Early Morning Awakenings

Greg Lowe

At last .... Friday afternoon and an earlyish finish after a very, very long week. There has been a great high pressure weather system holding over the whole country all week - the only one we have had so far this summer despite the global warming that we keep hearing about! Our fingers were crossed that it would stay with us for the weekend as we had high hopes and grand plans. The girls were happy to stay at home - so it's a boys only trip this time. Cae'r Fran (club hut) or camping? .... our dilemma for a moment, but then again, if the weather is good, why not go for the open air, take the mountain tent and lightweight, minimal gear (a box of cereal and a few teabags are usually sufficient). Pack the sacks ready for the following day - it always saves time in the morning, throw the sleeping bags in the car and off we go, fighting our way through the rush-hour traffic to the Tunnel.

The usual Friday evening A55 crowd is out - everyone in the outside lane doing 55mph - no-one on the inside - no way of getting past! Never mind, put a tape on, go with the flow and think about the times past when we were happy to get to the Pass in three and a half hours instead of the race to beat the two-hour time limit which seems to be the benchmark nowadays. Leaving the main-road madness behind, we wind our way up past the Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel and then down to Llyn Gwynant, our site for the night, pausing to look at tomorrow's objective from the viewpoint halfway down the valley. The midges try to deter us from a bit of evening cragging on the rocks next to the site, so it is a pleasant surprise to see that friends from the Summit M.C. have arrived for their annual regatta meet - complete with rubber dinghies, inner tubes, arm-bands and inflatable killer whale! We scan the OS map before lights-out, finalising our plans for the morrow, and then off to sleep - him to dream of football, me to snore loudly enough to disturb anyone within 30 metres of our tent!

Daybreak sees us at Pen-y-pass car park, wiping sleep from our eyes and pieces of cereal from our clothes. Already the temperature is starting to become Mediterranean - could it be conceivable that we might have a hot and sunny day? On with the boots, shoulder the rucksacks and head off up the gently contouring path overlooking the Pass. Always an enjoyable way to start, the path leads you in gently - just what I needed as I had not been on the hills for far too long! As the main ridge comes into view at the col, we look around at the huge bowl, following the the line of Crib-y-Ddysgl up to one of the finest summits in Wales - Yr Wyddfa or Snowdon. The drop-off left from the summit leads sharply down to Bwlch-y-Saethau from where there is an excellent ascent/descent ridge, rarely trodden, leading to Glaslyn and the Miner's Track. The huge face of Lliwedd dominates the scene and we sit back and look as I point out some of the finest mountaineering routes in Wales. Impressive scenery and surroundings!!

I always have a temptation to detour from the main path at this point - a traverse out to the right and a short scramble up the broken scree gives access to some very shattered aretes (The game is to climb them quicker than they fall down!) which eventually lead up to the north ridge of Crib Goch, a much less polished version of the main ridge. Today though, I have my wings clipped, and so we venture forth following the myriad of pathways up to the slabbed summit of Crib Goch. By now the temperature was climbing faster than we were - at least the forecast has been correct this time - and so we have a breather and enjoy the panorama laid out before us. How this place changes so dramatically with the seasons! I think about my first traverse of the ridge, too many winters ago than I care to remember, when two young men with more bravado than experience found their way to Snowdon summit in horrendous conditions; relying more on good luck than good judgement and all done with only one ice-axe and one pair of crampons between us. With hands shredded by the rime on the rocks, we rounded off the day by going down the wrong side of the hill which gave us an uphill detour of a few more miles in the growing blackness in order to regain our starting point at Pen-y-pass! Today, with the sun shining brightly, things are so different.

The offer of a rope is initially rejected but, after some strong persuasion from me, is accepted with resignation. Why should he have to suffer the embarrassment of a cord when everybody else seems to be walking/scrambling/crawling unfettered? My feeling was that Sean would have no problem on this traverse, but thinking as a parent, the precipitous sides look very, very sheer today. Along the crest, confidence building as we move, the towers and undulations of the crest passing beneath our boots, we look for the harder route variations until we come down to the broad, grassy col which gives a brief respite for the hands and a nice place to relax in the sun without the worry of steep drops. Time to study the Trinity face and point out some good winter lines (maybe for us to do together in the future possibly?). Time to gaze at the highest summit in Wales - with all the ant-like people scurrying around on its top; time to look across at Lliwedd and its majestic rock faces; time to press on!

The flakes and big, blocky scrambles of Crib-y-Ddysgl make up the next part of the route. No problem for most people, but when you are short of stature, it can become a much tougher proposition. After foiling the harder initial problems, we scramble up the most interesting and entertaining lines on the way to the trig. point and the end of the difficulties as the ridge widens towards the main summit. This section is always an enigma - on a good day it passes too quickly as you revel in the exposure of edging along the top of the Trinity gullies, whilst on a bad day you are buffeted by wind and rain without any protection at all from the elements as you battle to find the shelter of the summit station. Today things are straightforward enough, although the number of people standing around the cairn at the top of Snowdon means that we have to detour into the café for a couple of ice-lollies until some of the hordes have gone. It is a first time for either of us to enter the concrete carbuncle and I am amazed to find that not only can we buy teas, snacks, power drinks, chips etc. but we can also go into the gift shop and buy the souvenir mugs, walking-stick badges and postcards (which can, incidentally, be posted from the summit - stamps and pens also available!)

"Why is there a café up here, Dad?" The unanswerable question leaves me pondering as we walk past the departing train filled with tourists wearing 'I climbed Snowdon the hard way'-T-shirts!!

After a short discussion on the summit,"I fancy going over Lliwedd, how about you?"

"No way! You're a real durr-brain Dad! I am going down - it's too hot up here", and the decision is made to descend with the crowds down the zig-zags to the Pyg track. For some reason the majority of people seem to be continuing down to the Miner's track, with a few hardy souls even having a dip in Glaslyn! As we traverse higher up in the cwm we come across a man who has collapsed with heat exhaustion. Our offer of assistance is declined as he is being well attended by the other members in his group. Five minutes further down the path and the big, yellow rescue helicopter flies past on his way to pick up the stricken walker - all exciting stuff! The final re-tracing of our steps back to the car park is made even more interesting when we realise that there is a police helicopter parked no more than 50 metres away from our car which, it transpires, has been assisting in a second rescue! Once back at the car park it is a wash and freshen-up in the toilets, a quick change of clothes and then off down the Pass for a rendezvous at Pete's Eats - with a couple of plates of ham and chips!!

"What do you fancy doing tomorrow then? Maybe Tryfan Bach or some routes on Idwal Slabs, eh?"

"I want to go swimming, Dad"

As I drive to the camp site on Anglesey, I look over at the already sleeping figure of Sean and feel immensely proud of his achievements today - probably more so than he does himself.

I doubt if I could have done the same when I was only six!

And how he deserves that swim tomorrow!!