Group Snowdonia Expedition
6th September 2009
On 31st July through 2nd August, leaders from both Cubs and Scout sections, along with Ben from the Explorer unit took part in an mountaineering expedition to Snowdonia. The group set off on Friday morning and arrived at the foot of Tryfan for about 3pm. The weather had taken a turn for the worse with heavy rain ale winds, however, the group set of to tackle Tryfan's north face, a grade 1 scramble, with great enthusiasm. Although the conditions and failing light prevented the team from reaching the summit they did make it about 2 thirds of the way up and it proved a challenging introduction to the sport of scrambling for most members of the team.
The team take on a wet scramble up the
North face of Tryfan
Phil seems to be enjoying the view.
After the night in Caple Curig Youth Hostel and a hearty meal cooked by Tiph, the team set off on a bright and sunny morning to tackle the Glyders. The route included one of Snowdonia's most popular and exhilarating scrambles, Bristly Ridge, leading to the high level route around Glyder Fach, Glyder Fawr before dropping back down vis the 'Devils Kitchen'.
The team before they set off towards Llyn Bochlwyd
A game of tug-of-war with a cub leader
Srambling up the 'sinister gully' on the approach to Bristly Ridge.
Once up the gully, the team make their way pinnacles and across the ridge.
After the breathtaking scramble up the ridge the team were treated to the fantastic, broken landscape upon the summit of the Glyders including the customary photo on the Cantilever Stone and the short scramble over the staggering rock formation that is known as the 'Castle of the Winds'
I think I can hold it a few minutes longer
I told Lewis not to do it -honest !!!
The second day saw the team set off to ascend Snowdon via the southern approach via Y Lliwedd. The weather was good for most of the day providing some awesome views. However, the cloud base dropped as we started the final approach up the south east face causing poor visibility. This did not dampen the spirits of the team and everyone felt a sense of achievement when the finally made it to the summit cairn.
A misty lunch on the top of Wales
Everyone had a fantastic time and it was a really good chance for team building experience for the leadership team. Hopefully, we can make this an annual event to allow the leaders to blow off some stream and have a really fun time.