# 130 – A busy week!

Paul and 'Mist' training

Paul and ‘Mist’ training

A busy week doesn’t come anywhere near describing it!  It went something like this –

 Sunday –  Fund raising for my mountain rescue team, NEWSAR (North East Wales Search And Rescue)

Monday – Awareness day and fund raising for NEWSAR.

Tuesday – Search dog training with SARDA Wales (Search And Rescue Dogs Association).

Wednesday – Search training with NEWSAR.

Friday – SARDA Wales (northeast dogs) search dog training.

Saturday and Sunday – Search dog training weekend with SARDA Wales.

 And as I write this on Sunday night I’m looking at another week like this –

Tuesday – Search dog training with SARDA

Wednesday – Search training with NEWSAR (optional for us newbies, so I might take a night off)

Thursday – SARDA Wales (northeast dogs) training.

Friday to Sunday – Search training weekend with NEWSAR.

 To the above events you can add the search dog training during the week that Chris and I do together, plus the domestic round of doing the shopping and other household chores.  The upshot is that I have decided that for the immediate future I will be posting this blog every two weeks instead of weekly.

When I started the blog, it was intended go be a weekly record of what I had been doing in the hills, but with stuff piling up something has to give. I’m reluctant to make the change, but I’ve got a lot on with training a search dog, joining a new rescue team and completing a walking guide to Snowdonia.

So, please come back next week for what should have been this week’s post.  If you don’t want to miss one of these priceless gems, you can sign up for an email notification by clicking the “Sign me up” button on the blog page.

Right, I’m off for a lie down in a darkened room ……!

Posted in 1. Scotland, 2. Lake District, 3. Yorkshire Dales, 4. Northern England, 5. North Wales, 6. Mid and South Wales, 7. Everywhere Else! | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

#129 – Yr Aran. “Small but perfectly formed”

Yr Aran seen from Llyn Gwynant

Yr Aran seen from Llyn Gwynant

Standing at a height of 747 metres, and surrounded by higher neighbours, Yr Aran is a much neglected little mountain.  Being almost literally in the shadow of the highest UK mountain outside Scotland is not a good career move for a mountain aiming for a place in the popularity stakes, and it’s Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) that grabs all the attention.

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Posted in 5. North Wales | Tagged , , , , , , | 20 Comments

#128 – Man’s (and woman’s) best friend learning to search for avalanche victims in North Wales

‘Cluanie’ ready for another avalanche rescue training session

‘Cluanie’ ready for another avalanche rescue training session

Statistics tell us that the average UK resident can currently expect to live for over 80 years.  Bury that same UK resident (or any human for that matter) in an avalanche, and life expectancy drops to about 15-20 minutes!  Because of this, the best hope for the winter mountaineer or skier caught in an avalanche is rescue by members of the same party, using transceivers (radio beacons), shovels and probes.

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Posted in 5. North Wales | Tagged , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

#127 – “Play Misty for Me” – Y Garn in the mist

Y Garn above the lake of Llyn Idwal

Y Garn above the lake of Llyn Idwal

Why do the British talk about weather so much?  It’s a topic that never fails to kick-start a conversation, probably because we get so much of it!  Things never stay constant for long, but the last couple of weeks have featured day after day of high winds, the kind of winds that make walking in the hills unpleasant if not dangerous.  So, as there wasn’t much hill activity this week, I decided to delve into the archives to see what I was doing in April 2009.

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Posted in 5. North Wales | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

#126 – More wanderings with the dog on Clwydian Hills.

Moel y Parc from the southwest

Moel y Parc from the southwest

The recent snow, although a curse for some, was a blessing for those of us who like a little bit of ‘white’ on our hills.  The mountains of Snowdonia and the Lake District have been Alpine in all but scale and altitude, giving some great outings.  Even the hills local to where we live have been transformed under a white blanket, and a simple dog walk felt like something much bigger.

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Posted in 5. North Wales | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

#125 – Snow time in Snowdonia – Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr

Llyn Bochlwyd frozen, with Glyder Fach behind and to the left (JB)

Llyn Bochlwyd frozen, with Glyder Fach behind and to the left (JB)

It’s been a funny sort of winter in North Wales – a promising start to the winter mountaineering season in December gave a great trip out up Pen yr Ole Wen (see post #108) but after that the snow started a gradual retreat until only the higher peaks of Snowdonia had any cover (see post #120).  Then, a couple of weeks ago, winter returned with a vengeance, causing misery to farmers and commuters.

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Posted in 5. North Wales | Tagged , , , , , , | 23 Comments

#124 – Avalanche!

Gully on Dow Crag in the Lake District (JB)

Gully on Dow Crag in the Lake District (JB)

There has been little incentive to head for the higher hills over the past week – strong winds have made walking difficult in the mountains, and wind chill on top of an already cold temperature has made it feel like something silly with a minus in front of it!  The final factor that made me decide to take some time out was the reported snow conditions, with the possibility of avalanches in Snowdonia, the Lake District and Scotland.

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Posted in 1. Scotland, 2. Lake District, 3. Yorkshire Dales, 4. Northern England, 5. North Wales, 6. Mid and South Wales, 7. Everywhere Else! | Tagged , , , , , , | 17 Comments

#123 – Fun in the snow – Helvellyn by Swirral Edge and Striding Edge

Members of “The Spine” support team find time to muck about in the snow

Members of “The Spine” support team find time to muck about in the snow

“The Spine” has gained a reputation for being one of the toughest challenges in the UK adventure-racing calendar, and with good reason – after all, running 268 miles along the Pennine Hills in winter in seven days is never going to be a walk in the park.  It’s also serious stuff for the support team – the young doctors are prepared to deal with everything from blisters to medical emergencies, and the gnarly hill-men may have to endure anything from blizzards to yet another round of tall tales in the pub!

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Posted in 2. Lake District | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

#122 – Llantysilio Mountain

Moel y Gaer (centre and nearer) and Moel y Gamelin from Moel Morfydd (AKA Llantysilio Mountain)

Moel y Gaer (centre and nearer) and Moel y Gamelin from Moel Morfydd (AKA Llantysilio Mountain)

Looking for inspiration for a day in the hills, I came across Llantysilio Mountain, which seemed to fit the bill.  For one thing, it’s in the area covered by NEWSAR (North East Wales Search And Rescue) the mountain rescue team I recently joined – although I know Snowdonia  fairly well, most of NEWSAR’s area is new to me, so it was a bit of a recce.  It’s also good to try out some new hills, and the contour lines on the map suggested an interesting ‘up and down’ ridge.

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Posted in 5. North Wales | Tagged , , , | 28 Comments

#121 – Moel Eilio – unfinished business!

Moel Eilio in the far distance, seen from the top of the PYG Track on the 'Halfshoe' walk

Moel Eilio in the far distance, seen from the top of the PYG Track on the ‘Halfshoe’ walk

On the Snowdon ‘Halfshoe’ trip (see #120 of last week) I had stopped at the top of the PYG Track to admire the view.  Recently I’ve been getting round to walking hills that I’ve been driving past for years, and it was good to look round the horizon mentally ticking off the summits I knew.  Then I looked northwest, and saw there was some unfinished business in that direction – it looked like Moel Eilio was due a visit!

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Posted in 5. North Wales | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments