5.30AM. Sunrise was still over an hour away, and there was no sign of it yet in the car park at Pen-y-Pass. I was here to meet photographer Ben Cannon, my scrambling pal for the day, but there was a small problem: I had no idea what he looked like. And trying to find a stranger in a pitch black yet surprisingly busy car park was proving to be a tad difficult.
I spent a few minutes hovering by the parking meter, peering expectantly through the darkness at anyone vaguely male-looking and getting some pretty odd looks in return. Finally, a shadowy figure stepped forward uncertainly.
“Hanna?”
“Ben!”
“Good to meet you.”
“You too. Get any sleep?”
“Nah.”
“Me neither.”
“Ah well. Let’s go catch that sunrise.”
A ROUTE LESS ORDINARY
So why the early start? Well, sunrise was part of the draw. But we were there that day to scramble up Snowdon, and Snowdon is a unique kind of a mountain. On the one hand it’s unmissably brilliant – possibly the most exciting British peak south of Ben Nevis. Splayed ridges, hidden lakes, fascinating flora, a mixed bag of routes to suite any taste, an
