Monday, September 09, 2024

Elidir Fawr

Peaks: Elidir Fawr
Area: Glyderau, Eryri
Another gourmet night at the hut, but I didn't really fancy climbing in the Pass with limited time this afternoon, so Steve and I set off for this short outing up Elidir from the front door of Pant y Fron. We adopted a loping stride/slow jog pace up to Twill Mawr (where a team were on the astonishing Quarryman). Then we took the cableway slab/incline thing all the way to the top of Australia. This is steep and leads to slate steps, really atmospheric, a unique way of gaining lots of height. I'd done it before, but this felt fairly quick. Then we joined the Pedol Peris route up the grass, and up to Elidir Fach before taking the ridge (which I rarely do) to the true summit, where I waited for Steve in cold and windy conditions, the cloud base just flirting with the top. Always one of my favourite views. We then descended direct to the hut, superbly satisfying, down one of Snowdonia's most notorious slogs (a crucial part of the 3000s as well as the Elidir race). I don't think I have ever descended this before, and it is surprisingly comfortable: 28 minutes from summit back to the hut at a very gentle jog.

Monday, September 02, 2024

Swakopmund running

After arrival in Namibia almost a week ago, we walked to the end of the little ridge above Sasa Safari Lodge in a wonderful location outside Outjo. After three days in Etosha (including a 5k run round the Okakuejo camp) we made our way down to the Atlantic Coast where the temperatures were 20C+ cooler than the interior! So I took advantage today with an 11k run through the unusual (to say the least) town of Swakopmund, returning along the coast, struck by the extreme contrast between its manicured neatness and the nearby Skeleton Coast.