7 - 9 October
A Great (if slightly soggy) Weekend!
Patrick, Pete, Alice, Margaret, Pete, Rod, Phil, Seb and Jell had a great weekend.
The nine of us enjoyed a great few days of walking and climbing, despite the weather.
Friday
 The first contingent (Patrick, Pete, Alice, Margaret and Jell) arrived in the early afternoon of Friday. We settled in, Margaret in the bunkhouse and the others in tents, and set off for Tryfan Fach for some climbing.
The four climbers (or "geckos" as Margaret later named Patrick, Pete, Alice and Jell) did a few simple routes while Margaret went walked further down the valley, before returning to have Jell kick a rock off at her.
Returning to the campsite, we discovered that the second party were still on the M51 at Shrewsbury so we adjourned to Cobdens for a pleasant (if not cheap!) dinner.
The second party (Pete, Phil, Rod and Seb) arrived after we got back and pitched their tents by headlight before embarking on some serious whiskey drinking!
Saturday
After a windy night, with Patrick expecting his tent to disappear over Tryfan with every gust, the rain arrived with a vengeance at about 0500. The weather forecast was poor, with strong winds and rain as a front went through, and then dryer but colder.
 After a delayed start, waiting for better weather, the Gazelles (Pete, Phil, Rod and Seb) set off on the planned route (up Pen yr Ole Wen, then a tour of the Carneddau before returning to camp). The rest of us set off about an hour later.
The walk up Avon Loer and then the West Ridge of Pen yr Ole Wen was harder than it looked, and the slower party decided to postpone the long Carneddau tour for another day. After a quick picture at the summit we turned west for the steep descent down to the bridge at the bottom of Llyn Ogwen. And a very steep descent it was!
We made it to the bottom, the only incident being Margaret slipping and cracking a nail (from one side to the other - lots of blood!). Once we got to the bottom we revived ourselves with a cup of tea or two at the cafe.
The Gazelles, meanwhile, had completed their tour and returned to base. They drove down to join us for a cuppa, after which we walked back to the campsite, the girls along the road and the boys round the other side of the lake. (See map)
 That evening we had a tremendous supper in the dining room/kitchen of the bunkhouse (imagine a low roofed hovel with a table at one end for putting stoves on!). Somehow we managed to get a long table into the room, and we shared the various versions of pasta and sausages, passing the cooking pits around for everyone to help themselves.
The meal was washed down with copious drafts of wine (and later whiskey) and became sillier as the evening went on, culminating in Oscar telling the Balloon Joke.
Sunday
Sunday dawned pink. After sorting out the chaos of the night before and washing up we set off in two parties. The Gazelles and Margaret went off to tackle Tryfan by the direct route, up the north Ridge. Margaret peeled off after a while, and rejoined the Geckos after their climbing. The Gheckos drove down to car park at Idwal Cottage, and set off for Idwal slabs to climb a couple of classic routes. Patrick and Pete selected "Faith", and Jell and Alice plumped for "Charity".
Charity was a great climb! After an inauspicious start (sliding back down the first eight feet!) Jell loved the lead - much of it on thin holds and smears - especially the first (crux) pitch. The upper pitches are in a great position, with exposed walls and small positive holds. The climb took longer than expected (they always do when Alice and Jell climb together, but at least he didn't get lost this time!) and the "easy" way down on Idwal is nothing of the kind!
 It was here that the lateness got compounded! Getting of Idwal Slabs means first climbing another 400 feet before attempting a very wet, slippery, steep gully descent. Alice and Jell decided to ab down and avoid the gully. As they were getting the abseil ready three other climbers arrived (Jell had been chatting to two of them as he brought Alice up the last pitch) and Jell offered them the chance to use the abseil rope. They readily agreed and all went well until the last man down... Having checked the rope was free after the first four had come down, the last man reached the bottom safely, but then found the rope was jammed. This meant someone had to climb back up and free it, and then climb back down, all taking an age.
Jell and Alice were very late back to the car park (delaying the trip back for everyone).
The drive home was uneventful. Jell drove a dozy Alice in her car as far as Telford, where she said goodbye and made her way back to Birmingham. Margaret was dropped off at the services on the M40, and Jell at home in Micheldever at close to midnight, leaving Patrick and Pete to drive the last hour before the weekend finally ended.
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