Atrocious conditions bring team closer

We hoped the predicted strong winds would dry us out — we were wrong.

The ascent seemed steep but doable for the first few hundred feet. However, as the altitude increased, the weather worsened to the point where visibility was dangerously poor.

Upon reaching the summit the wind was so ferocious and the visibility so bad we realised we had to use our navigation skills to plot another route.

The previous one, which would have taken us down steadily, was along a ridge and could have led to injury, or worse, in those conditions.

Instead, we chose to hug a fence, which while incredibly steep — to the point of crawling and rolling — was at least sheltered enough for a reasonably safe descent.

At the bottom as the conditions once again worsened Snowdon base camp called and we pushed on to the luxurious campsite, with hot showers.

On reflection, we honestly did well to remain calm on that descent, even though it wasn’t the highest peak, the conditions were frighteningly bad and I’m sure it brought us closer as a team as we carefully navigated down that less trodden path.

Finally, day five, which started with Snowdon and would conclude with Pete’s Eats, the shining beacon of hope at the end of the long journey.

We had one final push before our wet and wild week was over.

The amount of rain we had probably hasn’t been articulated well enough in this article but it was, honestly a lot, especially for August.

For those scared of heights, and even those perfectly fine with heights, in one word Snowdon was terrifying!

The route we took was known as the Ryhd-Ddu Path, a less well-known path, that was less populated than other routes and rated average for both fear factor and difficulty according to VisitSnowdonia.com.

It was still awe-inspiring as we watched the clouds part and the reality of how high we actually were finally sunk in.

The whole trip was characterised by that moment, as we stood in silence and appreciated the beauty in front of us, together as a team.

That was the result of several years of hiking and hard work and a truly amazing moment.

Despite all the weather and resulting carnage, to come away feeling so positive highlights the importance of scouting in the 21st century as it proved the philosophy of our founder Robert Baden-Powell to be true — “The most worthwhile thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others.”  

Although we were down at times and felt like quitting, there was always one funny anecdote or silly moment that kept us going and in making each other happy we found happiness within ourselves, that is why scouting is important as from the off, leaders and senior members instil that philosophy through actions and activities and I seriously believe scouting has made me a better person, for that I am eternally grateful.