Penrhyndeudraeth - North Wales

7th-9th December 2001

by Nick Adlam

Packed and ready to go in good time on Friday evening we began the crawl out of London in the direction of North Wales. Once out of the urban jungle the rented minibuses pulled out their trump cards by showing that despite their brick like aerodynamic profile, they did in fact go like stink.

We arrived in good time at Catrin's House (our cheap accommodation for the weekend) and having marvelled at the carpets, beds and hot water (far from the amenities of our usual haunts) we got some sleep only to be...

Woken to the smell of cooked breakfast on Saturday morning everyone quickly stirred themselves into action. After a minimum of faffing the group dispersed and went their separate ways for the day. While some braved the wild river waters in rafts, the rest of the club decided to make good use of the blue sky and dry rock.

A small group decided to rock climb: the highlight of which was James Dear's small lead slip that redefined the word 'smearing' by adding a brown context to it. Another contingent decided to spend the day on the East Face of Tryfan scrambling up anything and everything they could find. They ended up enjoying it so much that they got a little behind and were lucky to smell their way to the pub in the dark. That left a few to go mountain biking: the approved style of slow up and quick down was slightly marred by a few 'controlled' accidents. While Toby's 'lady' bike faired well, Jon's bike suffered a few unfortunate punctures.

An evening of feeling a little out of place in a distinctly local pub was eased by an excess of beer and, strangely, the challenging of Nick to consume two economy Chocolate Swiss Rolls, which left Roger £12 out of pocket.

A heavy head and lack of sleep did not deter any of the group from enjoying a second day of good weather. The highlights of the previous day's activities were revisited with more rock climbing, walking and mountain biking. However, the undisputed highlight of the day was the motley crew lead by Toby that decided to explore an abandoned mine at the foot of Snowdon.

Three hours in the pitch dark wading in freezing cold water that thankfully stayed just below waist level (thus avoiding a few high-pitched male screams), exploring an array of tunnels, caverns and very large vertical drops.

An ordered team effort to get back on the road to London meant we got home at a reasonable hour, which left James Dear plenty of time to lead an ascent and traverse of the union arch, before the group dispersed to get some well earned sleep.