Welsh 3000s on 1
hour’s sleep!
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| On the summit of Tryfan with Adam and Eve |
Given that my last adventure with Tim (attempting to
backpack the Bob Graham Round at Easter) ended up being abandoned with us lying
down in gale force winds trying not to get blown off the mountain, you’d have
thought I’d have learnt my lesson by now, but when he announced that he and
Matt were plotting another ‘truly epic challenge’, I couldn’t resist. And so
several weeks later I found myself stumbling out of a tent at 3.30am, wondering
what on earth I’d let myself in for…
For those of you who are slightly less obsessed with
mountain challenges than we are, the Welsh 3000s challenge is to summit all of
the Welsh peaks above 3000ft in under 24 hours, encompassing three different
mountain regions - the Snowdon Massif, the Glyderau and the Carneddau. There is
a fairly standard route going south-to-north which starts on the summit of
either Crib Goch or Snowdon (depending on whether you camp on Snowdon
overnight) and finishes 15 peaks later on the summit of Foel Fras. The
challenge itself is peak-to-peak but then of course you have to get to and from
the start and finish peaks which adds in around another 8 miles, bringing the
full route to a rough total of 30 miles with 4000m of ascent. Definitely an
epic!
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| Tim heading into the gloom on Crib Goch |
The day began with us parking about half a mile from
Pen-y-Pass and heading up the Pyg Track to Crib Goch at a blisteringly fast
pace. We were all vaguely aware we wouldn’t be able to keep this up for the
entire day, but we were full of energy and keen to set a good time for the
challenge! After pointing a lost Snowdon walker who’d nearly ended up on Crib
Goch in the right direction, we polished off the ridge in 45 minutes. In the
dim light and with the ridge completely enshrouded in cloud, there was a sense
of foreboding in the air…
As we’d feared, all that cloud turned into rain as we headed
towards Snowdon, making for an exceptional soggy trudge to the summit. But to
our amazement the clouds started to clear and we were hardly troubled by rain
at all for the rest of the day, despite the dismal forecast. After an
entertaining descent to Nant Peris down an exceptionally steep and slippery
grassy path (does it still count as glissading if you do it on grass by
accident?!) we began the long, soul-crushing trudge up Elidir Fawr. All the
blogs I’d read beforehand had warned that this ascent was awful, ‘possibly the
worst in Snowdonia’, which I found hard to believe until we were actually doing
it ourselves. Can now confirm - it’s every bit as bad as its reputation. It
just never seems to end - you keep on going up and up and up and yet you feel
like you’ve hardly moved!
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| Descending towards an intimidating Tryfan |
I’m really doing a great job of selling this walk, aren’t I?
Well I’m pleased to say things improved a lot after Elidir Fawr. The next few
hours showed us the spectacular variety that the Glyderau has to offer - long
sections of ridgeline with stunning views glimpsed through gaps in the cloud,
the otherworldly boulder field landscapes of Glyder Fawr and Glyder Fach, some
unexpectedly challenging scrambling on Castell Y Gwynt (the optional ‘16th’
3000er), acrobatics trying to do pull-ups on the Cantilever (!), the
intimidating scree fields by Bristly Ridge, lots more scrambling heading up
Tryfan, and then an...interesting
descent…
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| Gully confusion |
Our plan was to scramble a short way down the North Ridge
before heading down a gully to join up with the Heather Terrace path, so we
could stop at the campsite to fill up on water and snacks before starting the
Carneddau. Unfortunately we ended up turning off too soon and scrambling for a
considerable distance before we managed to find the path. This cost us a lot of
time and if you’re not familiar with the route already I’d strongly recommend
taking a longer but easier route, such as backtracking to Bwlch Tryfan and then
descending to Llyn Ogwen (plus then you can get snacks at Ogwen Cottage!).
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| Tantalisingly close to the end heading towards Carnedd Llewelyn |
After collapsing at the campsite for a few minutes we headed
up Pen yr Ole Wen after sadly having to leaving one member of the group behind
:’( The ascent was a bit of a slog but Tom and Emily jumped out at us from
behind a rock to liven things up a bit (these fell runners, honestly, always
getting up to mischief…) and it was a relief to know it was the final major
ascent of the day. Despite how tired I was I really enjoyed the Carneddau
section - in the fading light we had beautiful views out towards Conwy Bay and
in contrast to all the scrambling earlier on in the day, the paths were so easy
that we dubbed the route ‘the Carneddau motorway’! A last minute energy rush
saw us running to the summit of Foel Fras, completing the challenge in exactly
17hrs peak-to-peak - meaning there are now 19 UBESters who have completed the
challenge!
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| Challenge complete with a summit selfie on Foel Fras! |
The Welsh 3000s challenge is definitely not to be
underestimated - I don’t think I’d fully appreciated beforehand just how tiring
a 21hr mountain day would be - but with enough determination it’s most
definitely doable, and it really is a spectacular walk with some of the best
scenery that Snowdonia has to offer!
Finally - I’d like to say a huge thank you to Tim and
George, who not only drove us to and from Bristol but sacrificed even more of
their sleep than the rest of us so they could shuttle the cars to the start and
end points! Seeing as I fell asleep almost the second I sat down in the car at
the finish, I’m very grateful I wasn’t driving :’)
Catherine Easdon
