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AS THE SNOWFALL subsided and frost settled on the ground, so had the clocks gone back overnight. Stew and I were grateful for an extra hour in the tent – which we fondly nicknamed ‘The Palace’ – before the promise of a sunrise coffee beckoned us out from our cocoon. Camping 646m above sea level we were sheltered on three sides by sleeping giants: Y Lliwedd, Crib Goch and Yr Wyddfa’s iconic peak looming large behind. We awoke, stretching our tired limbs, to views over to Llyn Llydaw in the east, the sun rising behind Moel Siabod beyond.
About 10 hours before, we’d quickly pitched up for the night as the snow started to gently fall after a hairy downscramble of Cribau. We were not yet halfway around one of the most challenging routes we’d attempted in Eryri (Snowdonia): The Snowdon Girdle.
The concept, a route devised by the late Showell Styles and first published in his book Mountains of North Wales in 1973, is simple: see the best of the Snowdon massif without ever summitting the titular peak itself. This might sound counter-productive, especially to peak ‘baggers’; but anyone who has tapped Wales’ top spot in recent years will understand the appeal instantly.
Yr Wyddfa has gained a reputation amongst hillwalkers as a crowded honeypot. The first time I summited – as a 20-something shift
