Alpine Adventures and Hiking Together in The Black Mountains

At the time of writing, I am ten days away from embarking on Alpine Adventure 2024.

As you will be well aware, if you have followed my BLOGS, my wife Dione has gone through a year of breast cancer surgery and treatments and I'm glad to say, has completely bossed it and is herself now in training for a half marathon in September.

Dione was diagnosed with cancer just a few weeks before I left these shores for Alpine Adventure 2023 and for this reason, amongst others, I am using this year's adventure to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support.

I am just a few pounds away from my target of £1500.00 and your continued support will be gratefully received by myself, Macmillan and the many cancer sufferers they support, every second of every day.

DONATE JUST A FEW £'s HERE... YOU ARE AWESOME

So! A little bit more information on Alpine Adventure 2024. We are planning to climb three, four-thousand meter peaks which will, I hope, result in us finally summitting the mighty Mont Blanc on our third attempt, followed by a visit to Switzerland to make an attempt on the equally mighty and far more terrifying Matterhorn, plus another peak within the Mont Blanc Massif yet to be decided.

Along with these potential climbs, we also intend to climb some exciting and challenging rock routes.

We have all fingers and toes crossed that the conditions and weather will be favorable to our success. There has very recently been a lot of snowfall in the Mont Blanc region, making summitting extremely difficult and Zermatt, our starting point for The Matterhorn, is currently experiencing extreme rain-storms and flooding.

But Hey! A lot can happen in ten days and whatever the conditions may throw our way, we will give it our very best shot and have a whole heap of 'Type II' fun in doing so.

For those of you who have not had the exhilarating experience of climbing in the high mountains, it is hard to explain the level of exposure that you are subjected to on these expeditions. By exposure, I don't mean there is a level of flashing in the Alps unsurpassed anywhere in the world. I mean exposure to height and shear drops of up to and over a thousand meters, should you stumble or make a mistake with your grip and/or footing.

The experience of watching planes and helicopters flying hundreds of feet below you can be somewhat disorienting when you first experience it.

I myself had a brief moment of being 'crag-fast' whilst coming back across the Aguille Du Midi Arete in 2022. The arete was barely a foot wide at the time and I was faced with an ice-step upwards of about twelve inches. With a thousand meter drop all the way back to Chamonix on one side, and about a one hundred meter slide into a huge crevasse on the other... I froze. Aaron was in front and had easily crossed, but I could not decide which foot to put forward, not trusting the strength in my weaker right knee and my left foot which was already in front, not being able to stretch to it.

For several seconds, I truly thought I had met my maker and, to put it bluntly... I fucking shit myself!

It was Aaron's ever-calm voice saying,

'Andy... Just walk... that's all you've got to do....just walk', that finally got me across.

I know that Nathan then had a very similar but shorter-lived moment behind me. The relief when we all got across safely was clear to see on, well, my face at least.

Just after crossing the Aiguille Du Midi Arete

Click here to take a look at a crossing of the Aiguille Du Midi Arete

With this level of exposure in mind, I recently decided that I needed to pull my finger out, and get my ass up to Eryri (Snowdonia), and finally get Crib Goch under my belt. For those of you who aren't aware, Crib Goch is a level one scramble that offers one of the best experiences of an exposed ridge, sensation of height and potential drops, anywhere in the UK.... And I'm yet to do it!

However, as is always the case, the best made plans are often laid to waste.

Having had an extremely busy time of late, working three jobs, including long night shifts, whilst still ensuring my training was done, my body had started to rebel against me and a few niggles had crept in. In particular, a strange injury to the bottom of my right foot, centered around the ball of the big toe and across the pad of the other toes. It had become very painful to walk, especially after my runs. Weirdly, running didn't present a problem after the first mile or so.

So, knowing this, at 02:00 on 16th of June, I still set out on the long drive up to Pen Y Pas. As it turned out, the drives up and back were the most enjoyable parts of the trip. I planned to arrive at Pen y Pas by 06:00 when there were very few other people around and hopefully get the mountain, pretty much to myself.

A word of advice. If you are planning to climb Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) from Pen Y Pas, book your parking space well in advance. Also, expect to pay anything from £20 to £30.

Dawn broke and I was well in to Eryri, which the rising mountains and mist covered valleys attested to. After the very wet start to my drive, the sunlight casting the shadows of picture perfect fluffy white clouds on to the mountains was a spectacular and welcome improvement.

Spectacular views as I entered Eryri
(Snowdonia)

I arrived at Pen y Pas at 06:15 and was a little dismayed to see that the car park was 'chocablock' with hundreds of people milling around. So much for having the mountain to myself!

Quick question for you... Am I the only outdoors and mountain lover that hates sharing the outdoors and mountains with others?

Answers on a postcard please.

After grabbing a fifteen minute power nap, I kitted up and headed for the Pyg Trail. It was absolutely freezing, so as I always seem to do, I over-compensated and inevitably had to strip off and change my sweat-sodden t-shirt for a fresh one within twenty minutes.

Now I'm not going to bore you with a description of every step of the climb, I'll let the stunning pictures and cracking little video I've done give the false impression that I had a great time. Okay, that's a bit unfair, as I did get a great sense of satisfaction once I got off the mountain, and the views on the way down were absolutely glorious....

BUT....

My foot started playing up within an hour and was a constant distraction from all that is good about Yr Wyddfa. By the time I got to the junction for Crib Goch, I could see that the ridge and the summit were engulfed in cloud. That was all the excuse I needed to alter my route and continue on the Pyg Trail.

Being distracted on Crib Goch is absolutely not ideal.

Now the hike had turned into a pure training session, I just wanted to get to the summit and get off the mountain as quickly as possible, so I started really pushing the pace. I passed group after group of people and started to really get into the mission.

Just before the summit, where you leave the Pyg and get onto the Llanberis track, I caught up with a group of physically disabled adults being guided and was completely in awe of their supreme efforts. It also made me realise what a fucking buttercup I was being about my foot injury.

To you guys, whoever you were... I Salute You.... and thank you for getting my mindset from being sorry for myself to being thankful.

As I began to walk along the train tracks to the summit, I was catching up with more and more people, until I hit the inevitable queue to have the obligatory pic at the Trig point. Due to there being very little visibility because of cloud cover and the fact that it was very cold, I thought the prudent thing was to not stand and freeze my balls off, but to immediately head back down.

It did bring to mind fond memories of the last time I had summitted Yr Wyddfa. In 2016 I had arranged a charity hike of Yr Wyddfa and Pen y Fan in a day for Samaritans. It was done with a fantastic group of friends and family, and we set off at 04:00, in the dark, in the rain, and when the mountain was still called Snowdon. It's also how Aaron and I first hooked up. I intended to take the group myself. Aaron contacted me and let's just say that he thought it would be a little bit silly, verging on irresponsible of me to do that if I didn't know the mountain really well.

Having now done the Pyg in daylight, I understand why. The path disappears in quite a few places and you could easily go off track. The fact that Aaron got seventeen of us up and down safely, in pitch darkness and awful weather is testament to his knowledge and skills as a Mountain Leader.

Anyway, back to the hike at hand.

I headed back down, my foot was killing me and my knees thought they'd jump on the pain train as well. However, as the following photos and video will show.... The views were spectacular and the weather below the cloud enshrouded summit was stunning.

It's unfortunate and totally self-inflicted that I didn't enjoy this climb and really didn't appreciate it for what it was, until I sat and wrote this. I did it at short notice, dog-tired and carrying injuries, which in retrospect, was not a very good idea.

Yr Wyddfa will never be a favourite destination of mine. For me, Tryfan and the Glyders offer so much more in the way of a challenge, enjoyment and fun. But don't let me put you off. If you want to bag the highest mountain in England and Wales and enjoy some of the most beautiful scenery anywhere in the world, plan it properly and go and do it.

You know what? Give me a shout and I'll come with you. I promise not to whine like a little bee-atch.

Before my climb summary video and pics, I want to give you a quick update and extend an invitation to you all. Dione works for an amazing mental health charity called Lighthouse who specialise in helping the men and women working in the construction industry.

With everything that we as a couple have been through over the past year and all the conversation and heart wrenching stories of anxiety, depression and sadly, suicide that we now occassionally hear of, I thought I'd like to help as many of you who suffer any kind of anxiety, worry or stress in the best way I know how.

EXERCISE!

NO! I hear you cry.

Now shut up and listen for a moment will you!

I recently placed a post on Facebook offering those who'd like to, to join me on my hikes in and around the Black Mountains. If you've read my early blogs, you'll know what a huge part getting out into the hills and mountains played in keeping me from exploding after D's cancer diagnosis and through her treatment.

The response to this post was pretty overwhelming.

So, when I get back from Alpine Adventure 2024, I will post on Facebook, a day, date and details of a hike/walk I will be doing and let everyone know where to meet. Then it's up to you.

If you'd like to come along and walk in silence to gather your thoughts

If you need somebody to talk to who will actually listen.

If you just need to get away from it all for a few hours.

Or if you just fancy it and want to use to get fitter and maybe lose weight.

I am there for you

I'm hoping we can create a wonderful group of people who will learn to love the Black Mountains, love themselves and realise that there are ways to get through the toughest of times and that there are people who understand and care.

All the walks will start from the car park in Talgarth, to begin with.

There will be short walks, long hikes, manageable routes and killers. It's up to you whether you come or not. All I'm saying is...

You are welcome to join me.

I must point out that I'm not a qualified Mountain Leader, so you'll be coming at your own risk, so to speak.

I will be a qualified mountain leader by the end of the year though 😁

Back to Yr Wyddfa we go then.....

Summary Video of Entire Climb