Amazing week at wales :)

[vish_shan]

Hello ,

Just writing a small report on my trip to snowdonia last week for a hill walking course with PYB. I had a great week ( March 16th-March 20th) . I was in a group of 4 including myself .We had an instructor for first 2 days and and another instructor for next 3 days.Myself being from India was never been into hills before that.(well i mean never walked in hills).So hardly had an idea of how a ridge looks like , a contour and many other terms used in hill walking. Coming to weather, it was the best weather in snowdonia as said by many people for the entire week.It never rained and the winds were not strong and everything else is perfect for a newbie like me . I walked around 7 miles per day on an average. The first 3 days went fine without giving me any problem.Although i caught a pain on the side of my right knee on the end of the 3rd  day when walking down the hills which are littlebit steeper. Had to be with the pain tilll the end of my 5th day.(It was really hell for me on 4th and 5th day as my knee joints gave me a hell of pain  when walking down the hills.)

Some of the pics from my trip can be found at

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/kopparapu.vishnu

Overall I had a great week.My group was easy and  enjoyed the evenings with them having a a good beer.(I am not really a fan of beer.Trying to start tasting few).The only thing i got stuck with them is when they speak of football or rugby  goes around my head. Have to start knowing about them And finally really great food at the centre.

I have attached  my maps and my very brief  trip details as i dont remember the exact details for all the trips.

1.

http://www.multimap.com/maps/?qs=capel+curig&countryCode=GB#map=53.10974,-3.90204|15|4&dp=os&bd=useful_information&loc=GB:53.10497:-3.91262:14|capel curig|Capel Curig, Betws-Y-Coed, Gwynedd, Wales, LL24 0

March 16th - clogwyn mawr -> crimpiau

2.

http://www.multimap.com/maps/?qs=moel+siabod&countryCode=GB#map=53.07866,-3.91199|14|4&dp=os&bd=useful_information&loc=GB:53.06667:-3.95:17|moel siabod|Carnedd Moel-siabod (Moel Siabod)

March 17th - Moel siabod

3.

http://www.multimap.com/maps/?qs=carnedd+dafydd&countryCode=GB#map=53.1441,-3.99061|14|4&dp=os&bd=useful_information&loc=GB:53.14833:-4.00083:17|carnedd dafydd|Carnedd Dafydd

March 18th -  carpark at number 67 ->Pen yr Ole Wen -> Carnedd Dafydd -> Carpark at number 67

4.

http://www.multimap.com/maps/?qs=tanygrisian&countryCode=GB#map=52.99587,-3.99825|14|4&dp=os&bd=useful_information&loc=GB:52.98686:-3.95703:14|tanygrisian|Tanygrisiau, Ffestiniog, LL41 3

March 19th - Cnicht

5.

http://www.multimap.com/maps/?qs=nantlle&countryCode=GB#map=53.04183,-4.18219|14|4&dp=os&bd=useful_information&loc=GB:53.0601:-4.21518:14|nantlle|Nantlle, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, Wales, LL54 6

March 20th - Small part of Nantlle Ridge

[grahama]

Hi Vish,

Looks like you had a great time.  I know how you feel with the knee pain aswell !!  Great photos by the way, good weather always helps when out and about!  Need to organise some more trips now to ready yourself for Edale 

Regards,

Graham

[Peakbagger]

Some great photo's there vish_shan. Looks like you had a good time and you certainly brought some good weather with you. Could you come to Snowdonia a bit more often as we could do with more decent weather like we had last week?

I sometimes suffer with knee pain, particularly in my right knee, and going down hill is when it gets me. I now use walking poles on steep descents as they help take some of the strain off my knees and I find I don't get the pain as much.

I was up on the Nantlle Ridge today with ramblingpete and Arenig but we had to abort our plans to walk the whole ridge when we reached a col and the wind was so strong that it was impossibe to stand up. We dropped down off the ridge and had an explore around some old mine workings before heading back to the car, so we still had a good walk although obviously we were a little disappointed at not being able to complete the ridge. The power of the wind at that point was quite terrifying but we made the right decision to abort, to have tried to carry on would have been suicide. Another day we'll be back...

[vish_shan]

Hi Vish,

Looks like you had a great time.  I know how you feel with the knee pain aswell !!  Great photos by the way, good weather always helps when out and about!  Need to organise some more trips now to ready yourself for Edale 

Regards,

Graham

Thanks Graham.Yep i am planning a couple of 2 day walks (hopefully) before the edale meet.Let see how my plans go 

[vish_shan]

Some great photo's there vish_shan. Looks like you had a good time and you certainly brought some good weather with you. Could you come to Snowdonia a bit more often as we could do with more decent weather like we had last week?

Even my instructor was saying the same thing to our group for bringing a great weather with us  Ofcourse even i need a great weather if  i come there next or else travelling all the way from kent will be waste

The power of the wind at that point was quite terrifying but we made the right decision to abort, to have tried to carry on would have been suicide. Another day we'll be back...

Thats a smart move or else as you said the winds can be fatal at those heights and steep ridges
This is one thing i actually learnt from the course. I was over excited before going to the course.But i could actually draw up what my capabilities are and what my interests are .I would be enjoying a walk with not too dangerous ridges and with beautiful scenetic views.

[Arenig]

Hiya vish-shan, I was really pleased you took my advice and booked yourself on to this "Hill walking for beginners" course and I'm also pleased to hear you found it informative and enjoyable. You were very lucky with the weather that particular week, I managed to get out myself a couple of times that week and believe me it does make all the difference when conditions allow you to admire the wonderful views. The views at the end of the day are your reward for all the time, effort and expense you put into getting to these summits. I hope this course has given you the encouragement and confidence to get out again now. I'm sure there's quite a few on the forum are like me that are looking forward to meeting up with you and getting out into the mountains. Keep your eyes open on the forum for any up and coming days out, You'll be made very welcome and I'm sure you'll enjoy them now you know what to expect.

[Ian s]

It's so good to hear you had a good time Vish_shan. What you did was a good week's walking by anybody's standards and I'm not surprised you got a sore knee! (I hope it's easing up now). 5 days rough walking on big mountains is a lot to ask of your legs when you're not used to it. For a newcomer to walking you should feel very pleased to have done so well on such a good introductory week.

The problem now will be making sure your next adventures don't fall short of the superb standard you have set!

Well done mate
Ian