Ty Powdwr - Snowdon Figure of 8

Members: Jim Gregson, Sandy Gregson, Joe Flynn, Lester Payne, Dave Shotton, Andy Stratford, Yvonne Holland, James Barrington, Mark Pilling.

 

JG and SG arrived a day early at Ty Powdwr to get a day's rock climbing done before the main business of the Meet. In the event the weather turned this into a half day as it was wet on Friday morning so a few hours were whiled away in Llanberis, then in the Nant Gwynant looking for the new Lancs MC hut just N of Beddgelert, then to see the ospreys and over to Eric's Cafe at Tremadog. After that they did go to Clogwyn yr Oen in the Moelwyns and did finally do some climbing!

While at Ty Powdwr the previous evening a search in the old log books turned up an entry for 24 Sep 1988 which was the first completion of the Snowdon Fig. 8 walk , all of 27 years ago!

Surprisingly everybody rose really early on Saturday to get over to Rhyd-ddu for the 0900 start time, and after the shock of shelling out the £5 all-day parking fee pulled on waterproofs to fend off drizzle and fled the midges in the direction of Bwlch Cwm Llan. This col was reached quickly, or at least seemingly quickly as there was non-stop conversation to distract from the distance.

Onwards then up the S Ridge towards Bwlch Main and Yr Wyddfa, pausing only for more waterproofs as steady rain decided to support the Meet, so it was a dripping crew which trooped into the summit cafe, to join the throng already in there with the floor awash. Some expensive cups of tea were ransomed from the counter but soon after we left. Two intrepid members, James B and Mark, opted to slither over the ridge via Crib Goch while the rest waded down the Pyg Track against the flow of sponsored walkers and runners who were coming up it in droves. We dropped down to Llyn Llydaw and declared a leisurely lunch stop, which was nice as the sun came out, the rain stopped and there was a drying breeze. An hour soon slipped by, allowing time for some stovework to refill afew flasks with fresh-brewed tea, and then we uppped sticks for the second half fixture - to go up over Lliwedd and up again to Yr Wyddfa.

There was some wildly inaccurate estimates for the time this might take but in the end everybody got there, although there was some delay in getting Lester re-united into the group as he had flagged rather badly and even made a contouring detour which caused a delay for the patient waiters on the top of Lliwedd. The greyhound contingent sped off up  and the remainder followed on eventually in an elastic sort of progress as some fitness improvements left without attention slowed the main culprit. Fortunately he had noble companions who kept him company. The summit cafe was closed by the time the final man reached it so there was a long descent over the top of Cloggy and then a wearying meander across the moor with its maze of old quarry tips to get back to the carpark in Rhyd-ddu. Fortunately for Lester, the meet leader had also shepherded the party in and as he was the sole remaining car owner/driver was able to ferry everyone back to Ty Powdwr for a later than expected finish.

Young James claimed he was going into Llanberis for fish and chips, but got waylaid into some sort of rave going on at The Heights, and rolled back in the early hours of Sunday after everyone else had gone to bed.

The next morning was usefully and interestingly spent on a training session covering glacier ropework and crevasse rescue techniques. This was held on the dangerous short grass area outside the hut lounge windows which was ideal as it was easy to send the Outdoor Meets Sec. inside to make pots of tea to warm up and resuscitate those who had been crevasse-fall victims. Everybody learned something which would be useful and it was valuable practice.

After that people drifted off here and there as to personal choice. It had been a very enjoyable weekend for the most part, and the attenders had all done well to complete the Figure of 8, so well done to all. Lots of laughs, and lots of good conversation.

27 years? Something tells me that I won't be having another go at the walk in 2042 - there's bound to be something that makes that difficult if not impossible!

Jim Gregson