Author: Cstavri

A Fun Day Out at Pen Yr Ole Wen and Carnedd Dafydd

Posted on | By Cstavri

Today we went to two spectacular mountains, Pen Yr Ole Wen and Carnedd Daffyd. We started off the day with a hectic morning of packing everything we needed to prepare to set off. we hopped in the minibus and travelled to the foot of the mountain. When we got there everybody put layers and layers of clothes on ready to walk up the mountains. Almost instantly there were lots and lots of sheep and we learnt about the dye markings on sheep. As we were walking up the mountain lots of people were already lacking behind and we’d only been walking for about ten minutes. As we were walking up the mountain someone noticed a wall and Mr Alderson explained what it was. It was built pointlessly in WW2 by the Italians (who were helping the Germans out) who the English had captured and were now prisoners of war. It was built to stop the Italians from fighting meaning they were useless. As we carried on we all came face to face with a big scramble of rocks and had to climb our way to the top. once at the top Mr Alderson came up with a game to navigate your way and lead the rest of the group to a certain point. Millie started us off taking us to the exact point she was asked to go to. Next was Reid who didn’t quite manage the exact point but lead us to a great view of the mountains in Wales. After that it was Eleni who again got to the right point followed by Tim and then Tanzin who took us to the summit of Pen Yr Ole Wen.

It was very cold, but the view was spectacular. There was a very big cairn where Kian added to the pile and from up there we could see lots of beautiful waterfalls and realised how high we actually were. We decided to have our lunch up there. After lunch we got going again coming across a little bit of snow. Everybody got really excited and as Kent never has snow. Josh however, got very excited and picked up a massive pile of snow which he carried till our next break. As we progressed we managed to get up Carnedd Daffyd which was a far easier walk up even though it was quite a bit larger, we didn’t stay up here for long though with members of the groups legs really hurting so we started heading down. This is where it got really, really messy. Tanzin and Kian fell over into mud and freezing cold water, star fell over 3 times trying to walk down the mountain, ending up very wet at the end. Tim also fell over a few times getting his gloves very wet after falling into a stream. Millie, Eleni and Josh didn’t slip once, going down the mountain very cautiously. As we proceeded down the mountain Josh came across a very peculiar item that turned out to be a horse bone and as we turned a corner, we saw a wild horse that was very beautiful and spectacular to see with the amazing horizon in the background. Some R.A.F jets came past us which were really quick trying to not be picked up on the radar. Then we saw the foot of the mountain and everybody sped up as they were really tired and ready to relax back at the Kent Mountain Centre. We had a really good day and we all really enjoyed ourselves and we are all looking forward for what’s in store for the coming days.

By Tim Allan and Josh

Our first trip today :)

Posted on | By Cstavri

Today we ventured up Y Garn one of Wales’s mountains that stands 947m above sea level. When standing at the bottom of the mountain there were many stunning views of mini waterfalls covering all over the cliff faces. The higher you got up the mountain the more exotic views you experienced. Before we got to the mountain there were still amazing views on the way. Everyone in our group walks at different paces so some people had to stop for a while to let the ones falling behind to catch up. Even though it was quite tiring, once you got to the top it was worth it. You could see all the surrounding mountains, rivers and houses, even some piles of slate down by the river below which makes you then realise how high up you actually are. Over parts of the cliff there were quartz covering the cliff top. There were a variety of different sizes each with a unique look.
Throughout the day we all did many things. Some were stupid and some.. Yeah. It all started when Lilly decided it would be fun to fall into a deeply muddy puddle and coat her leg with mud. Then everyone followed. Issy fell down the mountain because she’s quite clever. Simon Decided to try giving a rock a hug by falling into it, lets say it looked quite painful. Kai tried falling into a waterfall and got a bit wet. Rebecca almost fell over everything even though she’s not clumsy. Grace and Lucas. Well they didn’t fall and stumble like the rest of us. That leaves one. Finn. Once we arrived back to the centre Finn had fallen asleep but didn’t wake up at first. Honestly we questioned whether he was dead at first but after a few slaps and a bottle to his head he woke up 🙂
This was our pretty good day

By Issy and Rebecca

The first day and some high cliffs

Posted on | By Cstavri

The route we walked today was called the Nantlle Ridge. It consists of three mountains that all overlap to form a ridge. The three mountains are called; Y Garn, Mynydd Drws-y-coed and Trum-y-Ddysgl. The first mountain is Y Garn. It was the physically hardest to climb because we had to get up to the highest average height to stay there because with a ridge you don’t go all the way down when you switch mountains you don’t go to the foot of it so after the initial accent then the next three hours are not very physical because you don’t go up or down very much. It was all very exciting and even those who were not massively enthusiastic to go up in the first place were very happy to be walking after getting into the rhythm of things. The first mountain was the hardest as I said and when we got to the top, we got a little taste of the first scramble as we went to the EAGLES NEST. At the EAGLES NEST we ate our lunch and then we headed on towards the traverse. The traverse was the most exciting part of the walk, with challenging lips, climbs and amazing bravery from the group. We all stood on this rock and took photos of us staring out to the distance.  As we took in the amazing views, we saw our progress and felt quite proud of ourselves.

The view was a glittering sea, almost like a giant mirror, to our right and the raw power of mother nature to our left. As Snowdon put on its cloak of clouds like Harry Potter and his cloak, we pushed on to the descent. from the top the steep descent looked like a drop of undefeatable descent. as we got ready from a break and I was ignored by a dog. Dom, Reece and Hayden had a great time rolling through the grass. then Dom found his own Minecraft house. Then we walked through the magical forest and made bear noises and Dom did a scream when we jumped out at him. Then we walked along a road and everyone’s feet hurt and then we drunk from a mountain waterfall and then we trudged back to the coach. Then we got back to the KMC and had dinner and then sat here writing these very words.

By Tom and Rowan

The first day of adventures

Posted on | By Cstavri

With the alarm clock beeping continuously in my ear, I and Mei desperately scrambled to turn the lights on. As we didn’t want to wake the others up, we tried our best to be quiet! Cleverly, the night before we had planned to wake up early so we could be the first to have a shower. However when we finally managed to get to them, it didn’t turn out to be as pleasant as we hoped [it was either to hot or too cold] When getting ready, we struggled to know what to wear as we were still getting used to the new experiences.
Gathering the breakfast at 7:45, as instructed we all filled our stomachs to the brims. We didn’t want to get hungry up in the mountains so some of us even had seconds! We all agreed that the food here was better than Germany. Soon afterwards, we gathered in the common room to find out our groups. Nervously, we all opened our ears and listened intensely, however, soon after Mr Alderson had spoken, Mrs Webster announced that we would be in a group with herself and an instructor Mary. Pushing and shoving into a new room we had never seen before, we were then told that today we would be climbing a ring of three mountains. We were also told the equipment we needed, what we needed to wear and more information about our day.
Luckily, we were in a group where we all got along and could conferee with each other about what we needed to do and when. We got our things, shoved them into our bags and walked downstairs to the place we were told to meet Mary. We then promptly changed into our mountain boots and toppled into the minibus. From then on it was only the 10 of us.
Getting out of the mini bus after a short 5 minute journey we were soon greeted with an amazing display of mountains [3 of which we were planning to hike]. We stared of strong but quickly got tired but Mary then explained that it was completely normal and we would get the pace soon. It was a nice journey up the mountain even though some people struggled. There were many pauses and stops when people could catch their breath and have a quick drink or snack; however we tried not to guzzle our drinks because sooner or later we would run out. Working our way up the first mountain called Carnedd y Filiast, many people tripped or slid down the muddy hills. The weather was great but the nearer we got to the top, the wind got stronger. Finally, when we reached the top of the mountain, it was an amazing feeling and the picturesque view could not be better. However, the hike wasn’t over yet, there was still more mountains to climb…
The second mountain of the three was called Mynydd Perfydd and it ended up being a lot easier than we thought as we were energized after eating our lunch. When we got to the top most of us were feeling astounded by the fact that we had climbed 2 mountains. On the other hand most of us were thoroughly exhausted so Mary made the prompt decision that we would head back down. This upset some of us because it wasn’t as great of an achievement as it would be if wed climbed all three, although it turned out to be the correct decision. Over all it was a great experience and we both can’t wait for tomorrow.

By Hazel and Emily 

Old cliffs of Anglesey

Posted on | By Cstavri

Today we had lots of fun adventuring across the 600 million year old cliffs of Anglesey. After eating a hearty meal we explored the deathly Barcoldiad y Gawres burial chamber, then continued our journey to traverse the freezing Welsh seas using the thin but sturdy rope to help us from getting from cliff to cliff.

The day started of well with all the girls oversleeping (even Miss Webster!) and rushing down to breakfast. Soon after, everyone rushed down to the dry room to collect our essential water proof clothing and got into the mini bus to start our exciting day.

When we arrived at our destination of Cable Bay on the peaceful island of Anglesey we started by scrambling across the jagged yet beautiful rocks, using our teamwork to help one another get around safely. Mike our instructor was extremely helpful and caring to each and every one of us and making sure that we could all have the best day possible (which was achieved).

After getting our socks drenched we headed back to the minivan to eat some of our delicious lunch. Once our stomachs were full, Mike got out our harnesses and taught us how to put them on. Unfortunately, some of us got it wrong but with a hand from a friend, we all got there in the end. Then we walked to the Barcoldiad y Gawres burial chamber with our feet squelching in our shoes. Behind the bars of the chamber there was a thick burning smell with many carved stones for the dead.

We soon moved on to tying the sturdy rope to 2 different cliffs with a deep drop to the sea. Shayan was the first person to scramble from one cliff to another, at first he was petrified with a bit of friendly encouragement he faced his fears and couldn’t wait for a second go. Soon it was Cobi’s turn and he was eager to try and do a flip, but was unfortunately unsuccessful. After many tries from different members of the team Kuba came along and was determined to do it and on his first try made it! Everyone had a few goes on the ropes and Jake couldn’t wait to jump. Some people were a bit skeptical at first but after other friends jumped, they were finally convinced and ended up having a great time.

With blue smiling faces and chattering teeth, we all headed back to the minivan to get changed into warm fluffy clothes. With the boys shouting at the girls to hurry up getting dressed behind the minivan, we all eventually went back to the mountain centre and had a karaoke session on the way.

Overall the team had a wonderful, adventurous day but were all happy to be back in the warm and could not wait for the next day to arrive.

By: Sophie Ingoldsby, Ella Berry

Our day at the gorge 

Posted on | By Cstavri

Today we dove into a freezing plunge pool and squelched down a quarter mile of vertical roads all muddy and so cold I couldn’t unzip my coat, only to then get changed in the woods 20 feet away from a road. But it was well worth it, it was the best day of the week!

As we approached the gorge the sound of crashing waves on the rocks became evermore fierce and then Jez, our instructor, stopped and showed us a map of the gorge which was very deceiving as it looked tiny.  After a brisk talk about the gorge, we progressed onto the first stage of scrambling over the boulders.

It started off with a wide plateau and quite dry but after the first corner of easy skipping over stepping stones, it became thin and deep.

We came to a little pool with a short climb around it that we all finished with ease, this was coupled with a small challenge that Jez likes to call the ‘elephant’s bottom’, which was a thin slippery slope with crashing water coming through our feet, at the top were 2 rocks balanced together that we had to squeeze through; it was really tight, we could barely fit through, the biting water completely soaking us to the skin.

We then found a natural slide which lead to a small pool so each person had a turn going down it, first on our front and the on our back, each time getting absolutely drenched in freezing cold water which made 90% of the group scream, especially Josh.

After a while of hilarious scrambling up the gorge, we came to the finale; the plunge pool… it was absolutely freezing, colder than the little streams. Jez took us to a ledge about 5 meters above the pool and told us that it may look big but it’s actually tiny. It was surrounded by a submerged ledge that would break our legs if we were to land on it. We each took our turns to jump in but some of us, Ben and I included, wanted to do more jumps, so we had a competition who could make the biggest splash.

All around it was an amazing day that i would defiantly do again if i could and i am really glad i did everything and got as wet as i did …oh and by the way, Mr. Stavri face planted into a stream (due to a slippery rock) not once but twice,  in the space of 20 seconds…it was hilarious!

By: Josh C & Ben M

Sea level traverse

Posted on | By Cstavri

Today we travelled to Anglesey to get stuck into some sea level traversing which many people were slightly worried about. Firstly, we all got up and had a great breakfast of either croissants or a cooked breakfast and then everyone split into their groups and went to complete their activities for the day. After a bumpy journey by minibus, we arrived at the sharp edged cliffs to begin our venture. One after the other, the members of our group clambered around the jagged cliff face to reach a narrow cave which was extremely difficult to get through and took a bit of time for everybody, especially Matthew and Harvey, but after a while they conquered their fears by keeping up and jumping into the water at the end of the day.

We approached a sheer cliff face. Mr. Alderson attached and clipped on all of the caribenas and rope in which Mason had to unclip on the way across after he had finished, we anxiously climbed and clambered along the difficult path across the edge of the cliff.

Next, we struggled into a narrow cave which produced many screams and shouts as the freezing cold water came crashing onto us. Soon after maneuvering into the claustrophobic cave, we came across a huge rock which became a struggle for all, however after many slips and scratches we all ascended over the mighty obstacle. Then after escaping the cave we all sat down and tucked into our pack lunch and the top of the cliff.

After eating our sandwiches and cakes, we set off again, however this time we continued our adventure with another group. our next activity was much more exciting, we were about to scramble over the tyrolean traverse challenging ourselves with different techniques and Matt started off with the hard method thinking that it was easy but quickly realising it wasn’t as he fell off within the firstly 2 meters off his journey but he then attached to the rope over the water to the lower rocks which we were then all able to jump off at the end. Despite being drenched in water, we got changed into our spare clothes and we began our drive back to the center.

On arrival the group members all felt a sigh of relief which was mixed with hunger as everyone was starving from a long day of hard work. After placing our damp clothes into the drying room we sat down and snacked on our delicious roast dinner and either  banofee pie or fruit salad.

By: Todd Henniker and Matthew Weatherley

Snowdon

Posted on | By Cstavri

Today we conquered Snowdon, the largest mountain in the range. We started off at a brisk pace, thriving to beat the other three groups, who were also climbing the mountain. About 5 minutes in, the majority turned around to see Beth about 30 meters behind us, because her tiny legs couldn’t catch up. We then had to stop to let her re-join us.

Later on, we rounded a corner onto a small, stone bridge over some water where Harvey asked his usual question, “Sir, please can we go swimming?” the answer, obviously, left him downhearted. After crossing the bridge we became face to face with a digger and Land Rover which ended up following us up part of the hill before we crossed a small stream of water. We stopped for a quick photo and to check how far in front of the other groups we were, which was about 500 meters!

At this point we faced a steep accent up the rock face. As we scrambled we helped each other pick the right path to get to the next resting point. Roughly a third of the way through our treacherous journey, we realised we were all pretty hungry (as usual) so stopped for a snack.

We carried on climbing, and not long later, Harvey realised he was among the clouds and got really excited (again) and screamed, with a rather impressive voice break. This climb was quite difficult because there was a lot of loose rocks, resulting in a continuous shout of below below below. (Below is a word used internationally by mountain climbers to warn others below them that rocks have fallen, so they can take cover).

After a tiring scale we finally reached the top of Snowdon, where Harvey decided to scream again, which resulted in yet another voice break. Unfortunately the cold got to us and we had to wrap up and only managed to stay at the top for a couple of minutes before descending to a sheltered area to eat the rest of our lunch.

On the way down Beth suddenly had Eliza’s hands over her eyes and mouth while Mason stole her hat (which she didn’t release at the time) which led to Beth walking up to the place where she thought she dropped it and looked back down at the others where Mason was beckoning to her. As she got closer, she realised Mason was actually wearing her hat which resulted in laughter all around including Beth. Then we finished walking down the rest of the hill, with a more slips along the way, and Eliza, Beth and Izzy rolling down the road to the mini bus, where we waited for the other groups with a grin on our faces as we had managed to stay in front of them the whole way.

By: Eliza & Beth

Snowdon with Sunbeams

Posted on | By Cstavri

We gathered in the courtyard and were told we were going to climb the largest mountain in Wales: Snowdon. It took us most of the day, which involved seeing the Snowdon train and some exciting rock climbing.

We gathered in the courtyard after breakfast, putting our boots on while mentally preparing ourselves for the long day of scrambling and climbing. We waited for our group leaders, Mr Stavri and Jez and then took a minibus to the base of Snowdon.

As we arrived, Mr Alderson’s group set off first (of course), and our group put an extra layer on to keep us warm. We walked a along the beautiful pathway with a few breaks, so we could regroup, then after around an hour, we reached a steep, rocky incline.

We formed an order and climbed slowly up an impressive rocky, ridge meeting a flock of goats and a few sheep high in the clouds. It was thrilling how high the mountain really was and how easily we could fall and injure ourselves, so we regularly stopped and had a snack – Holly sat and enjoyed the views.

Suddenly, in the distance, we saw both other groups, one ahead of us (Mr Alderson’s) and behind us (Mary’s group). We waved and called and they responded. As we reached the clouds it all became blurred and misty, the temperature dropped and Holly’s cheeks were bright red.

We finally arrived at the summit, but because of the cloud cover, were unable to see anything. We took photos of our group at the summit and Katy saw the ‘Brecon Spectre’ in the mists and took a photo, (circular rainbow halo in the clouds) it was amazing!

Shortly after we ate our lunch and then started the trek down the stony walkway. Not long after leaving the top , a lady, with her puppy fell across the mountain path, we went to help her, but she was fine and asked her husband to look after the excited animal from now on!

It was a long and exiting day but we were glad to be picked up from the other side by the minibus and go back to KMC.

By: Amelia and Holly

Scaling Snowdon

Posted on | By Cstavri

Snowdon was a thrilling and exhilarating experience for every participant involved. The climb lasted for around two to three hours and our group took the long and adventurous walk up the monstrous mountain and involved scrambling, fossil finding and fool’s gold scavenging.

The group chose three members to rotate the roles of lead, back and navigator. The climb took a long time with several stops for food and drink as well as drinking from a stream half way up the mountain. The top of the mountain was cover by cloud and fog, making it hard to see further than a few metres ahead as well as being cold and rather wet.

The team worked hard together when trudging up the beast that was Snowdon, ensuring that no man or woman was left behind and from which we travelled together in a tight horde with the leader keeping at the pace of others. We partook in every activity explained or demonstrated to us and enjoyed every single second of the physical and social challenges that occurred.

We were told of several myths and legends of Kings and their involvement with the mammoth mountain. One story consisted of two kings ready to fight before suddenly they were disturbed by a giant living on the top of the mountain shouting at them and bashing them about before finally taking their beards for his own use, this led to the gang of kings living in UK to assemble and take on the ghastly giant himself before falling to the same fate as the first two kings, although there was one king missing, king Arthur. King Arthur approached the giant months later and stabbed him with a magical sword in which turned him to stone; creating the last section of Mt. Snowdon.

On our way down we trekked through grassland, ran along country roads and tramped past stone walls; stopping many times so that Jake could relieve his overfilled bladder. In total, Theo fell over at least 27 times and Tilly fell in about 6 holes in the marsh.

In conclusion, the trip was a fulfilling and memorable experience, the walk ran parallel with all the new challenges we have so far experienced, both social and physical, and led to a sluggish slumber down the mountain where we were collected by the KMC team looking back at the great beast that is Snowdon and waving in sorrow.

By: Daniel Banks, Theo Athinou

 

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