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MembersNew Year Snowdonia Trip
A hardy band of the elite (yeah right...) AMC members went to stay in what became know as "Tom's Hut" up in North Wales for New Year. The weekend started as it was to continue with most people following Tom's immpeccable directions " until you see a grand white house ahead. Don't get excited as that is not the hut. The hut lies in front of the house on the right of the lane." Find house, look to the right. Blink. Go closer to investigate, and what at first appeared to be an small abode that sheep would refuse turns out to be larger than it appeared. Not much mind, but it did have an ensuite shower room (if you heated water on the stoves first), and most importantly, a wood burning stove with (by the time I arrived late) a hearty stash of wood. Lacking an electric supply, mood lighting was provided by gas lanterns.
Biking
The next day after I arrived myself, Tom and Al decided to go and cycle the nearby Marin trail, described as "excellent mix of climbing, single track, fast descents, flowing roller-coaster descents and good technical challenges" which we were assured was "about 10km". Spot the odd one out in the list below:
Mark - Mountain bike
Tom - Mountain bike
Al - Road (sorry, "cylocross") bike
Yes, Al became probably the first person to ride the Marin trail on a road bike. Credit due, he did sterlingly well. Rather disconcertingly getting faster by the end as exhaustion set in and personal saftey appeared to become less important. The main event provided towards the end as an unexpected drop off appeared out of nowhere and with no time to stop.
Mark: "f**k me" (clears it and thinks "Al is going to be in trouble, will have to try and stop and pick him out the ditch")
Al: "F**K ME!!!"
<brakes squeaking, swearing, Al still appears to be behind me...>
Mark: <general surprise> "you made it then?"
Eventually we made it to the end of the (28Km) trail, and then 1km back up the road to the hut, knackered, but buzzing.
Neil Climbs Snowdon In A Gale
That night being New Years Eve, Neil was dead set on going up Snowdon. The initial interest had pettered out amongst the rest when the rain and wind set in, but Neil was determined and set off on his own, the initial plan being to head to the summit, bivvy out and watch the new year in before heading down in the morning. Temperatures around freezing, lashing rain, and gale winds made this an ambitious and bold proposition. After getting disoriented in the dark and the mist on the way up, replacing his headtorch batteries on the summit with his 3rd and final spare set as the cold and rain killed each set in turn, and being drenched to the skin, even after changing into his spare clothes, bivvying out seemed like madness. (The rest of us playing pool in the pub did wonder briefly if he was OK, but the general feeling was "he knows what he's doing, he's well equipped, he'll be fine..."). Anyway, Neil decided to head down, and eventually found us at 3am snoring away in the hut. Fair play to Neil, it sounded epic, and I'm just glad I went to the pub instead....
Leaving...
What should have been a simple event - "Al (yes, him again!) reverse car, drive down track" got slightly more complicated when he slid off the edge of the field, fortunately the base of the chassis stuck on a rock. Fortunately because it stopped the slide, but with one wheel jammed firmly against a rock, the other wheel spinning in the mud, and the front of the car resting on a rock, he wasn't going anywhere fast. Despite having about half a mile of rope between us, strangely enough no one was willing to lend him any, but he eventually found an old climbing rope. So between us pushing, Sarah towing in her van, and Al revving it for all he was worth, got dragged off the rock. At which point, he stops, then shoots back in reverse, and damm near does it again!
Oh, and the rest of us climbed Tryfan before heading back.
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