Snowdonia Winter 2024 SMC Meet Report

Hello SMC,

2024 has kicked off with our first meet of the year; a weekend Winter walking in Wales. The plan was to stomp around above the snowline, but the weather had other ideas. It was too warm for snow, with even some sunshine!

We stayed on the edge of Blaenau Ffestiniog, in a bright and spacious, newly renovated, chapel. It will be worth booking again for future trips. 

With the Moelwynion so local, we opted to set off hiking from the doorstep on Saturday morning. We headed along the Snowdonia Slate Trail to Llyn Cwmorthin, stopping to explore the ruins of abandoned quarry buildings. Martin made himself at home here. The trail then steepened and we headed up old quarry access ramps before cutting across bog to bag the summit of Foel Ddu. The wind was strong and didn’t let up as we progressed along the ridge to reach Moel-yr-hydd. From this point we could head downhill through the bog to the shelter of the Llyn Stwlan Reservoir, where we stopped for an overdue lunch. From the impressive damn, we took the access road down to Tanygrisiau, taking our time to scope out the climbing crags along the way, watching the climbers and listening to the jangle of trad gear. 

We’d worked up an appetite, and so ventured into town to scout out the dining options. There wasn’t huge choice, and we found the main hotel kitchen was closed. We opted for a Chinese Takeaway, where we managed to break the record for the longest time waiting for Chow Mein. It seemed the whole of Blaenau Ffestiniog arrived, ordered, was served and departed, while our order was forgotten.  The evening was topped off with some fiercely contested boardgames (at least, as much as our energy levels would allow). 

Arsh and Jennifer awoke early on Sunday morning, and completed their hike while the rest of us breakfasted. They then prepared themselves for the train journey home while Alice, Martin, Lucy and myself prepared for scrambling Moel Siabod and The Daear Ddu Ridge. We stopped at Betws-y-Coed, for emergency waterproof socks as Alice’s boots were still sodden from Saturday’s bogs. The weather was sunny with clear blue skies, and I got my first ever glimpse of Moel Siabod without it being shrouded in cloud. Typically, you could see the summit from the carpark, but not once we were standing atop of it. The weather had rolled in during the ascent, stealing our views and battering us with more wind. We were rewarded with a trig point at the summit, and I’m proud of how everyone stayed high-spirited on what was a drizzly, slippery, sapping descent. 

All that remained of the weekend was a damp drive home, full of anticipation of, A- would Martin’s car have a parking ticket on my road?, and B - Would Martin’s car even start again? After all, his car would have been in Snowdonia with us, had it not flagged an emergency engine fault on Friday night as we passed Cricklade, resulting in an abrupt U-turn and car swap in Swindon. Thankfully, everybody made it home safely, and all vehicles are happy and healthy. 

Here’s to the next SMC meet!

Cheers,

Ali