Snowdon in Diary

So on the evening on Friday 2nd September, I made the long drive to the Tyn-Y-Coed hotel in Capel Curig, Wales and met up with my dad and the people from Animals Asia. We had some food and drinks in the bar, then went up to bed. We had booked a twin room (two single beds) but apparently there was a problem with the website as they only have double rooms…I told them I was going to bring an airbed as I’m not sharing a 4’ 6” bed with my dad! Problem is, the room was absolutely tiny; I pushed the bed right up against the wall and had to squash the airbed between the bed and the radiator. I pushed the blankets down the side because it was squeaking every time I moved!

Saturday 3rd September, we were up bright and early and raring to go. The whole group of about 30 of us met in the hotel car park at 8am. They then faffed about for half an hour before getting into various cars to drive to the base point. They didn’t give anyone directions, just told everyone to follow the car in front. Which is all well and good, until another car gets in between and you lose the car in front! By the time we got to base point, we had lost two cars with seven people in them. We waited for half an hour but eventually the guides decided that we would have to set off while one guide waited at the bottom for the other people. Four of them arrived just as we were setting off, I have no idea if the other three people arrived at all.

So we finally set off walking at 10am! There was a guide at the front of the group, one at the back and a couple running about between everyone. The guides were absolutely awful though. They were having competitions amongst themselves, running off, racing with each other and leaving us behind. They wouldn’t let us rest, we were walking really hard and fast all the way up. Now, I like to think I’m quite fit; I’ve climbed loads of mountains in my time and I exercise almost every day. But I couldn’t keep up with this guy. After two hours, I eventually shouted up that I had zero energy left and I needed to stop for a drink and something to eat. They stopped for two or three minutes and then ran off again without checking if I was ready; one of the other climbers told me to stay where I was and wait for the other group, but they were an hour behind us by that point! Did they really want me to stay on the side of the mountain by myself for an hour? I only wanted to rest for 10 minutes! Luckily dad waited with me, and we set off together so it was just the two of us for the last hour of the climb.

The weather had started off quite drizzly, but not too windy, it was bearable. It got worse and worse as the day wore on, though. The clouds quickly closed in and it wasn’t long before you couldn’t see in front of you.

On the left of this photo, the clouds are hiding the summit, which is where we were heading.

We finally got to the summit all in one piece. We were supposed to be rewarded with a stunning vista of mountains and lakes for miles, but with the solid cloud, there was nothing to see at all. This photo was taken inside the cafe (YES there’s a cafe on top of the mountain! I was so glad to use the hand dryers, my clothes were soaked through!) I actually thought these windows were frosted but no, the stunning vista is also meant to be visible through these…

The cafe was absolutely HEAVING although I suspect about half of those people probably went up on the train (YES, a train to the top of a mountain! Massive cheats.)

Here are me and dad right on the summit. We’re not smiling, we’re grimacing. The wind was 60mph, you can just about see a few icy hailstones whizzing past our faces here. (We all had flower garlands to wear so they knew who was in our group)

Coming down was even more terrifying. The wind was gusting at 60mph and constantly changing direction. There were some really steep and slippery parts. The footpaths had turned into rivers, sometimes the wind was so strong the water was being blown UP the mountain and there were waterfalls where there hadn’t been before, which we now had to walk through whilst trying to get blown off the side of a mountain in zero visibility. I was genuinely scared for my life and actually surprised no one died or was injured.

The whole organisation was a complete shambles from start to finish. Letting people get lost, setting off late, guides not checking everyone was ok, but mainly, when they checked the weather forecast in the morning, they should have cancelled the trip. Sure I would have been pissed off after driving all the way there and paying for two nights in a hotel, but it would have been better than risking our lives.

When we got back to the hotel, there was a pub quiz which was more like a Mensa entrance exam. There was a presentation from the charity, talking about how our sponsor money would be used. They were talking about how people’s pet cats and dogs are stolen and used for meat. Dad is going deaf, he couldn’t hear properly and doesn’t know how loud he talks; the whole room was in silence when he shouts “What’s she saying?? She goes on a bit doesn’t she?!” Oh dad, you’re quite embarrassing…

As if all that wasn’t enough, it was this weekend that Blue took a turn for the worse and went to the vet to go on a drip. Mam was on her own with him and was going out of her mind trying to contact dad and myself, calling and texting, but we had no phone signal at all for the whole weekend.

The entire weekend was just absolutely awful. That’s why it’s taken me so long to write about it. I don’t know what’s wrong with me lately, why it always takes me so long to write about bad things now, it only took me 20 minutes once I started!

Anyway, my sponsor page is still open so if you want to chuck over a few pennies for us risking our lives, you can sponsor me here: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/michellemoore5

Last updated October 07, 2016