Welsh 3000's 2008

Report by Paul Hoffman

Challengees: Alex Hudson, Andrew Elder, Andrew Murdock, Becky Blinkhorn, Daniel Woods, David Byrne, Ed Walton, Eddie Credland, Fergus Cullen, Girish Gupta, James Gelling, James Page, Joanne Higginson, Joe Randall, John Lavender, Johnny Marsh, Mark Eccles, Matthew Last, Matt Gunther, Phil Hargreaves, Stephen Rawlinson, Tom Foster-Smith, Tom Bishop

Support Crew: Andrew Nelms, Catherine Jones, James Collingwood, Paul Hoffman

Timetable of events
03:00 Everyone gets up. 03:31 Three minibuses leave the hut, bound for Pen Y Pass. 03:45 Groups are dropped off at Pen Y Pass car park and begin walking with minimal faff. Support crew leave one bus at Ogwen and return to hut for tea and breakfast. 05:30 Message received from Mystery Dave: Conditions difficult on the ridge with ice and high winds. They are descending the tourist path and expect to be at Checkpoint 1 in 45 minutes.

Checkpoint 1 06:00 Support crew arrives at Checkpoint 1 and begin cooking. 06:45 Mark, Jon L, Johnny and Steve arrive at checkpoint. They decide not to continue, Johnny commenting “I’ve done walking in mist all day before and it’s shit.” 07:40 Andrew and Matt Last arrive and decide not to continue. 08:13 Eddie, Fergus and Dan arrive. They plan to continue. They confirm that the other groups are coming down the tourist path behind them. 08:30 Alex, Tom F-S, Andrew E, Andrew M, Joe R, Becky, James P and Tom B arrive, shortly followed by Dave and James G. Alex, Tom F-S, Becky and James P retire. 08:35 Ed, Girish, Jo H, Matt G and Phil arrive. Checkpoint is now very busy and hot food runs out for a short period. 08:37 Dave and James begin faffing in minibus. 08:40 Eddie, Fergus and Dan are the first to leave for stage 2. 08:50 Dave and James continue to faff. 09:02 Andrews E and M and Joe R leave for stage 2. 09:10 Ed, Girish, Jo H, Matt G and Phil leave for stage 2. 09:17 Dave and James finally emerge from minibus and set off on stage 2. 09:20 Support crew close checkpoint and return to hut for tea and bimbling.

Checkpoint 2 12:30 Support crew arrive at Checkpoint 2. Groups are not expected for some time so they pass the time by attempting to “thread the needle” and by listening to the radio. 15:00 Message received from Girish’s group: They are at Llyn Idwal having descended Devil’s Kitchen. Support crew begin cooking. 15:50 Ed, Girish, Jo H, Matt G and Phil arrive at checkpoint. They are all well but decide not to continue. 16:10 Eddie, Fergus and Dan arrive. Eddie and Fergus begin shovelling down chicken noodles garnished with raisins. Vegetarian noodles are hastily prepared for Dan. 16:45 Eddie, Fergus and Dan are the first group to leave on stage 3, after being repeatedly interrogated by the support crew about their gear and the route. Steve accompanies them. 16:46 Andrews E and M and Joe R arrive. After some discussion they decide to continue. 16:50 Message from Mystery Dave: they are descending Tryfan and will be at the checkpoint in 30 minutes. Support crew begin cooking noodles for them. 16:58 Tom B strips off in car park to get changed into walking gear. 17:20 Andrews E and M and Joe R leave on stage 3. They are accompanied by Tom. 17:25 Johnny takes non-walkers back to hut. Catherine goes with them to begin cooking dinner. 17:48 Support crew eat Dave and James’ noodles and pack up checkpoint. 18:20 Dave and James finally arrive at checkpoint. 18:22 Paul discovers minibus battery is flat. 18:24 Dave, James, Paul and James C attempt to push-start minibus with Andrew at the wheel. Bus goes a considerable way down the hill towards Bethesda before starting. 18:33 Remainder of support crew leave checkpoint and return to hut for tea and dinner.

Evening 22:05 Phone call from first group: They are at Foel Fras. 22:08 Andrew N discovers pool of sewage on path outside toilets. 22:10 Support crew lift manhole covers and find large blockage in drainage system that is causing overflow. Catherine begins unblocking the sewage using metal rods. 22:21 Catherine gags. Paul takes over unblocking. 22:35 Phone call from second group: They are at Foel Fras. 22:40 Blockage cleared, support crew disinfect path and selves. 23:00 Paul, Andrew and James set off for Aber Falls in two buses. 23:40 Eddie, Fergus, Dan and Steve arrive at finish and are handed celebratory packets of bourbon biscuits. James takes them back to hut while Paul and Andrew stay in the second bus. 3 00:30 Andrews E and M, Joe R and Tom arrive at finish. They receive biscuits and minibus returns to hut. 01:00 Dinner is eaten and beer is drunk. 02:30 Support crew go to bed.

Summary and musings
All of the participants and support crew coped very well this year. Special congratulations go to Eddie Credland, Fergus Cullen, Dan Woods, Andrew Elder, Andrew Murdoch and Joe Randall who completed all three stages.

The support crew of four worked well for the number of participants, which was larger than in previous years. At checkpoints, we found it best if two people cooked and served food while the other two gave moral support, helped with kit, discussed the route etc. We probably could have coped with a support crew of three, though they might have been stretched at times. Cooking facilities were adequate but the petrol stove worked much better than James G’s gas stove and James C’s gas barbeque. The club may wish to consider buying an additional two-ring petrol stove next year (another one like the existing Coleman one or maybe a larger one that could accommodate two big saucepans).

This year, both groups walking the third stage were accompanied by an experienced person who had not been walking stage 2. Special thanks go to Tom and Steve for this. Of course, such people may not always be available but both groups benefited from having a “fresh” person who could take charge of navigation. The major safety concern this year was the amount of snow and ice on the summits. There was compacted snow and ice on the Snowdon ridge which combined with the wind forced people to a crawl on some sections. Everyone made the sensible decision to avoid Crib Goch and walk down the tourist path, although even this was apparently treacherous in places (groups doing the third stage also missed out Yr Elen because of the conditions).

It was hard to anticipate these conditions in advance but with hindsight, ice axe and crampons would have been sensible for the first stage. Many participants had not walked in winter conditions before and would have had no experience using this equipment, raising further questions. Obviously the club should encourage members to develop their skills and push the limits of their ability. But the Welsh 3000’s is a difficult event already and is perhaps not the best time for a first outing in full winter conditions. Groups are not always walking with experienced leaders and there is little time to teach techniques.

Personally, this weekend has made me re-consider the timing of the event altogether. I wonder if it might make sense to run the challenge later in the year in future. This would have the advantages of a) higher probability of good weather, b) more daylight and c) no snow or ice (idiosyncrasies of the British weather notwithstanding). This may not be practical within the club’s calendar, but it could result in more people finishing the challenge and participants not being exposed to situations beyond their ability.