News

I had a long day today working for Jagged Globe as safety cover for a charity event called Sea to Summit which raise funds for intensive care research. The day started at 4.30 in order to get to the summit of Drum by 7 o'clock then as soon as the last team had gone past it was my responsibility to follow them to the Ogwen Valley to make sure they were OK. The ultimate target for the 6 teams in this class was to reach the summit of Snowdon - my target, thankfully, was to get to the Ogwen Valley which in its self is 18 km (12 miles) and over 1230m (4,000 feet) of ascent. The greatest challenge today was the heat which was unrelenting so my admiration goes out to all the teams who competed and raised money for the Intensive Care Society . Well done everyone. Photo 1: Tryfan from Carnedd Dafydd Photo 2: Yr Elen and Cwm Caseg from below Foel Grach.

As I suspected and with great relief the magnificent peak of Tryfan is in fact higher that they thought. The official height has been confirmed as 8 feet (2.5 m) higher than the current elevation and is now 3,010' (910m) above sea level.

We had a fantastic and constructive day on the East Face of Tryfan today looking at short roping techniques. I was joined by Alice, Mo and Chris who were keen to look at both ascending and descending difficult terrain. We decided to make an ascent of Little and North Gully (I/II) and then a descent of South Gully (III). The weather was fantastic throughout.

I was working on an Association of Mountaineering Instructors trainee workshop today. I was joined for the day by Chris, Steve and Rich and we decided to go to the Milestone Buttress to look at Instructing Climbing in preparation for their MIA assessments. The weather was good but a bit cold at times in the shade and out of the sun. We worked on Rowen Route and Pulpit Route which are both Diff but very polished these days which makes them feel a bit harder than the grade.

I was working for the Adventure Activities Licensing Service today conducting an inspection of an activity provider. I went part way up the PYG track up to Bwlch Moch and then returned to Pen y Pass via the East Ridge (The Horns).

As the weather was so good I decided to have a solo jaunt up the Clogwyn y Person Arete (grade 3 scramble) then over Crib Goch and then back down to the Llanberis Pass via the North ridge of Crib Goch. A lovely day with a nice breeze on the ridge and not that many people around.

A wonderful view of Llanberis yesterday.

This is how windy it was!

I was working for Jagged Globe today as safety cover on a charity event. I was up at 750m on the Rhyd Ddu path with a strong cold wind which made for quite a bit of wind chill. The conditions soon improved and the sun came out by mid morning. The photo is of Butterwort (in flower) and Sundew (spiky oval leaves just left and below of flower) which can be found in large numbers on the path up Snowdon. Both plants absorb nutrients from insects that they trap on their leaves (insectivorous).