D-Day 6th June
The Carneddau Range 6/6/09
Hightown Hikers - 7
What a day! Incredible weather conditions made this hike a battle of the elements.
Parked up just to the east of Llyn Ogwen at the foot of Pen yr Ole Wen.
Map OS Map 115 GR668605.
Weather forecast in the morning had rain but no hint of the high winds!
We set off and began the climb to Pen yr Ole Wen - steady going in a light drizzle. Usual banter between the lads - as always - made for a good laugh. By the time we'd gone a km the weather was closing in but no wind... yet.
Tryfan to the south was topped in cloud.
By the top of Pen yr Ole Wen the wind was up and visibility down with cold rain.
We struck on for Dafydd and the weather worsened - the rain became hail, the wind howled and the temperature dropped. It was too miserable to stop. Imagine the surprise when we reached Dafydd to see that a race was on! What! We decided to get off the mountain but became disorientated - I wasn't worried because I had GPS and good maps and equipment but our boys like to rely on their skill! Eventually we carried on to Carnedd Llywelyn via Ysgolion Duon (Black Ladders) and here's me at the top having to hold my hood to keep my head covered. We picked up some other guys and they came down with us.
You can see the race marshalls huddled in the background. We struggled to find the way down but we did and passed below Pen yr Helgi Du. We had some dodgy scrambling to do and there were some worrying moments. As we descended we could see Mountain Rescue out and about and some ambulances/police.
We had our butties by the reservoir and headed back to the cars.
Saw and heard some skylarks - Joe recognised them - I was impressed.
Found out later there had been all sorts going on. By God I wouldn't have liked to have been stuck up there with full kit - never mind in shorts.
Here's the BBC report.
Keep on Hiking!
Tony
Missing rescued after fell race
Sun Jun 07 15:11:54 UTC 2009
All the people who went missing in bad weather during a Snowdonia fell race have been found, RAF rescue teams say.
Eight people were airlifted to hospital and another 25 people were helped to safety during the day.
Two people remained unaccounted for some time but they were finally located late on Saturday.
The annual, 22-mile Welsh 1,000m Peaks Race involved 245 competitors and had been due to finish on the summit of Snowdon, but was later abandoned.
Mountain rescue teams and the RAF were involved in the search in the Carneddau mountains, near Bethesda, from about 1500 BST.
The race involves teams of runners and mountaineers from clubs and the armed services. A soldier died in a 500ft fall while competing in the race in 2007.
The event started on the Gwynedd coast at Aber before a course through peaks in the Carneddau mountains, with the finish on Snowdon.
A North Wales Police spokeswoman said the race began at around 0900 BST, with calls to police coming in from about an hour later due to the "atrocious weather conditions".
The force co-ordinated the rescue from the Ogwen Valley mountain rescue team base and counted runners, walkers and mountaineers as they returned.
Those rescued included some army cadets.
Dave Worrall, team leader of Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Team said most of those runners they had dealt with were suffering from cold and hypothermia.
The 22-mile long race took in Snowdonia peaks and was due to finish on Snowdon
He said the weather had been exceptional for the time of year and it would have been a "difficult call" for race organisers.
Helicopters from RAF Valley, on Anglesey, and Chivenor, in Devon, were involved in the rescue, along with members of the Ogwen Valley and Valley Mountain rescue teams.
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