Snowdon conquered

Did it today.

Rhyd Ddu up, Ranger down.

The ridge near the top of the Rhyd Ddu path was... Disappointingly tame.

Next challenge Scarfell.

 

Scafell?

 

Did you bump into Ben Sales at the top?

 

Helvellyn by the Striding edge is a memorable one for me.

Oh and Ben Nevis in December :-0

Paul.

 

That's the one.

 

I love that route.

 

Well done.

I did that as a kid. Well I say did but what happened was; I got halfway
up that but had to give up and come down because of the rain. I didn't
see the point of going up in the first place, it was raining when we set
out and didn't get any easier for each mile we went up. If was raining for
the whole time the week we were in the area. How do people find that fun,
walking up a fucking hill in the pissing rain? Satisfaction of getting to
the top my arse. Madness is what it is. You have to be unhinged to claim
there is any pleasure in it.

 

We did the Pyg and Miner's, 1h 58m to the summit. Must admit, when I
saw that ridge from above it also looked very tame. In a cloud and
rain when I was on it, it looked very different.

 

or my friend Kate. three friends on FB all went up there today.
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I enjoyed that.

I must go up Nevis via the CMD Arete at some point.

 

No he didn't.

 

It was busy. We went early and saw virtually no-one on the way up,
but coming down there as a steady stream upwards.

And a lot of people suffering due to lack of water.

 

I did that the other year, it's a lovely route. Far less boring than the
Pony Track switchback. Not particularly hairy either.

The climb out of the valley on to the ridge is pretty unremitting,
though: probably about as unpleasant as ascending Scafell from Wast Water.

 

I've done the tourist track twice now (initially in poor weather, then
again in good weather to get a decent view). Not going to do that
again.

I've only ever done Scafell from Eskdale, which is quite a walk in,
but a lovely climb. Need to go back to that one as well because I
still haven't had a clear summit.

 

The ascent from Wast Water is the one favoured for doing the 3 Peaks. But
it's about a 700m climb over about 2.5k straight up from the car park.
Which isn't nice when you've just spent several hours dehydrating in a
sweaty minibus!

 

Do it in winter, it's a brilliant day out. If you want a decent ridge
to do in summer do Tower Ridge, it's only scrambling with ropes
optional for the girls.

 

I'm nowhere near experienced enough to do that.

"The normal route up Tower Ridge is a graded 3S as a scramble (the
highest scrambling grade), and contains short pitches of rock climbing
graded as difficult."

I think that may be a little beyond me as well.

 

Then go to North Wales and start off with some easy winter routes and
work your way up. You live close enough to be able to get some decent
outings and still go home in the evening then once you've got it sussed
you can move on to weekends in the Lakes or Scotland.

Not if you've got anything resembling a head for heights. The only bit
that might scare you is the gap where you need to climb down then back
up again but it's really not hard. Rock routes graded Difficult are
more often than not the descent route if you want to avoid a long walk
and if you've any concerns take a pair of trainers for the climbing and
use walking boots for the rest.

 

Think it was about 3 hours for us, I really did struggle on the steeper
sections, but it wasn't about speed, it was about getting there - just
feels like another big step in my rehabilitation.

I have no doubt that the ridge is not a nice place to be if it's wet /
windy / icy - but on a clear sunny day, it's fine.

 

We took just under 3lt up with us.

Drank another half litre each in apple juice from the cafe, and refilled
with another litre of water.

We went through it all by the time we got back to the hotel - 5 litres
between us.