free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
A wise very old man (Alan Bellis - Mountainstar) once mentioned that Wales provided some spectacular walking & scrambling
! He also informed me and that I should visit the land of many sheep to test my nerve doing Crib Goch & the Snowdon Horseshoe. Now I'd seen some videos of Crib Goch and wondered what all the fuss was about but this wise old man has several hundred years of experience and his word should not be taken lightly.
Kerri was reaching her 40th birthday this year so we decided to spend a long weekend in North Wales to celebrate it. Climbing Snowdon would mean that Kerri would scale the highest mountains in Scotland, England, Spain and Wales within a 6 month period, in this her 40th year...no midlife crisis here then
Alan had offered to lead us round the route on the Saturday, to keep us young ones safe, but it transpired the weather conditions would be better on the Friday so Kerri and I plumped for this...whilst Alan was working!
Left Glasgow 7am and parked 1 mile by Pen Y Pass car park as it was full. Started the walk around 1.30pm. To our surprise the weather was fantastic with clear views and the odd burst of sunshine.
This way then!!
The climb up to the Crib Goch ridge was good fun with some lovely views.
Upon reaching the ridge proper I had a slight panic attack due to the very narrow nature of it
My initial thought was "I ain't doing that". Kerri on the other hand had a huge grin on her face
The first few moves rendered me jelly like but I soon hardened up and found my confidence. Mountain rescue flew by in their helicopter and a few of the guys gave us a big wave. I felt pretty safe knowing these guys were near by.
Kerri showing off!
All to soon and the scary part was over but what lay ahead looked equally good fun.
And to Snowdon
I'm sure I seen Mountainstar in the back seat
Snowdon Summit
We didn't hang around as was busy and continued on our way. The rest of the horseshoe was brilliant and it was nice to get views from different perspectives.
The luxurious home of Mountainstar!
Crib Goch & The Snowdon Horseshoe is up there with the likes of the Aonach Eagach, Curved Ridge & Forcan Ridge...I would actually say this provided the biggest scare for me.
The rest of our trip involved visiting other areas recommended by Alan around North Wales and we had a great time doing so. Beaches, Caves, a quirky village (Portmerion), Castles, Lighthouses and a Coastal walk kept us busy. Wales is well worth a visit and we shall return one day