Once again, it was rather late to be setting out into the mountains at gone 15:30 in the afternoon, but a fine sunset was beckoning and I was hoping to move fast…

Time had slipped by quicker than expected during the day, while I was busy making a lot of sawdust and preparing some measurements and design for a new set of shelves.

The sun had long left the valley floor when I pulled up in the car, but the summit was still catching the light, so I set a goal of reaching the summit while the sun was still up. I blasted up the north ridge at a decent pace and reached the Cannon Stone while shafts of sunlight crested the distant horizon. I stopped briefly to soak up the view, take a photo and then moved on.

I kept as close to the ridge crest as possible and climbed all the bits I’d usually avoid with a group in order to gain height as quickly as possible.

Although I wanted to get to the top quickly, I was compelled to keep stopping and taking photos!

At the summit, I climbed straight up to the top of the summit rocks and sat down before even taking my rucksack off! I was in the sun! It had been 42 minutes since I’d left the car. Possibly my fastest ascent.

All that was left to do was sit and enjoy the views and watch the light change.

It soon got pretty cold, especially as I was wearing shorts. I had a drink from my flask and put on a few layers before decided I ought get back down. It was 16:34 when I left the top. The climbing shop in Capel Curig closed at 17:30. I wondered if I could make it there?…

I was back at the road in 19 minutes! I made it comfortably to the shop, then ‘warmed down’ with a bit of bouldering and a lot of stretching at PyB. Might be a bit stiff in the morning!