Text contributed by Johnny; pictures contributed by Johnny and Pete.
I was lucky enough to get a place on the recent IOG trip to Bontnewydd in north Wales over Easter. I’d been looking forward to this trip as Snowdon [Yr Wyddfa] is not far away and I was thinking maybe some of my fellow IOG members would be up for doing a walk up there.
In the weeks leading up to the trip, I found out that one of the group (step up, Pete E.) not only wanted to do Snowdon but to do it via mighty Crib Goch! This increased my excitement as Crib Goch is one of my most loved scrambles!
When we first arrived in Wales, there was a yellow warning of a storm incoming and to say I was gutted would be an understatement! I just hoped that the weather would stay kind enough to let us do it as I now had my partner in crime and was all excited for Crib Goch!
The morning of Wednesday 8th April arrived and the weather was good – we really were going to do it! Today was the day!
So, Pete T. (our very kind chauffeur) dropped us off at the Pen-y-pass car park. Pete E. and myself started our walk from here and made our way along the Pyg track towards Crib Goch. The weather was bright and sunny and nothing was stopping us now!
Very soon we came to the fork where you either continue on the Pyg track or go up Crib Goch, and there was a little sign there just to give us some encouragement in making the correct decision; it read as follows :
! CRIB GOCH
This is NOT the direct route for Yr Wyddfa.
To follow the Pyg track to Yr Wyddfa summit – go back through the wall and turn right.
CAUTION!
EXTREME:
TECHNICAL ROUTE/GRADE 1 SCRAMBLE
Craggy mountain terrain and knife edge ridge with extreme exposure. Will require scrambling.
Should only be attempted by experienced and able mountaineers.
Full mountain and walking gear essential. Specialist equipment may be required.
I looked at Pete E and said, jokingly, “shall we do the Pyg track?” Pete’s reply was something like, “hell no!”
So up we went, climbing the best route we could figure out and helping each other along the way.
Once up on the ridge, we were rewarded with some of the best views I have ever seen in my life as the weather and visibility were so amazing!
Obviously, we had to be very careful up there and teamwork is always essential on these things, but I was very lucky to have a more than able companion.
We proceeded along the knife edge all the way until eventually we could see Snowdon on our left in front of us.
We came off the ridge to a fairly flat path but still had a steady climb until we reached Snowdon summit!! We’d done it – Crib Goch and Snowdon on the same walk! We both were elated and feeling very pleased with ourselves after such an achievement.
Pete then said, “this will now be the greatest challenge for you, Johnny”. I couldn’t see why straight away but there was a queue and Pete advised me that we would now be waiting approximately an hour to touch the summit stone! I’m not renowned for my patience!
Going down, Pete said we’d go via the Llanberis path, which I‘d not done before so another box was ticked there. This is a fairly gentle but long track down to Llanberis. Halfway down we got a blue slush puppy each (thanks, Pete!). The E numbers in it couldn’t possibly make me any more excited or hyper than I already was! (Could they?!)
We then made our way into Llanberis for a well-deserved drink or two in the pub, where we could talk about what we’d done and achieved. We were very pleased to meet Pete T. there and share the story of our day.
The IOG has fantastic people and there’s always someone willing to do what you want to do, even if it’s a little crazy. I had a great day out and it’s things like this that I live for! I want to say a big thanks to Pete E. because without his participation I would not have been able to do this walk/scramble/climb.
The IOG do a great many outdoor activities and you could do worse than giving this amazing group a look! It may change your life for the better, I know it has mine.
