Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2017 15:25:19 GMT
Who remembers the 1980s/90s Channel 4 programme with Richard O'Brien scampering around a set giving people challenges? Too many in our office are of that age, and we have discovered that there is a 'Crystal Maze' you can visit in Manchester. So, Thursday night, 24 of us are going to shed about 25 years each, get into three teams and compete. Should be fun.....especially the alcohol afterwards followed by a walk up Snowdon over the weekend.....
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Post by tyrednexited on Jul 30, 2017 17:03:45 GMT
.....especially the alcohol afterwards followed by a walk up Snowdon over the weekend..... ...that really should be the other way round..... .....especially if you're going up over Crib Goch...........
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Jul 30, 2017 17:12:10 GMT
Certainly do remember it and I did know there was a 'Crystal Maze' here in Manchester. It's also back on TV with Richard Ayoade presenting.
And before someone says it won't be the same - it probably isn't. But Richard O'Brien only presented 90-93 and it originally ran until 95.
Richard O'Brien is 75 now - so couldn't really have him presenting I guess.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2017 18:38:51 GMT
.....especially the alcohol afterwards followed by a walk up Snowdon over the weekend..... ...that really should be the other way round..... .....especially if you're going up over Crib Goch........... We are certainly not over Crib Goch. Two wives (only one being mine!) would rebel at first sight and the dog would take every opportunity to drag off the edge. After the experience of Scafell Pike a couple of months back, we are taking a route suited to small dogs and almost middle aged, middle class women. The next day we are going white water rafting at Bala....hmmm
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Post by tyrednexited on Jul 30, 2017 19:28:39 GMT
...that really should be the other way round..... .....especially if you're going up over Crib Goch........... We are certainly not over Crib Goch. ...TBH, if one wants to keep away from the riff-raff, and avoid the very worst terrain, the less-frequented route up the "back" side from Rhyd-Ddu is not a bad choice, and one of my favourites. The last bit is a ridge (nowhere near like Crib Goch but still a ridge) and the route probably has the best views of any approach to the top. It's also usually a bit easier for parking than Pen-Y-Pas (though in the School Holidays, that might still be an issue!) www.walkupsnowdon.co.uk/places/the-rhyd-ddu-path/
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Post by Humph on Jul 30, 2017 20:21:50 GMT
Or do it the fun way...
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Post by tyrednexited on Jul 30, 2017 20:46:30 GMT
......the best tech descent of Snowdon (other than the one where I "escaped" through someone's back garden ) is to wait for Winter, when the trains aren't running. You can then select a good, flat piece of slate, place it on the rack mechanism of the mountain railway (which is always covered in grease), sit astride it, and off you go! It is quite exhilarating, but you need to be wary of your fingers, the fact that the slate does slowly wear away, and, if you're doing it in mist, it is best to remember that they close a gate across the railway near Clogwyn station in winter, otherwise, given the speed it is possible to attain, you can get a nasty surprise!
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Post by Humph on Jul 30, 2017 20:51:11 GMT
Brilliant ! In a similar vein, I've come down the "Tiger" at Glenshee in a bin bag after busting a ski. Not the most controlled descent, but pretty much hilarious nonetheless.
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Post by Humph on Jul 30, 2017 20:53:36 GMT
Here's where we spend an unreasonable proportion of our leisure time...
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Post by tyrednexited on Jul 30, 2017 21:02:01 GMT
Brilliant ! In a similar vein, I've come down the "Tiger" at Glenshee in a bin bag after busting a ski. Not the most controlled descent, but pretty much hilarious nonetheless. I've destroyed many an orange survival bag by descending mountains in winter on one. If you're doing something like descending the "tourist track" on Ben Nevis in February (it zig-zags, but descending on a poly-bag doesn't!) it's best to have learnt some ice- pickaxe braking skills, and make sure it's attached (to your knee ). If you're lucky, around 2000ft is possible, if you're not lucky...........
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2017 21:06:14 GMT
I leave route planning to the other bloke. He enjoys that sort of thing and I get involved only when my superior map reading skills are required or I think he is being too adventurous for our wives. I will discover which route up Snowdon we are taking later this week. All I know is we are staying near to Dolgellau so i suspect we are going up from the south, if that makes sense?
Learning map reading as a cub scout has proved invaluable over the years and I have an inate sense of location and direction, which I suspect was honed by gaining that badge. Only last week going up to Malham Tarn he was convinced we turn left over the bridge and it took me a couple of minutes to persuade him that if he wanted to anticlockwise, he should follow the map.....
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Post by Humph on Jul 30, 2017 21:11:08 GMT
"Braking"?
Oh wait, fair enough, you're one of those "English" aren't you?
😜
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Post by tyrednexited on Jul 30, 2017 21:25:31 GMT
There isn't much of Snowdonia I haven't walked, climbed, cycled, fallen off, got lost in, or pub-crawled (or gone across County Boundaries to avoid Sunday closing).
I once did Snowdon three times in one day (from the climbing club hut at Rhyd Ddu), and I think my record is climbing it and being back in Nant Peris before the shop opened on a Saturday morning (though on that occasion I did the 14 Welsh 3000's in 16 hours and neraly crippled myself!).
I'm pretty good at compass work (I've had to be), but I also have a good sixth-sense for direction. Once, after car problems on a Friday night driving down to Snowdonia, and having to resolve them on the Saturday morning, I set out late and on my own to do some of the Glyders, well known territory, or so I thought. Striding across the tops near the Devil's Kitchen, I got a growing sense of unease about my direction, went into my rucksack for the compass, only to find that in my rush to get at least some walking in, I'd omitted to transfer it from the car boot. The next guy approaching was most surprised when I asked if I could borrow his compass, but I was bl**dy glad I did so. I was in grave danger of coming down in the Llanberis Pass, rather than the Ogwen Valley, which would have been "painful".
Ironically, I wouldn't be the first member(s) of my climbing club to do that - and they had a compass.
Rhyd Ddu would be the/a natural way to approach Snowdon if you're coming from Dolgellau.
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Post by tyrednexited on Jul 30, 2017 21:28:10 GMT
"Braking"? Oh wait, fair enough, you're one of those "English" aren't you? 😜 ....yeah, we're educated/intelligent enough to know that hitting a boulder or going off a precipice on a poly-bag approaching 30mph isn't the most intelligent approach to continued living.
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