Welcome to the mydaddyisasoldier trek 2011. We are hoping to set out on the 12th March from the small town of Llanberis at the foot of Yr Wyddfa or Snowdon as we all know it. This mountain is the tallest in England and Wales and stands at an impressive 1085 metres above sea level. There are a variety of routes possible on the mountain and we will be approaching via the Llanberis path. This offers some of the best approach views of the mountain, and is a realistically achievable route for the girls to tackle in the daylight available to us on the day.
The route starts alongside the base station for the Snowdon mountain railway – one of the only ones in the UK and marks the start of our ascent from the valley floor up towards the summit on well maintained paths via the halfway house –a small ‘bothy’ cafe which is exactly half way up!
After this point the route gets steeper and a little more exposed – without being too dangerous it can be exciting if the wind picks up, unless there is snow cover, when it can form cornices of snow which we will need to avoid. We start to curve round to the right approaching the summit ridge. At this point we will rejoin the railway on its last push to the summit itself.
The last 50 metres of ascent to the very top are the best of the day, we will no doubt be tired by this point, but a little scramble over rocks and we’ve made it to the highest point. Photos, cheers and a quick drink with our lunches and we’ll make our way back down.
We obviously hope that the weather will be kind to us, but anything can happen with the weather on this mountain so we will need to be prepared for every eventuality. We are undertaking training walks during February and I think everyone is raring to go!
Watch this space for more updates as our preparation continues.