Welsh 3000 Challenge - March 2013

5 teams set off from London, heading to Snowdon one more time this term but this time to summit all 14 peaks over 3000ft. The plan was that most teams would start from Pen-y-pass car park at 5am, ascending Snowdon in the dark. One team would drive to the end of the route, 14 peaks away, and complete the route in the opposite direction. So sure were we of completing the route. We were very surprised to see so much snow on the mountain and so far down into the valley, we had expected some snow on top but not as much as that. As the photo above suggests, breaking trail at 5 am was very hard going. Hence, challenge 3000 rapidly turned into challenge bus. At least one team HAD to reach the bus, almost 40km away.

Very fortunate for us, the bus was retrieved thanks to the valiant effort of Murray, Clement and Sietse; who made it in 13 hours despite having very little water with them, hoping that they would fill up on route only to find all the streams frozen. It turns out trying to melt snow with body heat is very inefficient.

Despite the ups and downs of the day, the weather was kind to us, everyone kept good spirits and all had super good time. Getting up after 3 hours sleeps was really hard and we contemplated calling Ryan back in London (the club Sec, who suggested the Challenge in the first place) to see how his essay was going… But it was all worth it to be the first on Snowdon, descending as the mist melted away with the rising sun, spectacular.

Conclusion: do it all again in summer, with more light and less snow (hopefully).