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"Let's not complete the horseshoe", Crib Goch in high winds

"Let's not complete the horseshoe", Crib Goch in high winds


Postby jacob » Fri Nov 03, 2017 9:02 pm

Hewitts included on this walk: Crib Goch

Date walked: 19/10/2017

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Silently we ate our pouch of hot food. "Are you feeling any better?", I asked. "I'm never doing that again!", she replied.

I had hoped this was going to be the highlight of our holiday. I had done it before, a year or 2 ago, when a group of very friendly Welshmen adopted me for one day and took me up and over Crib Goch.

But this time was different. Instead of a warm sun and no wind there were clouds and quite a strong wind. A few hours earlier, at Penn y Pass's parkingplace, it was clear it wasn't going to be an airless day. But nothing predicted it's force higher up. Well, maybe the sign warning for 55 mph on Snowdon's summit did, but hey, I'm an optimist. It couldn't be that bad, could it?

So heyho, heyho, it's off to Crib Goch we go. The Pyg track is a very friendly path. Well laid, with good views on Crib Goch's summit, it feeds the anticipatory fun. And after a slow but steady ascent we arrive at the junction with the Crib Goch route. It's posing time.

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And a view back towards the Pyg track:

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I'd forgotten the first part after the junction is still a path, in my memory the walk turned into a scramble straight away. View towards Llanberris Pass:

SAM_1355 (2).jpg


And the route we took from there:

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The wind was really starting to pick up from here on. The mrs, more sceptical by the minute is scrambling her way up:

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Just before the scramble started, we had been overtaken by some fellow walkers. Some of them were having a short break on the summit, waiting for 2 from their group who were going at a lower speed. Here they are battling against the wind:

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Classic shot:

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Here we are at the summit, with the mrs not particularly looking forward to what lies ahead

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After a small chat, the others engage on the ridge:

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And we follow soon after:

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Coming down one of the pinnacles:

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And peeking past the last pinnacle towards Crib y Ddysgl:

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And the final scramble up the last pinnacle:

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Pffffff. And it's done. Time for a break, recatching our breath and eating the pouch of hot food. "Are you feeling better?"

SAM_1404 (2).jpg


"I don't want to go anymore. Is there an easy way down from here?" We're at the saddle. And I doubt I'm the first to ever have made this mistake. On our left, there's some (erosion) miniature stone chutes that I mistake for man made paths. "I guess we could go down here, looks quite doable."
But I'll give anyone this advice: don't. It's steep, it's unpleasant, and it definately is no fun.

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And through the clouds we hear a rescue helicopter. Or at least we think we do, I couldn't find any info about that afternoon on MR websites.
The mrs trying to locate the sound:

SAM_1421 (2).jpg


So agreed. We'll never do Crib Goch again (at least not together :wink: ), but we will visit Snowdonia again.
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jacob
 
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Re: "Let's not complete the horseshoe", Crib Goch in high wi

Postby Sgurr » Fri Nov 03, 2017 9:22 pm

jacob wrote: was clear it wasn't going to be an airless day. But nothing predicted it's force higher up. Well, maybe the sign warning for 55 mph on Snowdon's summit did, but hey, I'm an optimist. It couldn't be that bad, could it?


I guess you probably know about the Mountain Weather Information Service, which gives likely wind-speeds on almost all ranges

http://www.mwis.org.uk/english-welsh-forecast/SD/

Did Crib Goch in almost ideal conditions. The only drawback being that we weren't quite sure what it was that his wife had said "The doctor said....." about husband's colleague who wanted to do it with us. Turned out it was that he needed a triple heart by-pass. Luckily he showed no signs of it on Crib Goch....or the rest of the horseshoe.


The helicopter you heard was probably a training flight. If you do it from the Ranger's Path you see them buzzing around the whole time. One landed near us and an instructor got out. Prince William trained here

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Re: "Let's not complete the horseshoe", Crib Goch in high wi

Postby jacob » Sun Nov 05, 2017 10:14 am

Sgurr wrote:I guess you probably know about the Mountain Weather Information Service, which gives likely wind-speeds on almost all ranges


Thanks Sgurr, yes I do. And they did warn for high winds, but only increasingly so (is that proper English?).
We guessed we'd be past the scariest of stuff by the time the winds would pick up, but apparantly the forecast was a few hours off, or our watches were.

Sgurr wrote:Did Crib Goch in almost ideal conditions. The only drawback being that we weren't quite sure what it was that his wife had said "The doctor said....." about husband's colleague who wanted to do it with us. Turned out it was that he needed a triple heart by-pass. Luckily he showed no signs of it on Crib Goch....or the rest of the horseshoe.


:shock: :shock: :shock:
That's quite a story, with "luckily" as an understatement for "thank heavens".
Did his wife murmur the warning, or why weren't you sure?

Quite a surprise to have a helicopter land next to you and to have that great photo opportunity.
If you don't mind me asking: is Sgurr the man on the photo or is Squrr his spouse?
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Re: "Let's not complete the horseshoe", Crib Goch in high wi

Postby Sgurr » Sun Nov 05, 2017 1:42 pm

We just overheard the Dr. bit and thought he would know best. The man on the right of the pic is spouse. Or Realsquiz as he is known elsewhere, as I pinched an old nickname of his to be Squiz, and for some reason thought you had to have a different ID on each site. Mixed with passwords.
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Re: "Let's not complete the horseshoe", Crib Goch in high wi

Postby Mal Grey » Sun Nov 05, 2017 8:38 pm

Glad you got down OK. Not the best choice for a windy day I guess :)

Just so you know you're not the first;

In cloudy and drizzly conditions, but not as windy, my mate took his other half along the ridge, following us at their own (agreed) pace. We waited on the summit (the only time I used the cafe), they didn't arrive.

At about the same point as you I suspect, she had turned to my mate and shouted "Steve, get me the **** off this mountain" refusing to walk a step further, other than downwards. So they descended a similar route to you, and had a right epic, especially after her boot fell apart. Fortunately all OK in the end.

Luckily we'd guessed they'd turned back and got hold of them before we called out MR...
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Re: "Let's not complete the horseshoe", Crib Goch in high wi

Postby jacob » Mon Nov 06, 2017 6:56 pm

@Mal:

Haha, sounds quite the same indeed.
No shouting from mrs Jacob though, lucky me. Although I can't imagine what it would have been like if her boot fell apart as well......
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