Welsh 3000 weekend 26.6.10 Back to HH News
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Posted by Carl
As with all great holidays – would it be the same if you were to go back?; As far as the Welsh 3000 was concerned yes it was!  The journey to and from, although long, seemed less of a chore. Oh yes I was driving! Why there was so much fidgeting behind me with Ange reminding everyone incessantly of three points of contact three points of contact is beyond me (my driving was definitely safe). The irony being, when Ange really needed three points of contact next to a 1000ft drop on Tryfan she chose to walk hands free. This did not go unnoticed and has been duly noted!
 
The sleepover on Snowdon was all I remembered it to be from my first experience 30years ago as a teenager – bloody awful at the time but now many fond memorries of full moons and a spectacular sunrise being the only thoughts I have of the night spent at 3560ft. Oh and the camp fire on the summit (are we allowed to have a fire on Snowdon – if not it was Jules that lit it nnot me, honest!), Tim almost being run over by several bikes at 1am, Ange dripping so much her camp mat was soaking by morning. And there was more from the weekend - Martin talking non stop for 48hrs, the slog from the last summit, Foel Fras, to the RV with the support team, Shaun insisting he was in the right place when he wasn't, the bottle of Bud after 9hrs on my feet in 20C heat, tapas and wine at 7pm that night, cracking Tryfan again on Sunday (it’s a fantastic mountain from most angles, though quite ugly from others), Jules and Shaun joining us on the Tryfan training session, watching Ange, the Llanigon mountain goat (or dragon depending on her mood - who will ever forget the expletives at 5am on a cold damp morning . . .), run up Carnedd Daffyd to the annoyance of most of us who could only manage a walk, John’s calming influence over everyone, Lily hating heights but managing to climb 9000ft in one weekend, the joy of mobile phone communications to let Shaun know he was in the wrong place, although it did take some time convincing him and just as my battery and signal ebbed away, Ashley and Tim for being the backbone of the team and knowing they will be there when you really need them to be, Jo for inspiring everyone with her ability to just keep on going no matter how bad she feels - mere mortals like us would simply succumb, Shaun and Jules for their support, time and patience over the last two training sessions and finally me as I keep asking myself why are we doing this . . . . then I remember, because we can and being ever mindful that those less fortunate than us can not, so come rain or shine we must make the most of what we have when we have it, hence we are on the Welsh 3000 and not watching England being soundly beaten by the Germans. Is that worth an Oscar?

Posted by Ashley
Welsh 3000 round 2, or they day we went to Bangor (almost)

The intrepid crew set off from Hay on Friday at 3pm, the motley collection of native Indians, intrepid runners and me were packed into three vehicles and set off for the far reaches of North Wales. We arrived at the bunk house at about 7pm  and collected our thoughts before setting off for Pen y Pass and the late evening ascent of Snowdon. The party consisting of Indian John, two moons Martin, Lily ridgewalker, cool walking Tim, big daddy chief Carl, Sweet greetings Ange, can’t get enough kit Jo, smiley squaw Jules and me arrived at the summit at half past ten. The summit was packed so we all bedded down on the path approaching the summit and spent the next four hours listening to a running commentary of walkers and cyclists who were making their way to the summit in the late night and early morning. We awoke after a short sleep to a beautiful still vista everyone exchanged early morning greetings, Ange was asked how she slept and lived up to her sweet greetings name with the now infamous reply ‘it was fine until some **** said good morning!!!! ‘ this engendered several minutes eye watering laughter.
We descended Snowden to be met by, ‘I see no pylons’ Shaun, a quick trip to the bunkhouse for breakfast and then onto conquer the Carnedd’s. The sun drenched day involved a steep climb to the summit, and walk along the undulating Carnedd  summits; this was followed by a long descent to the pre arranged rendezvous where we all looked forward to a beer and some pasta only to find no one waiting for us, Carl arrived at the car park and explained a short exchange with Shaun over radio about pylons and views of hills, we were looking at a view of the aforementioned, Shaun was looking at the coastline and offshore windmills, I deduced rapidly that the walkers and the support party were both at different places, I was not too concerned about ‘I see no pylons’ Shaun however I was getting concerned about my separation from beer. However Carl and Shaun had exchanged pleasantries over the radio and to my immense relief I was soon reunited with my beer.
Return to the bunkhouse quick shower and sorting out of sleeping arrangements, some aperitif’s and then off to the pub, good food and some good alcoholic refreshments. Then a late night bunkhouse quiz, admirably chaired by ’I see no bias’ Shaun, from my excellent ability to recollect facts in an impartial way the men thrashed the women. Jo complimented Shaun on his excellent chairmanship and we all went off to a well deserved good night’s sleep.
The next morning Indian John made something similar to porridge, well similar maybe an exaggeration, and I put my considerable culinary skills to great use in making sandwich’s; however’ two moons’ Martin had used his great powers of Indian intuition and had got up early and made his own!!! I tried to hide my great hurt at such a slight and carried on normally. We all packed up and headed off for another daunting morning of mountain ascents. The entire crew ascended Tryfan and two moons nonchalantly leapt from Adam to Eve, I would  of course joined him but a combination of Indian John’s porridge  and my rustic sandwich’s kept me rooted to terra firma.
So the weekend’s exertions over we all clambered back into our various vehicles and started our trip back to civilisation, cool walking Tim and myself stopped at a roadside pub to watch Germany win a football match, the fly in the ointment of a good weekend.
Great thanks to Carl for another great feat of organisation and pork pie provision, thanks to Shaun and Jules for such selfless help, gratitude to two moons for his trappist like contribution to the weekend, thanks to all for some great company and finally the question of the weekend, who was the **** who said ‘good morning’ to Ange ????
The first and last report from your intrepid reporter, with apologies for any spelling errors, all characters depicted here are purely fictional.

Posted by Ange
My Snowdon Weekend

I really enjoyed the first training weekend in May but was secretly dreading this one, not because I knew what was coming with the hills but because of the horrendous Sleepover on Snowdon. However, like most things terrifying, the thought was far worse than the actual deed and I can honestly  say I almost enjoyed it, though apologies for my language at daybreak on Sat morning.  The sun shone, the views were sublime and the company second to none and I came from the experience feeling quite humbled, full of respect for my fellow Welsh 3000 Hotfooters with whom I shared so much sweat, pain, sweets and lager and with a new found love of Snowden. I also learnt just that little bit more about everyone than what I knew when we went up on Friday.

I never knew that:-

1) Shaun is a secret Billy Goat. He trotted up and down Tryfan on Sunday, catching falling boulders as big as breeze blocks that were about to land on  his head, quietly moving  them to one side before reassuring me that "yeah,yeah, I'm fine" in his usual cheerful way.

2)Tim has an inside leg measurement of at least 1/4 mile and is maybe not the best person to be checking  if a vertical rock face is climbable - anything is climbable with legs as long as those but what about the rest of us?

3)Ashley is like Superman in a phone box - minutes after coming off the mountain on Sunday, he was freshened up, changed and zoom! off in the car to find a pub on the way home to watch England in the World Cup. Bet you wish you hadn't bothered now, hey Ash?

4) Lily is not just brave  but completely fearless, too. Not only did she hide her fear of heights to rightly gain the title of Lily Ridgewalker, but she also managed to keep smiling through two days of Martin's incessant chatter.

5) Martin is the excitable 5yr old boy. He's like a fizzy bottle of pop. Always talking, always laughing (very loudly)  but then when tiredness creeps in and he hits the wall, silence! Not a murmur! He sits as still as a statue with half of one eye shut. Wake up Marti! Musn't go to sleep! Nearly home now!

6) Jules-Delia-Smith-Mason is a culinary whiz. She manages to transform a bag of pasta and a tin of Heinz  tomato soup into a gastronomic feast with little more than a hot box. Well done Jules!

7)Jo is truely fantastic at treating blisters. I'm proud to say that she has a 100% success rate with my feet and not a 16G hypodermic needle or iodine in sight.

8) John is the fountain of all knowledge when it comes to stories, folk-lore, myths and legends. He kept us entertained from Erwood to Snowdon and back, thus relieving much of the boredom and at times, sheer terror  of the journey  (Carl was driving). Also, someone mentioned his obliques but I'm not sure who that was....... 

9) Carl's short cuts are infact long cuts - pretty but definately not short. He also has a complete inability to approach severe right hand bends at anything less than 60mph, forcing everyone except the luggage to cling on tight and pray/swear under their breath. I've also discovered that Carl is very fond of trail mix, happily nibbling on handfuls of the stuff like an 'al ewe nibbling on sheep nuts, with dire consequences to his digestive system. They say it helps to chew your food 50 times before swallowing, Carl,  and its polite to stand down down-wind.

As for me, I never knew that I was going to enjoy it  as much as I did and having overcome my fear of sleeping on Snowdon, anything else now seems that little bit more possible! Oh, and I'd also forgotten just how much I love a packet of Frazzles..........