last minute. Last minute telephone conversations and emails meant most people managed to get local hotels etc. I camped with Suze and her uncle Robert and his friend Anne.
I was walking up the day before, on the 28th, and to get to the top in time for the cafe closing so I could replen my water and get some food etc.
Suze, Robert and Anne were going to start the climb early and arrive at the top around 9 am with those of my family and friends unable to make the climb joining at around 10 am via the train.
It's about 3 hours decent walk from most of the tracks, to be honest.
The weather.
it was glorious on the run up to my birthday (29th July) and then started to get steadily worse and worse. And worse. And worse!
My original intention was to just take a gortex bivi bag and sleeping bag to sleep under the stars. That changed to a 1 man tent and changed again to a 1 man tent plus gortex bag! I think I packed my bergan at least a dozen times in the two weeks before my birthday as the weather started to change. I got the cooker (Jetboil) and boil in the bag rations for 24 hours, plus snacks and tea bags etc sorted into the bergan as well. Changed the sleeping bag I was going to use for another one that was a few degrees warmer. Two hats, thanks to an early birthday pressie from Avis (always carry two hats in the mountains!) and a few spare bin liners - for my rubbish and collecting rubbish on the walk up and down. Walking poles (for the tent), bungees, para cord plus water and waterproofs completed the load.
Plan B. If it's not raining, It's not Training.
Always have a plan B. As a Prussian General once said: "No plan survives contact with the enemy". As the train driver said on the journey up: "It's Wales. It's a mountain. Of course, it's raining!"
The weather basically got worse and worse, especially at the top overnight from the 28th into the 29th and all day for the 29th. My mum said once I was down that all she remembers about my birthdays was that it used to rain all the time! And thinking back she was right!
So I walked up on the 28th and it was pretty ok. Decent views, very windy with gusts of around 50mph and a light shower every now and again. Got to the top in 3 hours using the Miners track after a very chilled climb, only to find the top in the clouds and rain. And there the weather pretty much stayed the same for the rest of the day. It broke for about 15 minutes and I managed to get some photographs with my phone.
The cafe closed at 4 pm due to the weather. Not a good sign!
Plan C. Sometimes it's just not safe.
So, back to me on top of Snowdon. It was pretty busy until around 7 pm and then the walkers pretty much stopped except for the odd one or two. I'd grabbed a couple of pasty's from the cafe and loads of water to fill up my own supply. I pitched my tent around 8 pm and was hoping for a sunset. Hope being the right word! It was, apparently, an amazing sunset below the clouds. In the clouds, as I was, it was, well, cloudy!
The weather forecast meanwhile was getting worse so a decision was made for Suzanne etc NOT to walk up but to try and get the train. Looking at the conditions it was the right decision.
By 1 am on the morning of the 29th it was lashing down and a howling gale was blowing. The weather front had come in early. I, however, was safely ensconced inside my tiny tent, in my gortex bivi bag inside my sleeping bag with an extra pair of socks. All my kit was in bags and I was nice and dry! I had an orange chemical light hung up inside my tent to show it was occupied and the tent itself was bright orange. Hard to miss.
Birthday on Mount Snowdon
Three Peaks Challenge. They really challenged me...
The three peaks challenge is where you walk up the three tallest peaks in England, Wales and Scotland. Great stuff, usually for charity. So point to note to people who may be doing this...
If you see a tent on the side of a mountain your DO NOT have to shout loudly "IS THAT A TENT" or "LOOK A TENT" or even worse shine your torch into the tent or much worse rattle the sides of the tent.
JUST. BLOODY. WELL. DONT.
It destroys my sleep patterns, shakes the tent thus causing the fabric tightness to loosen and lessens the waterproof capabilities, and in my case damages the poles. All in all very unprofessional for walkers, on a mountain with lashing wind and gale force winds with temperatures going below 0'C
Thanks to those numerous three peak challenge people I got a grand total of 3 hours of sleep from 1030pm until 8 am. Grumpy wasn't the word for me on the 29th!
My birthday !!!!
29th July, up and packed the tent and other kit away to relax and then looked for a place to have some breakfast and wait for the train. The door to the cafe was a great spot - little wind and secluded. Sadly around 15 other people also had the same idea, except they were not, in some cases, as prepared as I was. So I skipped breakfast and huddled around the door with other people until the cafe opened.
Safety Notice and rant.
Mountains kill.
People die on Snowdon every year. Llanberis Mountain rescue has to the busiest MRT in Wales / England. People die because they are usually stupid. Like climbing a mountain in the lashing rain, gale force winds in shorts. Dragging your kids up who are too young to walk. Kids without the correct warm gear or windproofs let alone waterproofs. Adults not having waterproofs. Wearing training shoes. Not having dry clothing. No map or compass. Not having safety gear like a storm shelter/tent. Not having a basic first aid kit and most of all not having the right mental attitude. The latter IS THE MOST IMPORTANT.
I must admit to getting very annoyed at some people's poor attitude to the mountain. No idea when the cafe opened or if it would open etc. No idea of the train times and expected to be able to get a train down at the drop of a hat. Demanding they open the doors because they were cold, banging on the doors.
#end of rant.
The good news was that Suzanne and her uncle and partner had managed to get the train! So the first train arrived with a dozen of my friends and family! Nice birthday!!!
The train only stays for 30 minutes, just enough time to get a tea/coffee and maybe get out to see the view. Not that the view was there! Clouds, rain and wind!!
We managed to get the oldest member of the party (Avis) to within 10m of the top. The wind, however, wasn't playing ball so we went back inside the cafe.
Birthday on Mount Snowdon - Walking Down
I walked up the Miners track so thought I'd go down the Pyg track. It was a crap decision really. The Pyg has many more rocky scrambles than the Miners path and with all the rain meant that some paths were just stream beds and the rocks slippery as an eel coated in lard! Managed to get down in around 2 1/2 hours with no mishaps. But again, people walking up dressed totally inappropriately, asking the way, asking how far to go.
Party Time in a tent
2 pm and it's party time in a tent! over a dozen people squeezed into an 8 person tent, plus two tables laden with food (thanks to Waitrose online ordering/catering!). My birthday cake was amazing, check out the photographs - thanks to Helen & Phil.
All in all, I have the most amazing friends and family - thank you all for joining me!!!
A word for my mam. This amazing lady (Theresa) brought me up to be as independent as possible. And those of you who know would agree she did exactly that. Without her, I would never have done the things I did in life and made the best of what is out there. Thank you for all the support you have given me over the years xxx. Hope to see you for my 100th mam. I'm thinking Everest Base Camp for that one...?!
To Suzanne - 18 years and counting! It's been an amazing time and I only have my mum to blame for making me as stubborn and as independent as I am! Thank you for putting up with me for so long!!! Your amazing organisational skills really came to the fore when the hostel was cancelled - thank you so much that. Love you to bits xxxx
My 60th Birthday...
Just putting this out there, for those that may be interested... guided tours of Ben Nevis . After all, it is only a little under 300m higher than Snowdon ;-) No camping overnight though!
... in no particular order...
Birthday on Mount Snowdon - Main Kit List
Tent - Geertop 1 Person 20D. Outer only. Uses 2 x walking poles.
Bergan - Berghaus 50l
Water - Camelback 3l bladder inside bergan
Cooker - Jet Boil
Waterproofs - Berghaus
Boots - Berghaus
Sleeping bag - Snugpack
Sleeping mat - Karrimor
Gortex Biviv bag - ex British Army issue. DPM.
Drybag - Tomshool 10l drybag (for sleeping kit & tent)
Boil in the Bag - Wayfayrer
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