Category: Activity Groups 2016

Tryfan Blog

Posted on 1 November 2016 | By Mr Alderson

This morning Mr.White woke us all up with his unfamiliar singing voice to Love Me Again by John Newman. We all had a showers and went to breakfast. This morning we had Pancakes, Hash-browns, Bacon and Scrambled Egg which were unbelievably tasty and filling for our long and exciting journey ahead of us.

We left the KMC at 09:30, we jumped onto the minibus and took a short journey to Tryfan Mountain. We climbed up the steepest face (the North face) of the mountain but at the start the climb was fairly easy but rocky. After we made around one quarter of the the journey we started to get into an almost vertical face of the mountain and we needed to use scrambling to make our way up.

After some hard and rewarding scrambling the climb became even more challenging. We had climbed up to a point of the mountain that was so high and steep that some of the Sunbeams started to get scared of the fall. As we were Scrambling up the mountain the cliff face that we were going up was getting steeper and steeper and the huge drop if we fell was hidden by the crisply cold layer of fog but as the fog parted and the ground level view was exposed the drop became even more daunting than ever.

Some long and hard scrambling felt so rewarding once we had reached the peak of the mountain to see the spectacular views of the surrounding mountains, lakes and villages, we took advantage of the view and enjoyed our lunches.

The walk down was more easy and peaceful as we could hear the trickling stream below our feet. Mr Alderson told all of us about the dangers of red grass because you could sink in the bog from where it grows. Unfortunately as Bruno and Jacob were testing the grass’ strength Finlay tried to join but slipped into a deep and wet hole.

As we got to the bottom of the mountain we stopped for refreshments in a local shop. We then drove home back for food that we had prepared for us. We had the choice from Sweet and Sour Chicken or Chicken Curry which were both mouth-watering. After our delightful meals we went to the Lecture Room to write this Blog …

By Bruno and Jacob

The Climbing of The Head Of The Black Hound

Posted on 31 October 2016 | By Mr Alderson

We should probably explain now that the Head of the Black Hound is a mountain, standing at eight hundred and thirty three metres tall (precisely), adjacent to another mountain named The Slippery Witch, a bizarre and dodgy name for a hill.

At roughly nine in the hazy, crisp morning, we boarded the minibus, driven by our instructor Jez. We travelled through the stunning scenery, an artist’s canvas splashed with orange, yellow, and green. When we arrived, we were greeted by an extremely steep and daunting hill. Leaving Jez behind briefly to find a more suitable spot to park the minibus, we began our trek up the Black Hound’s vicious and snarling head.

After walking up the steep incline, our legs already burning with unfathomable fatigue, we paused at a cattle grid, observing the sheep as they grazed leisurely upon the lush green grass, waiting for Jez. He arrived promptly (also out of breath like the rest of us) and he gave us a briefing of our treacherous route to the summit. Soon, we were on our way, keeping a sustainable and rhythmic pace.

Soon, after roughly about half an hour, we parted from the level road, and continued on to off road, and more bumpy and rocky terrain. Then, we shortly arrived at a reservoir, shimmering in the sun, now just above a tall ridge of far off mountains.

Presently, after a short break, we carried on, the path narrowing, and the heights increasing. The scree and loose stones crunching under our feet, we winded up the path, following in single file, the reservoir gradually becoming smaller and smaller, and the summit becoming bigger and bigger.

After several more breaks to have a drink and eat some food, we came suddenly to a great form of jutting rock, covered with patchy moss and plants, struggling to survive in the wind which constantly battered the sides of the rocks, weathering them and wearing them down to blunt protrusions. Jez talked to us about honing in on our weaknesses and strengths, and about conquering fears.

We began our climb, using both hands and feet as much as each other, meandering through the jutting stones, careful of our footing, for one wrong placement could end badly. The wind was picking up, hurtling at us like a galloping horse.

We burst up from the forest of rocks that hemmed us in, and came to a wide plain of swaying grass, the wind bludgeoning us from all sides, and the sun beating down onto the yellowing turf. The view was breath taking, a sight of rolling hills and protruding mountains surrounded by occasional woodland, the leaves upon the trees yellow and orange, Autumn well under way. Rivers and lakes were also etched across the landscape. We stopped for about ten minutes, then began our slow and gradual descent, along the way of which, we witnessed many signs of horses, but did not see the actual wild and majestic beasts themselves.

Eventually, after an hour and a half of ankle breaking decline, we soon passed the same cattle grid we had seen many hours ago, and followed the same steep path all the way back down to the minibus, boarded, and made our way back home, saying our farewells to the Head of The Black Hound, which bared its fangs at our departing bus.

By Seb and Ben

Snowdon

Posted on 31 October 2016 | By Mr Alderson

Today (Monday 31^st) our group went to Snowdon first, this was daunting as it was the tallest mountain in Wales and this was our first outing. Me and Luke had no experience in climbing before it turned out we had nothing to if anything we should’ve been exited as we were soon to find out.

We started off on a small rocky path and after five minutes were already complaining about various things we were soon to find out this was nothing. We slowly climbed towards Snowdon gradually climbed higher and had regular stops for food and drinks. We slowly trudged round the corner of a smaller mountain to finally find an amazing view of Snowdon.

The path ahead was rocky and very narrow. There was a ladder separating two mountains but I didn’t see the point of it being there. It was just a waist of wood and it could have been used into so many things but I won’t name any because I can’t be asked. Then we ate a bit of our lunch that was very nice. After that we went through a narrow path. The path was very slippery and wet. After we got through the path, we saw a breath taking view of all the mountains and a lake. Then we saw a tree that grew coins on it. I found that very interesting but there was no point because a lot of people could just come and take it out of the bark.

Then we had lunch and we were very close to the top of the mountain the flapjack was well deserved. After we ate our lunch, we carried on our adventure towards the peak of the mountain. Then we finally got to the top of the mountains and the view was amazing. We saw people on mountain bikes and I thought that it would be basically impossible to go up the mountain on them. We then gone up a set of stairs and I was very scared. After we enjoyed our view, we started to make our way down the hill.

The journey down the hill was extremely tiring we scrambled down a steep hill and finally onto a slate path then a long trudge down to halfway house were we rested and tended to our blisters feeling comfier we happily walked to the mini bus stop where we sat down and waited for the low rumbling of the mini bus it had been quite a day.

By Fred and Luke

The Mountain Hike

Posted on 31 October 2016 | By Mr Alderson

After visiting the haunted prison and strolling through the countryside, we all slept very soundly. The next morning, we were woken by the harmonic sound of Mr Whites rendition of All The Single Ladies then we stumbled down the stairs in order to eat our full English breakfast. After being pleasantly stuffed we put on our boots and jumped on the minibus to the mountains. We climbed up the jagged rocks and came up to our first summit of the Carnedd y Filiast. We quickly had a drink then it was off to the next mountain. The second mountain that we faced was Mynydd Perfedd meaning perfect mountain which seemed rather small compared to the other mountains. We hiked across the uneven terrain and came to the final mountain, Elidir Fawr, being one of north wales’ over 3000ft mountains and a nightmare to hike, as we had to climb over the large rocks and the steep slopes. When we reached the top, we sat in the summit shelters and enjoyed our well-deserved flap jacks and sandwiches. We had a steep descend ahead of us leading us down the slate quarry and into town. The slate quarry had 2 massive quarry holes named after places one called Australia and the other California. The biggest and deepest one by far was Australia these were named after the places which took the most amount of slate. We carefully scrambled across the slate and into town. When we finally got back to the centre after a long day we cleaned out our lunchboxes and bottles and chilled out in the common room. Then we went into the dining room for a lovely dinner of pizza, wedges and to top it all off, a bowl of chocolate angel delight.

By Finlay Keyworth and Bradley Grant