Nothing really compares to a run out with your friends and training partners in the beautiful suroundings of Snowdonia. Add to that, a covering of snow and a smattering of ice and the mountaintops are transformed into a challenging playground for the more thrill seeking runner. With this in mind and following the annual festivities, Boxing day dawned crisp and clear with blue skies and low, low temperatures. This was a repeat of Christmas Day which saw Andy Walling and Gary Williams of Menai track and field join me for a jaunt out across Moel y Ci. The run was brisk and the mood happy, I think that both of my co-runners were as happy as I was to get away from the house before the onset of the over indulgence of food! We enjoyed a leisurely run back to Bethesda and then 24 hours later we met again, to be joined by Eryri Harriers' Arwel Lewis. A more challenging assent was planned over to the Carneddau, which looked spectacular, rising like grey haired giants on the horizon behind the church steeple at Bethesda. I have seldom been so cold on a run, but all thoughts of sympathy for myself were soon dismissed as we took off towards the range. We spent the next two and a quarter hours on what can only be described as an adventure. The temperatures dropped constantly and the major hazard was the ice, which appeared from beneath the snow almost permenantly. We spent as much time on our arses as upon our feet and most of the time was spent pointing and laughing at one another as he or she took a fall. The views were simply breathtaking and I never tire of the beautiful countryside in which I have made my home. One point was however reinforced, as, when I re
turned home later that day I discovered that a pair of walkers had to be rescued by helicopter after becoming stranded in ice on the slopes of Carnedd Dafydd. So please, if you are considering a trip up to any of the hills in the area make sure that you are well equipped, and carry the dreaded mobile telephone with you. It is one place that you will definately get a signal and you will most definately not mind if it rings!
Nothing really compares to a run out with your friends and training partners in the beautiful suroundings of Snowdonia. Add to that, a covering of snow and a smattering of ice and the mountaintops are transformed into a challenging playground for the more thrill seeking runner. With this in mind and following the annual festivities, Boxing day dawned crisp and clear with blue skies and low, low temperatures. This was a repeat of Christmas Day which saw Andy Walling and Gary Williams of Menai track and field join me for a jaunt out across Moel y Ci. The run was brisk and the mood happy, I think that both of my co-runners were as happy as I was to get away from the house before the onset of the over indulgence of food! We enjoyed a leisurely run back to Bethesda and then 24 hours later we met again, to be joined by Eryri Harriers' Arwel Lewis. A more challenging assent was planned over to the Carneddau, which looked spectacular, rising like grey haired giants on the horizon behind the church steeple at Bethesda. I have seldom been so cold on a run, but all thoughts of sympathy for myself were soon dismissed as we took off towards the range. We spent the next two and a quarter hours on what can only be described as an adventure. The temperatures dropped constantly and the major hazard was the ice, which appeared from beneath the snow almost permenantly. We spent as much time on our arses as upon our feet and most of the time was spent pointing and laughing at one another as he or she took a fall. The views were simply breathtaking and I never tire of the beautiful countryside in which I have made my home. One point was however reinforced, as, when I re
turned home later that day I discovered that a pair of walkers had to be rescued by helicopter after becoming stranded in ice on the slopes of Carnedd Dafydd. So please, if you are considering a trip up to any of the hills in the area make sure that you are well equipped, and carry the dreaded mobile telephone with you. It is one place that you will definately get a signal and you will most definately not mind if it rings!
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