By Mike Hams - February 2003
Another rapid and remarkably traffic-free trip along the M6 on Friday saw us in North Wales in 5 hours and looking for the bunkhouse under Tryfan. The first farmyard we turned up in wasn't it but the name was remarkably similar (apologies to the Welsh amongst us). The second farmyard had Rupert's car in it and we noticed there was still some snow about on the upper slopes of the surrounding mountains.
The bunkhouse was clean, tidy, warm and well equipped; I didn't really need to pack the wok. This year's bargain (so far) at £6 a night. We had a quick drink and settled down for the night.
The next morning dawned bright and sunny, which was unfortunate for those who wanted to ice climb. They had to search quite hard on the North-facing slopes to find anything remotely climbable. Those of us who were walking looked forward to clear views from the mountaintops. We packed ice axes and crampons just in case they were needed and set off up Tryfan but a short walk away.
A great deal of first class dithering was required to find the start of the scramble, mainly by those holding a map, then it was up and away. After a good mornings work we arrived at the summit and both the secretary and president of the club did the obligatory leap from Adam to Eve and back again, ensuring they had "droite de seigneur" with any and all passing sheep! We had a short break for lunch at the summit and set off again when the smaller members of the party complained of being cold.
The afternoon was taken up with the scramble off Tryfan to Bristli ridge (can't find the correct spelling on the map) and the ascent of the Glyders (Fawr and Fach). Some interesting positions and moves were required on the way up, notably the standing aside for a chap with his two collies going up past us! One of the dogs did not appear too keen and had to be coaxed into every difficult move, I knew exactly how it felt! We stopped for a photo or two on the cantilevered boulder on top of the Glyders and decided that there was not time before the light went to get to and through the Devils kitchen area (some mention of carrot eating and seeing in the dark). We made our way down Y Cribin and returned around Tryfan to the bunkhouse. A very good 8-hour day out.
We settled down to dinner and a drink or two and swapped tales of the day. Those who wanted them had hot showers in the washhouse and sweaty clothing was hung in the drying room to make them usable the next day. Jeff and Nigel arrived back just before we considered alerting mountain rescue. Apparently they had wanted to be out after dark to make the most of night navigation (I hope I remember that aright chaps). Plans for the next day were made to take account of the great weather.
On Sunday our party set of for Pen Y Pass for an attempt on the Snowdon Horseshoe starting at Crib Goch. On the hike into the hills my knee let me know it was not happy with life, and could we take it easier today please. At the foot of the scramble I waved goodbye to my companions and set off for the Pyg Track. I was to meet the others on Snowdon and complete the last half of the horseshoe with them. We had discarded ice axes, as they were an unnecessary burden the previous day most of us had left the crampons behind also to reduce weight in the packs.
It was another very sunny day and half way up the track I removed my jacket and completed the climb in base layer and Paramo trousers (all vents open and struggling manfully to keep me cool). I tagged on with a chap from Liverpool who was good company on the climb. We eventually parted company on the top section of the track when we had to stop for people coming down and I got caught up on the hard snow without my crampons. It's not often just a base layer can be worn as a top when using crampons. The snow was about 10 inches deep and very hard packed across two thirds of the track width.
On the top of the hill and out of the valley shelter I had to put my jacket on sharpish, as it was very chilly. There were the usual day-trippers in unsuitable clothing on top of the mountain and in summertime I guess it must be very, very busy. I had some lunch and waited for the rest of the intrepid party to arrive, which they did after 25 minutes or so. We moved off the mountain summit to find somewhere quieter for the others to eat, descending a very nasty scree slope to a quiet grassy hollow for a congenial lunch.
The President of the club did his best at this point to frighten all the local wildlife and not a few walkers with an extraordinary belch. Birds crossed the sky in terror and the gentleman walking around us staggered off pale-faced and trembling. The rest of us hoped the earth would open and hide us now (not, well maybe Christina as she is a delicate thing really). We'll go back later to apologise if asked.
The slog around the last part of the horseshoe went well and we arrived back in the car park shortly after 4pm. It was time for a quick change and off to the Pinnacle cafe at Capel Curig for a well earned bacon roll and a cuppa. Here we learned that Steve Culverhouse had nearly come a cropper on easy ground above a 1000-foot slide at Idwal Slabs. Rupert had managed to arrest the slide before it got out of hand and avoided burying any part of the ice axes he was holding in Steve. The only bad part of the return trip was the discovery that the good chip shop in Llangollen had closed and we had Chinese instead in Oswestry.
More pictures can be found at Tryfan Scramble (password Climb8)
Mike
