Snowdon from Rhyd-Ddu

Saturday 7th March 2009

I planned to go for a walk on this particular weekend several weeks before, but when it came to it the weather was poor. The snow of the month before had largely gone and the weather was spring-like right up until the week of the walk. I drove to the village of Rhyd-Ddu first thing in the morning in good weather but it wasn’t long before the weather deteriorated and I found myself walking up Snowdon in bad weather, again. I was going up on the Rhyd-Ddu path, which I’ve never been on before. In fact I have only once before climbed Snowdon from this side of the mountain and that was on the very first occasion I went up Snowdon, back in 2003. Since then I have always gone up either from Nant Gwynant or Pen-y-Pass, simply because the best routes start from there, so as an alternative I thought I’d see what the south-western side of Snowdon has to offer.

To start off, I climbed up a track before turning left onto a path that weaved around rocks up the hillside on what I thought was another great path, but soon the rain started and the wind picked up. I continued to climb the wonderful path until I got to the top of the western ridge, Llechog, where I had a great walk along the top until the ridge opened out and the path zigzagged horribly and steeply up the hillside. It was at this point that the snow under foot started to get prevalent and I had to decide whether to continue. I had seen some people turn back, but others had continued so I decided  I would keep going and see how far I could get. The snow was soft, not particularly deep and although it was raining it was so warm there was no chance it would turn to snow (which could have been disastrous), so I was able to climb the zigzags easily enough by keeping to the edge of the path where the snow was less prevalent.

Further up, the ridge narrowed once again as I reached the fabulous ridge over Bwlch Main. The snow was now getting quite deep but I kept going along the northern side of the ridge with Cwm Clogwyn lying, unseen, steeply below, to my left in the mist, as the ridge narrowed. Although tricky I was able to climb up to the top of the Watkin Path and along the last section of the climb up to the summit. During my ascent through the snow I made a point of looking at the feet of the people who passed me and nearly everyone else also didn’t have crampons on, and it wasn’t until I was near the top that I saw my first person with crampons on. In fact from what I saw the thing to have was not crampons (although they would have helped, I’m sure those with them were a lot more confident on their feet), but walking poles. Those without walking poles seemed significantly less stable on their feet. I saw two lads clambering over Bwlch Main without poles and they were very unsteady, which makes one hope that they made it safely back down to the bottom. I had one pole, which was a help, but I think I would have benefited from a second. If I keep on making a habit of going up mountains in these sorts of wintry conditions I really need to get some crampons, ice axe, or at least a second walking pole. For now I think I’m fed up with snow and I am glad that it seems like this weekend saw the last of the winter snow. The summit was an inhospitable place with deep snow and very strong winds, so I did not want to linger and after touching the top I quickly got back down and sheltered behind the new café along with many others. It was bizarre to see so many people up Snowdon in what must have been atrocious weather conditions; many of those people, surely, were not as well prepared for the conditions as they could be. I had my lunch while crouched in the snow behind the shelter, and then set off with very cold, wet feet down the main path beside the railway, gingerly making my way down the slippery, snow-covered steps of the path. Opposite the top of the Pyg Track I turned left and after crossing the railway lines I followed the Snowdon Ranger Path down. The snow soon disappeared and I was able to get my feet warm, but the cloud, wind and rain remained with me all the way down to the bottom. I was trying to get down as quickly as possible, partly because of the strengthening wind, but mainly because I had become frozen while having my lunch so I was desperate to get active to warm up. The Snowdon Ranger Path, although the route of my first ever ascent up Snowdon, did not appeal to me. The path is too gravelly, and the terrain near the path is predominantly grassy, so lacks interest.

Near the bottom of the path I branched off and took a faint path that would take me back to Rhyd-Ddu. Although the path was faint it was easy to follow as there were frequent signposts marking the way, even as the path meandered through a spectacular, disused, slate quarry. It looked spooky in the misty conditions, but I would have liked to have been there in better weather as it would have been fascinating to explore the abandoned workings. Eventually I got back to my car, very wet, but happy to have taken a fabulous new route up a familiar mountain. I was even a little annoyed with myself that I had never been on this path earlier, as it was just the sort of route that I love. There was an abundance of rock on the climb to the top of Llechog to keep the interest, and the Bwlch Main saddle was delightfully crossed in its entirety. I really enjoyed the walk up the Rhyd-Ddu Path, but the other sections of the walk were less than enjoyable. I think I was most annoyed with myself for doing this walk in such poor weather; I really need to come back in better weather and do it justice.