Mountain Lifestyle

The Chancer – On Y Garn between the Showers

An ascent of Y Garn in the tail end of Hurricane Barney seemed an unlikely choice of activity first thing this morning. Rain continued to bombard The Cottage with flower pots and leaves doing circuits of the garden. Needless to say, the rivers were in full effect – this is Ogwen Falls by Ogwen Cottage:

Up in Cwm Idwal, late in the afternoon, the rain had stopped, but the wind was far from finished! Huge sheets of spray were being picked up from Llyn Idwal, blown the length of the lake, up into the air and across the mountain side, causing me to time a run past the shore to avoid a soaking.

The weather forecast had indicated that there might be a break in the precipitation just before dusk, so I took my chances, wrapped up and hoped for the best. The gamble paid off. It was still incredibly windy; I got stopped dead in my tracks, blown off course, but never off my feet. Still, the curiosity to push on kept me pounding upwards. Just before the final ridge, a beam of sun light broke through the otherwise very dark sky and illuminated the mountain of Pen yr Ole Wen on the other side of the valley. It was a moment to stop and appreciate.

By now I was close to the top and clouds were charging over the ridge and down towards me. In anticipation of a struggle I increased my layers and pulled on my gloves before going for the summit push. Crossing over a ridge line and seeing the other side of the valley is usually a rewarding moment for mountaineers and today I really struck gold. I was now walking full-on into a headwind of about 60mph, which was exhilarating enough, but in the distance, the skies were clearing in preparation for what looked to be a fabulous sunset.

I took shelter behind the summit cairn, kicked back and enjoyed a hot drink from my flask, while the wind rushed on overhead.

I had to stick my head out above the shelter of the cairn to enjoy the sunset views, which, due to the wind was quite literally breath taking.

Safely tucked in my little shelter, stayed up there over twenty minutes watching the show…
The recent rains had really cleared the air, so although clouds were still touching down over Snowdon, but I could clearly see right over to the Lleyn and Angelsey.

Even though, I’ve been up this mountain many, many times, I’m yet to get tired of it, or not notice something new. Just over an hour later, I was back in The Cottage showing the fireside some appreciation when the heavens opened again! Talk about jammy!
Ian Martin

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