Welsh 15 Peaks

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The aim of the trip was to ascend the 15 peaks in Wales which are above 3000ft.

After our failed attempt on the 26-Aug-06 we decided it was about time to try again in slightly better weather conditions. The mountain forecast was good, so a last minute decision was made, and we all met in North Wales late on Friday night.

We got up at 05:00 to position the second car at Bethesda (Our Planned Finish). It was then time to try and eat some breakfast before heading over to start at Pen-Y-Pass. We finally started at 07:35 after having to go back to the campsite so that Kev could retrieve his car keys which we were sure we would need at the finish in order to drive his car back to the tents!

Snowdon Range
The first three peaks were somewhat breezy with patches of fog obscuring the views. The windy traverse over the ridges of Crib Goch (923m) and Crib-y-Ddysgl (1065m) was exciting, if not a little hair raising at times, due to the unpredictable gusts of wind. It was then an easy walk up to the summit of Snowdon (1085m). On the way down we turned off the Llanberis Path at the Clogwyn Station and descended, rather steeply but quickly, through Cwm Glas Bach to Nant Peris.

Glyder Range
From Nant Peris we took the Cwm Dudodyn path and turned left at the footbridge which led us straight up (sounds easy doesn't it!) to the summit of Elidir Fawr (924m). This climb was a bit of a killer after the ascent of Crib Goch but was a much easier route than the one we'd attempted last year following the Cwm Dudodyn directly to the Col. The ridge line was a pleasant run to the adjoining peaks of Y-Garn (947m), Glyder Fawr (999m) and Glyder Fach (994m). From Glyder Fach we descended an awkward gulley with exposed climbs and plenty of loose rock to Bwlch Tryfan and then climbed back up to the extremely impressive summit of Tryfan (915m). After admiring the beautiful views we decided to 'drop' off the western side to Llyn Ogwen.

Carneddau Range
Climbing the steep flank of Pen yr Ole Wen (978m), we thought our legs may explode under the pressure of the third and final large climb of the day. At this point Greg found it necessary to provide the incentive of Jelly Babies at the next peak so we got a move on! The terrain, again, was easily runnable but unfortunately, at this stage, our legs had turned to jelly so our pace was slowing. We passed the peaks of Carnedd Dafydd (1044m), Carnedd Llewelyn (1064m), Yr Elen (962m), Foel Grach (976m), Garnedd Uchaf (926m) and finally, out on a limb Foel Fras (942m).

The Return
From Foel Fras we still had a whopping 4 miles, 700m of descent and navigation in the ever decreasing light before we arrived in the town of Bethesda where we found the car and thankfully Kev still had his keys!

Strava Stats

Recent Last 4 weeks

3 nr
14 mi
02:04:14
826 ft
0 nr
0 mi
00:00:00
0 ft
1 nr
1 mi
00:44:39

Year-to-date

31 nr
113 mi
16:22:42
9,011 ft
2 nr
47 mi
03:29:01
2,184 ft
32 nr
40 mi
25:24:57

All-Time Stats

1,498 nr
10,346 mi
1432:03:58
809,530 ft
907 nr
5,916 mi
505:55:16
441,165 ft
85 nr
102 mi
69:44:12

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