Snowdon Summit

pilsburypie

I know some of you have been up - I did it yesterday. A hard ride/push up but a fantastic ride down. Really great fun and a sense of acievement! Would recommend it to anyone. Weather was a mixed bag, but what can you expect end of October.


http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo20 ... ited-1.jpg

Fully

I'd like to ride Snowdon again at some stage, but maybe push the boat out on the Ranger descent. Preferably on a day like this:

scale20

Snowdon's a cracking ride, it's local to me. The rangers path and telegraph valley is defo the way to go back down. Some of the top sections of the rangers are pretty challenging but do-able.

Theres no getting away from the emotional ride, push & climb to the top but like you say it's well worth it. An easier way to get up is to ride up the Llanberis pass from Llanberis to Pen y pass and take the pig track up. You gain a lot of height the easy way riding up the road and then the pig track is more or less flat until you hit the climb up to the summit which isnt bad.

I rode up and down the Llanberis path in the snow at the begining of the year, that was emotional, 4 steps forward 3 back! Well worth the mental uncontrolable ride back down though

Anonymous

PYG track! Never understood why it's called that though.

scale20

I don't know why it's called that either, when i wrote 'pig' I knew it was 'pyg'. I stand corrected

el_presidente

PYG track because originally it started at the Pen-Y-Gwryd hotel

Anonymous

el_presidente wrote:

PYG track because originally it started at the Pen-Y-Gwryd hotel

Is that so? I always thought it was way older than the hotel :oops:

scale20

You learn something new every day!

I can feel a Snowdon ride coming on, just have to wait for this wind to calm though :shock:

sniper68

Pig Track
It is widely believed that the name Pyg derives from the initials of the Pen-y-Gwryd hotel near its base (prompting occasional PyG spellings), this is probably a coincidence; the true etymology is likely to be that the "Pig Track" passes over the pass called "Bwlch y Moch" (Welsh for pass of the pigs).

scale20

ibbo68 wrote:

Pig Track
It is widely believed that the name Pyg derives from the initials of the Pen-y-Gwryd hotel near its base (prompting occasional PyG spellings), this is probably a coincidence; the true etymology is likely to be that the "Pig Track" passes over the pass called "Bwlch y Moch" (Welsh for pass of the pigs).

Interesting. Im off to make it my mission to find out1

sniper68

Also found this:

Pyg Track
The Pyg Track is a popular path leading from the car park at Pen-y-Pass along the lower slopes of Crib Goch before zig-zagging above the smaller lake Glaslyn to the col between Snowdon and Garnedd Ugain and thence to the summit of Snowdon.

Regarding the name of the Pyg Track, the web site of the Snowdonia National Park Authority states:

"No one is certain how the Pyg Track came by its name; possibly from Bwlch y Moch (Pigs' Pass) over which it passes. (It is sometimes spelt Pig Track). "Pyg" in Welsh also means 'pitch' and may refer to the dull black pitchy appearance of the path in one location; or it may have been the route used to carry pitch up to the copper mines. A third possibility is that it was named after the Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel nearby, by the early climbers who stayed there."

el_presidente

Interesting, I'd always been told it was because of the hotel.

Just a word of warning re. Scale20's winter picture above - there were about 5 deaths on the Llanberis path last winter, as the snow banked out then melt-froze until it was basically sheet ice right down to the cliffs. Fall and start sliding and that's it, game over

Not something you'd ever try to ride a bike on, but remember Snowdon is a serious mountain especially in winter, make sure you know what you're doing.

Bestwuzbest

Yeah man! Myself, me wee bro n a good pal were over from Belfast and spent the whole week riding in N Wales...Marin trail, Coed-y-Brenin' MBR trail, the Cli-machx and Snowdon on friday to finish...musta just missed u Pieman...unless u were on the Trek accompanied by the madfek on a hardtail we met at the top). It was a mother of a climb up Snowdon, and some challenging weather en-route...but an incredible decent...what a blast!...me brakes were cooked and due to being undertyred at the rear, pinch-flatted twice. It was a mighty fine way to round off a fantastic weeks riding. Next time we'll go up the Llanberis way, decend the Ranger's path, climb back up that and decend bak to the vehicle down the Llanberis.
Anyone planning to do Snowdon really should go proper prepared though...weather changes in a flash, strong cross-winds whip over the scree slope (steepest section) and the cafe in the visitors centre closes around 3, 3.30...we missed it by minutes and the vending machine was kaput...so don't rely on it for refreshments if your not away early...oh aye, and stick some proper tyres on the rear!

scale20

el_presidente wrote:

Interesting, I'd always been told it was because of the hotel.

Just a word of warning re. Scale20's winter picture above - there were about 5 deaths on the Llanberis path last winter, as the snow banked out then melt-froze until it was basically sheet ice right down to the cliffs. Fall and start sliding and that's it, game over

Not something you'd ever try to ride a bike on, but remember Snowdon is a serious mountain especially in winter, make sure you know what you're doing.

Totaly agree with you, you have to know your limits and the lay of the ground when theres snow on the ground. The best way to come down from the summit when the snows down is the railway track, it's flat and the snow drifts about 2-3ft deep so if you do come off you dont get hurt or fly down the mountain. NEVER try to ride up to the summit via the miners or PYG track when theres snow on the ground, its deadly when walking let alone on the bike.