Climbing Snowdon...

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

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Right i'm an absolute novice at "walking/climbing" activities but a fair few of us have made plans to climb Snowdon this coming weekend (providing the weather isn't absolute garbage).

I've got some cheapy Karrimor walking shoes but just wondering do I need to invest in anything else for the walk? I'm told its not exactly a difficult climb and will take us 6 hours up and down.

I really can't be bothered going out buying any new kit when I wont be doing it again in a hurry haha. I've got a rain mac I can wear which is waterproof and sure I can find some old pants to whack on.

We're going to be camping in a nearby campsite.

Anyone any advice for a complete beginner?
 
Take waterproofs and some warm layers as nevermind how nice it may be down the bottom it can be a whole other world up the top.

To be honest that should do for Snowden.
 
Yeh it is the Llanberis path I think as we are staying at a campsite called Llanberis something or other! I was thinking about taking my waterproof mac, a couple of jumpers and some pants to throw on dependent on weather.
 
You won't need to buy anything.

My friend pretty much did it in jeans and some normal running shoes. Obviously if it's raining / cold you want to just have something for that.
 
You don't need any specialist equipment. Advice I can give is that it's cold at the top so bring some waterproof/windproof clothing and an extra layer like a hoody.

Other than that you can do it in every day clothing. It's not difficult at all. People were running up and down it when I last went.

Don't take the train down, 1) it's cheating and 2) it's really easy walking down and won't take you nearly as long.
 
Freeman said:
You don't need any specialist equipment. Advice I can give is that it's cold at the top so bring some waterproof/windproof clothing and an extra layer like a hoody.

Other than that you can do it in every day clothing. It's not difficult at all. People were running up and down it when I last went.

Don't take the train down, 1) it's cheating and 2) it's really easy walking down and won't take you nearly as long.
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This.
 
as long as the weather holds then its true you dont need anything realy and this time of year it should be fine, but check weather forecast mountains are funny things when it comes to weather. http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/mountain-forecast/#?tab=mountainHome

however don't assume that's always the case, it can get very bad at the top. i've been up at the end of may, started off lovely weather by the time halfway up, white out snow storm, and by the top most people wouldn't be able to distinguish the paths.
and in june had extremely bad fog down to a few feet by summit.
however the Llanberis path is also the easiest and most well defined of the paths, also boring and crowded.
 
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Cool.

I was just contemplating doing it in some Nike trainers I wear for the gym but a couple mates said I should just spend £15-£20 on some cheap Karrimors from Sports Direct which I reluctantly did.

I didn't think I'd needed to bother with anything else though really. Fingers crossed the weather is alright on Saturday! Whats the best time to start walking? Think we were hoping to get there as early as poss and get climbing for 8am.
 
R.O.S.S.I said:
Cool.

I was just contemplating doing it in some Nike trainers I wear for the gym but a couple mates said I should just spend £15-£20 on some cheap Karrimors from Sports Direct which I reluctantly did.

I didn't think I'd needed to bother with anything else though really. Fingers crossed the weather is alright on Saturday! Whats the best time to start walking? Think we were hoping to get there as early as poss and get climbing for 8am.
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It's not looking good at all for the weekend.
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/forecast/gcmjghxpx#?fcTime=1471651200
 
on other routes up trainers would be a twisted ankle lottery, but Llanberis path is pretty good and resonantly flat.
always tke warm clothes and weaterproofs regardless of weather.
 
Bad weather is a good excuse just to set up camp and enjoy some decent beer in some of the little pubs in the middle of nowhere though :D
 
Don't let the grannies psych you out on the way up whilst they whiz past you leaving you feeling pathetic. You can catch and beat them on the way down so don't give up.

On a serious note take twice the amount of fluid you have allocated. Don't wear new shoes or shoes you haven't worn in yet.
 
Craterloads said:
Don't wear new shoes or shoes you haven't worn in yet.
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This, Buying brand new shoes a week before normally isn't the best idea, your feet will hate you for it.

You are meant to slowly break them in, Like 24-48hours wear them around the house doing general house activities, and then go for a short walk and slowly build up to longer walks.
 
Me and a few mates went up at the beginning of the year a few years ago, the paths were that iced up that we ended up doing some sort of skeleton bob on our backpacks to get back down.

That got some funny looks from other walkers :D
 
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