Snowdonia Challenge

Dolwyddelan Station to Capel Curig
4.2 Miles

So,the final leg and Take Five were still chasing a top ten place. At the beginning of the day the team had found out that they were in 10th and so far with no navigation mistakes and a fast pace for the first leg there was a conviction that we would make it one way or the other.

The afternoon route followed a similar path to one taken in a previous year, but the opening half was all uphill. Not steep, but grinding. It didnt help that at one point the check point marshall was chasing us as he had moved off the co ordinates where he was supposed to be. Still, this didnt deter Take Five as they pushed on. Choker took the opportunity eat some flies and then.... well.... choked. Either that or the tears were from the joy of walking uphill.

The rest of the team struck up a conversation and enjoyed themselves as Choker gasped and croaked in an attempt to answer the endless stream of questions sent her way.

Once over the brow of the hill Take Five assumed Kamikaze mode and hurled themselves down a twiting, uneven track at breakneck speed. In fact it was a miracle no-one did break their necks. Even Stumbles held it together long enough to reach the bottom alive. Then it was full speed to the pub Tyn-Y-Coed, the traditional last stop of the challenge.

Everyone felt that they'd given it their all and there was hope we had made the top ten. Alas, it was not to be. Eleventh!!! Amazingly frustrating, but Take Five were only a few minutes off tenth. Darn that bog. But it was still a great finish and the tered crew were pleased as punch. A substantial improvement on the 16th place of the previous year. As is often the case there is a sense of disappointment that the walking had come to an end. Despite the trials of the event and the fact everyone was tired, to a person the team wanted to continue. An indication of the team spirit that had accompanied everyone for the duration of the event.

Betwys-Y-Coed to Dolwyddelan Station
6.1 miles

The start for this leg was right in the town, next to the church. From the map Take Five knew the first leg would involve some steep climbing up through the woods. With careful attention to detail, the team picked its first martyrs.

Last year the final day was a full on sprint. This time things looked more difficult, but for certain everyone was going to be going flat out for the final day. Taps, Mole Grips and Loser led the way charging upo the first steep incline, then speeding up the first steep incline, then walking up the first steep incline, then stumbling and finally groaning up the first steep incline. Taps took the opportunity to lose about a stone in effort. All questioned Loser's un-erring ability to find yet another shortcut which wasnt.

"Look everyones gone left, so lets go right" Loser stated logically as the grass got higher and the bushes thicker. The team finally came out behind the first checkpoint. "IN YOUR FACE!" Loser shouted with good grace at his team mates. Mole Grips joined in the sporting conduct, laughing at the teams that had missed the checkpoint and encouraging them with comments like "Oh dear. Have you gone wrong. Never mind. We didnt...". Taps ability to join in the banter had disolved after he had almost killed himself on the first hill, going various shades of pink and red and adding to the watertable.

It wasnt long though before a combination of lucky navigating and bravado saw Take Five making good time on the descent to the station at Dolwyddelan. Overtaken at one point by a group of speed walkers, the team proved that brains beats brawn every time but taking a hidden shortcut and coming out in front of the speedsters (yes finally a shortcut that worked!). The quizical looks from the speedsters said it all as they overtook Take Five for the second time in ten minutes.

The walk through the valley was very beautiful, not that anyone had much time to appreciate it. Snowdonia really does offer a bit of everything. At the changeover it was almost like a relay race, with Taps taking over support duties and Stumbles and Choker adding a boost in pace for the team.

Dolwyddelan Castle Circuit
14.0 miles

Its always disconcerting when teams go off in different directions. Which one do you plagiarise? Or are they all wrong and your secret shortcut is the best way. Take Five stuck to their lemming instinct and went the way most of the others went, which was probably about right. Still it involved a couple of short sharp hills which wiped the smiles off everyones faces.

After this it was the usual groin wrenching sprint down flat country lanes as Take Five fast approached what was clearly going to be the first long climb of the day. This was the first time that a circuit route had been used in the challenge. It meant the whole team was involved for the first time and also meant we were all out for the day. There were no easy exit points on the route so once started, teams had to finish.

Stumbles phenominal early pace kept the competative edge firmly in place.  For a change Stumbles was given responsibility for the checkpoint tab, so the conversation just after the first stop went something like "What do mean you didnt get it stamped!!!"  Mole Grips took a break from his constant stream of inuendo's to send Stumbles back. "I'll catch up" he cried as everyone walked off mumbling "You better....".

As the terrain steepened the team was getting more spread out and we got to the horror movie point. The one where everyone is in dire peril and lost. Then someone goes "I think we should all split up". The whole audience cries NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .

Loser put the question to everyone. Oh yes, good idea everyone concurred, because we're one map short, so one part of the team can finish the section blind. That's a good idea. Cant see any problems with that. What could go wrong?

Bye.

Loser, Mole Grips and Stumbles forged on, or more aptly, slogged on up the hill. Stumbles boundless enthusiasm continued to the top and Mole Grips' John Inman impression was getting better with every hill the team tackled. Mole Grips had had an unfortuante accident the day before with his hydration pouch, which leaked down his back providing Stumbles with ample opportunity to take the mick. So it was only justice that some sort of vengence was visited upon him.

"OK there's at least 25 people resting on top of this hill by the checkpoint" Loser remarked, "so we'll stop down the slope there and get going before everyone catches up, because its impossible to get by anyone along this track".

 "Right lets go then" Loser said after a couple of minutes rest, only to find Stumbles with his lunch neatly layed out on his picnic blanket, sack off, hydration sack dismantled, lucozade bottle  in hand and a look of panic on his face. "What...... now". Queue a wet bum with the added stickyness of Lucozade.

The horseshoe route was magnificent, with views down into the central vallet and a series of boogy areas and lakes. These proved to be a challenge for all the teams and resulted in a lot of wet feet. The descent was steep but spectacular with a number of drops that looked improbable. The slope down to the air vent was great; tufted grass which was forgiving if you slipped. A tea tray would have made for an adventurous ride down.

Now the map was clear at this point. There was this easy to see green dotted path and most teams descided this was the way. How wrong could we all be. Thirty minutes later and after 20 minutes of incredibly difficult walking Take Five were lost. Even Stumbles amazing death dive into the swamp grass couldnt cheer the half-a-team up. "I know a shortcut" Loser stated and led everyone down a dead end valley for fifteen minutes before turning around and walking back up.

There was only one thing for it and the Jaffa Cakes came out (at around the same time that the map hid itself between two boulders never to be seen again). Everyone felt a lot better and Loser's comment that if a farmer could put a gate in a field, he must have been able to get a tractor there, so ergo there must be a path, was met with disbalieving stares. He could almost here them saying "idiot". But it worked and fifteen minutes later they found the path, felt loads better and then realised they'd lost the map...........doh!

Loser's ears were still ringing from Mole Grips encouraging comments like "You've done **!! what!!!. How do we know where to go fool?" Stumbles came to the rescue with a blind guess which everyone immediately accepted out of desperation. Five minutes later and Take Five had tagged onto the back of another team. Loser commented that it was a good idea to leave two members of the team out on the mountains with no map, when their group couldnt even find their way when they had one. Evil's followed.

Working on instinct and the judgement of others, Five Star forged on and gave it everything for the last few miles. By time the team was in, things seemed a little brighter, although everyone had a feeling that a lot of time had been lost.  More importantly there was no sign of Choker and Taps. Were they OK. Had they been lost to the swamp..... Thats another story.

That night in the pub everyone chatted over a few too many beers and agreed it had been a good entertaining day, grim at times but good fun. The realisation that about half the teams had got lost in the swamp helped to put things in context. Maybe a top ten finish was still on

Layby on A498 to Nantgwynant car park
4.8 miles

Like a well oiled machine Take Five muddled around for a few moments before racing off towards the next checkpoint leaving a shattered Stumbles to sort out the transportation.

The route down to the old power station follows a gravelly downhill track and Taps and Choker were raring to go. The pace was very quick as the whole team pushed hard to maintain the good time being set for the day. The path follows the stream heading down towards Lake Gwynant passing through deep meadow grass and boggy areas. At times the path seemed to disappear but Taps kept everyone on the straight and narrow, although at times the map had added real rivers as Taps lost half his body weight in sweat.

Things became more tricky as Take Five entered a wood on the side of the lake. Of course faced with the decision of heading down a precipitous drop, hanging on to trees and sliding on bums or taking a right turn and going up a hill, Choker took the obvious decision. Which is why the team ended up on a cliff face in the middle of a wood with huge boulders under foot and no path. Fortunately everyone took consolation in the fact that the team ahead of us had made the same mistake.

Dropping down towards the lakeshore a path was picked up, although it took the sighting of a jelly baby for everone to realise we were on the right trail. As it happens, the correct path was one that stayed up high, but the two paths came together providing another opportunity for Loser. "I know a shortcut" he said leading everyone on a pointless detour around a copse.

The last time out the team made a promise to never cross walls or fences except at proper crossing points. This adds on miles, but also provides a sense of satisfaction that no country codes are broken. The team kept to this taking a longer route to the junction of the road, but still finishing off in a cracking time.

Stumbles was there to greet everyone with water and congratulations............ Uh. No he wasnt. In fact he was down the road stuffing his face with Lemon Drizzle cake and cups of tea, a fact he had great pleasure in telling everyone.

The end of day one saw Take Five in a good position, although thoroughly shattered from the near sprint on leg two.

Nant peris (Old Llanberis) to the Layby on A498.
9.9 miles

Dom, Pete, Ian

The teams self confidence was fading fast. The Loser's battlecry of "I know we can make a top ten placing" fell upon astonished faces. It was not suprising really given the current medical condition of Take Five. Two bad backs, a badly bruised leg, four sets of damaged knees. Not a bad count. Still Loser's enthusiasm was boundless. "Come on. We can do it!". "He's doing it again" Mole Grips muttered, "Make him stop".

It took almost two minutes before Loser fouled up the navigation and took the team the wrong way, the first of many 'short cuts'. The first ascent, a long haul up to the first ridge at Elidir Fawr brought reality crashing home. Stumbles' inane chatter induced a sense of surrealism in the group of three, helping them to keep going. However it still knocked the stuffing out of everyone and set the tone for this leg of the challenge. The walk up to the ridge brings you quickly out of the valley and into the mountains. Its a great feeling but tiring when you havnt really warmed up properly. Mind you everyone seemed to be finding it hard.

"Nearly there" Loser lied, not that anyone ever believed him anymore. "No really, the summits just over there!". Everyone ignored him. The team stared down into the valley below where another group had unfortunately taken a wrong turn and was trying to make their way back up a precipitous gulley. You could almost hear everyone thinking thank god thats not us.

With the ridge cracked Mole Grips accelerated hard and the team sped off toward the peak of Y Garn. The mood changed as the going got easier and everyone made good time. The scenery opened up providing spectacular vistas over towards Tryfan and the Ogwen valley. At this point the clouds closed in and drizzle started to set in. Moods became as damp as the weather as Take Five negotiated their way up towards Glyder Fawr via a horrible scree slope. Stumbles went out of his way to demonstrate his agility by falling over the first boulder he found and bashing his shin. Sympathy came flooding in - "Come on....  Get up and stop messing around!" was the chorus as his colleagues walked past him.

The team was still forging on as they approached Glyder Fach, Mole Grips using his patented 'hip' ascent technique to conquer the succession of climbs. "I know a shortcut" cried Loser as he took the team on a pointless detour to the top of Glyder Fach, the only non check point listed. "There's the cantilever stone. Everyone gets their picture taken on that", as he walked straight past. Stumbles looked grief stricken.

The descent was a mad dash down a rocky path to the road and if you can imagine someone who's drunk and blindfolded you get an idea of what its like to do it with Stumbles. Every step was an immanent disaster. You could almost hear them warming the helicopter up.

By some miracle Take Five made it in tact and raced in for the change over. The bid for the top ten was on.

1st March 2008

Poldue Downs - Louden Hill - King Arthurs Hall - Butters Tor - Brown Willy - Rough Tor
Approx 13km or 8 miles

Our first outing as Take Five saw us on a circuit of Bodmin Moor. Threatened by bad weather we all turned up with wet weather gear (except for Pete who turned up as a canary), but as it turned out we didnt need it, although it was a tadge windy.

The route follows an obvious circuit linking the prominant peaks to the west of Rough Tor and looping back round to run up the false summits of Brown Willy. Its a beautiful and remote part of Cornwall and well worth the visit.

Its fairly easy going for the opening part and although we couldnt find the Stone Circle properly, navigation was not difficult. It would have been different had the weather closed in. Lunch was had in a wooded copse about 1/2 a K east of King Arthurs Hall, an old enclosure which presumably at some point had a building. Our budding Magellan's spent many seconds deciding over which direction to go, checking grid references and compass coordinates and then completely ignored the guidance of the compass and map and made their decisions by pure guesswork.

Still, we made it to the summit of Brown Willy without too many bad jokes and then a welcome break in the lee of the wind on Rough Tor. Pete's Kendall mintcake made us all feel like intrepid explorers. The only thing that spoilt the remotness of the place were the five or six quad bikes, thirty horses and riders, seven four wheel drive vehicles, large pack of dogs and Barbour jacketed entourage of the hunt that was trawling around looking for something to kill.

All in all a great walk and a good warm up for Snowdonia in June, even if the 'mountains' on Bodmin Moor and not quite on the same scale.

Bring it!!

23rd September 2007

You could call this end of season training for the fivestar team or 2008 pre season training. Malcolm sent us off on a route which wound its way through the hills around Moretonhampstead.

Although not as intense as the climbs in Snowdonia (obviously) there were plenty of up and down sections, enough to tire us all out thoroughly by the end. The walk heads off across fields, following a series of bridleways which run through tunnels of bushes and some pretty heavy brush.

Once up on the moor's everything opens out, as does the scenery. Heltor is a little crag with a few climbing routes that Dom and myself scouted. A little bit of solo'ing up the west face got the heart going before it was off to Blackingstone Rock According to our guru Malc, this was the winning rock in the rock chucking contest between King Arthur and the devil?

The view was fantastic.

So now it looks like we will have to do a few more of these.

The guest house we stayed at turned out to be brilliant. Nestled in its own grounds in the forests around Betws-Y-Coed, it was ideal. Returning each day from our walking, we were greeted by the owners with tea and cake on the lawn. It was lovely sat in the peace and quiet watching rabbits grazing and two Woodpeckers helping themselves to the the regular 'fat balls' and scones put out to feed them.

The guest house is excellent and I would recommend it to anyone visiting this area. Gwen and John are a lovely friendly couple who cant seem to do enough for their guests. The rooms are comfortable but the grounds make the place, especially when the weather is good as it was when we were there.

The hacky sack warm down could have been better. Clearly this was a toy my team mates had not come across, but it did provide a few laughs and no twisted ankles.

1 Telford Independent Trotters        15.28
2 Northern Lights                          15.58
3 Buttocks of Iron                         16.13
4 A Fistful Of Nancy's                    16.35
5 Off Track                                   17.51
6 Felixstowe Flyers                       17.53
7 The Drifters                                18.34
8 On Schedule                              19.14
9 Romney Marsh Mountain Rescue 19.17
10 The Bleeding Feet                     19.21
11 Hill's Trailblazers                       20.21
12 Devon Ladies                            21.11
13 The Madhatters                         21.14
14 Don't Believe The Hike               21.16
15 Flat Footers                              21.30
16 FiveStar                                    21.33 (This is us)
17 Bruce & the Southern Softies     22.32
18 Portsmouth                               22.54
19 CheckPoint Charlie                    22.55
20 Bath WC                                  23.27
21 London ROC                             23.38
22 And We Know We Are              22.08
23 Lost Patrol                               23.04
24 The Thumping Hearts                24.34

SNOWDONIA CHALLENGE PLUS 2007 DAY 1
Leg 1 6.90 Miles Explorer 17

Start Point: Car Park on the east side of the A4085 main road at Rhyd-Ddu, GR 571 526.

Visit the following locations in the order shown:

Interval 1-1 Destination the ?old? quarry, at GR 550 498 (CP).

Interval 1-2 Destination junction of paths by fence stile and hole in wall at GR 553 497.

Interval 1-3 Following the path on the ground heading south, destination summit of Moel
Lefn at GR 553485.

Interval 1-4 Destination Moel Ogof at GR 556 478.

Interval 1-5 Destination summit of Moel Hebog at GR 565 469 (CP).

Interval 1-6 Destination the main car park in Beddgelert at GR 588 482.

End of Leg 1
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leg 2- 6.92 Miles Explorer 17

Start point: As per 1-6 above.

Visit the following locations in the order shown:

Interval 2-1 Destination junction of paths and cairn at GR 6025 4815 (CP).

Interval 2-2 Destination via A4898, the National Trust Crafwyn Hall car park GR 599 489 (CP).

Interval 2-3 Destination waterfall and footbridge at GR 603 493.

Interval 2-4 Destination gap in the wall at GR 6138 5123 (CP).

Interval 2-5 Destination summit of Yr Aran at GR 604 515 (CP)

Interval 2-6 Destination Nantgwynant car park at GR 628 506.

End of leg 2 and day 1.

Total Distance Day 1 13.82 miles.
Leg 3 starts at Nant Peris car park (old Llanberis) at GR 606 584.

SNOWDONIA CHALLENGE PLUS 2007 DAY 2
Leg 3 5.25 miles Explorer 17

Start Point: Nant Peris Car park (old Llanberis) at GR 606 584.

Visit the following locations in the order shown:

Interval 3-1 Destination path off of main track at GR 609 595.

Interval 3-2 Destination stile on ridge at GR 616 597 (CP).

Interval 3-3 Destination ladder stile at GR 621 603.

Interval 3-4 Destination ladder stile at GR 624 603.

Interval 3-5 Destination stile in fence at GR 6265 6030 (CP).

Interval 3-6 Destination small cairn at split of paths North of Y Garn at GR 631 598 (CP).

Interval 3-7 Destination car park on the A5 at GR 656 602. Alan

End of Leg 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leg 4 10.45 Miles Explorer 17

Start point: As per 3.7 above

Visit the following locations in the order shown:

Interval 4-1 Destination bottom of gully at GR 664 618 (CP).

Interval 4-2 Destination summit of Pen Yr Ole Wen at GR 655 619.

Interval 4-3 Destination summit of Carnedd Llewelyn at GR 684 644(CP).

Interval 4-4 Destination summit of Yr Elen at GR 672 651(CP).

Interval 4-5 Destination gate on footpath, 300 metres east of red-roofed cow shed, at GR 648 661.

Interval 4-6 Destination car park in Bethesda at GR 6235 6680

End of Leg 4 and Day 2

Total Distance Day 2 15.70 miles

Leg 5 starts at picnic area by the stone bridge in Betws-Y-Coed at GR 792 568

SNOWDONIA CHALLENGE PLUS 2007 DAY 3
Leg 5 6.09 miles Explorer 17

Start Point: Picnic area in Betws-Y-Coed by the stone bridge at GR 792 568

Visit the following locations in the order shown:

Interval 5-1 Destination South end of Llyn Parc at GR 7925 5835(CP).

Interval 5-2 Destination disused Captain Kneebone?s mine at GR 7875 6015(CP).
Interval 5-3 Destination another disused mine at GR 781 601 (CP).

Interval 5-4 Destination S edge of lake at GR 7720 6025.

Interval 5-5 Destination disused mine at GR 767 603 (CP).

Interval 5-6 Destination picnic site and toilets at GR 7565 6180.

End of Leg 5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leg 6 4.15 Miles Explorer 17

Start point: As per 5-6 above

Visit the following locations in the order shown:

Interval 6-1 Destination end of reservoir at GR 7535 6160.

Interval 6-2 Destination footbridge at GR 739 605 (CP).

Interval 6-3 Destination gate at GR 740 602.

Interval 6-4 Destination bridge at GR 732 582 (CP).

Interval 6-5 Destination Tyn-Y-Coed Hotel, Capel Curig at GR 732573..

End of Leg 6 and Day 3

Total Distance Day 3 10.24 miles
Total Distance for the three days 39.76 miles