Welsh 3,000ers
The Welsh 3,000ers14- 15 June 2008 This Challenge involves climbing the fifteen 3,000ft mountains in Snowdonia over two days. You will cover a distance of 26 miles and ascend over 13,000ft. |
Challenge Information
The Welsh 3,000’ers Challenge involves climbing the fifteen 3,000ft mountains in Snowdonia over two days. The walk will cover the seven peaks of the Carneddau, the highest and largest mountain range south of Scotland, the five peaks of the Glyderau, with the famous rock peak Tryfan and the three main peaks on the Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) horseshoe.
£100 deposit (payable upon registration and non refundable)
£600 minimum sponsorship per person (80% payable by 11 April 2008)
Itinerary
Day one
The Carneddau (seven summits) and The Glyderau (three summits)
After a full cooked breakfast at the hostel, you will be driven to the start of the route at 8-8.30am.
The start of the walk takes some time to get us up to the first summit, Foel Fras (3,090ft). Now we are up above 3,000ft, the rest of the walk today is a beautiful ridge walk with views stretching as far as Ireland and the Isle of Man on a good day. We quickly summit the next three peaks of Garnedd Uchaf (3,038ft), Foel Grach (3,202ft) and Carnedd Llewelyn (3,490ft). We will stop here for lunch admiring the views of the route we have taken and then take a quick diversion to get to and from Yr Elen (3,156ft) off on a spur. We then walk along the top of the famous black ladders towards Carnedd Dafydd (3,425ft) and then onto the double summit of Pen yr Ole Wen (3,208ft). The descent from Pen yr Ole Wen is a delightful scramble down a gully to Ffynnon Lloer and we will then follow the river down to the Ogwen valley.
Dependant upon the descent route from Pen yr Ole Wen, the weather and the group’s ability, we will walk the following circular route either in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction and then onto the summit rocks. In a clockwise direction, we walk up the heather terrace of Tryfan (3,002ft). There is the opportunity to earn the freedom of the mountain and jump from Adam to Eve if you are feeling particularly brave. From Tryfan we pass to the side of bristly ridge to reach Glyder Fach (3,261ft) and then onto Glyder Fawr (3,277ft). We will pass the cantilever stone and the famous “Castell y Gwynt” (Castle of the Wind) rocks. It is now a long descent via the Devils Kitchen to Llyn Idwal and onto Llyn Ogwen. You would reverse this route if we walk in an anticlockwise direction. You may need to use your head torch dependent upon the weather and the time of year. Transport will be waiting to take you back to your designated youth hostel and your evening meal.
The day should take about 9–11 hours walking time over 25km and have a total ascent of 6,549ft/1,996m.
Day two
The Glyderau (two summits) and The Snowdon Horseshoe (three summits)
After another fine full cooked breakfast (remember to pick up your packed lunch) you are driven to the base of Y Garn for this days start at 8-8.30am.
Up the ridge to the summit of Y Garn (3,107ft) and the long walk around to Elidir Fawr (3,031ft) via Foel Goch. We descend to Nant Peris and will get picked up by the minibus and driven to Pen-y-pass youth hostel at the base of the Snowdon horseshoe where we will walk up the Pyg Track to Bwlch y Moch. We then start the famous horseshoe ridge of Crib Goch (3,028ft). Scramble nimbly along the ridge to drop down to Bwlch Coch, which is a good place for a snack out of the wind, and then ascend once again to Garnedd Ugain (3,494ft).
The final summit is now tantalisingly in view as you join the train tracks and walk up to the summit trig point of Snowdon (3,560ft) with a spring in your step.
Challenge Celebration!
We will stop for some summit photographs with amazing views over the whole route from the past two days. The only way now is down as we take the Llanberis path down into Llanberis and walk straight to our hotel for your celebratory meal.
The day should take about 7–9 hours walking time over 18km and have a total ascent of 6,033ft/1,839m.
Snowdon departure
After having a full cooked breakfast the next morning, transport will be available to drive you to either Bewts-y-Coed or Conwy train stations.
