Ever heard of Awdurdod Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri? Probably not. And if someone asked you where it lies, you would probably go for Southeast Asia. Of course, you are wrong. But I will give you a second chance; ever heard of Snowdonia National Park?
Well, to be honest, I hadn't. But after googling it, I did not want to miss this weekend trip with the KCLMC. As a Swiss who had lived the last three years in Guatemala, I was more than eager to get to know the British mountains with its impressively high peaks and its promising landscapes…
But then, a day before departure, I actually realised: “This is a freshers’ trip!” Just enough time for me (definitely not a fresher anymore) to get mentally prepared for everything that I associated with freshers and their preferences and priorities in my imagination. However, the fellow climbers I met on Friday evening at the Castle did not really seem to fit in the “freshers category”. I was relieved.
The second relief was that even in Great Britain punctuality is relative – thanks to Sam.
Because Sam was late and that’s why he has the honour to be one of the few whose name had conquered my memory, which is definitely not very strong when it comes to names. There were a few more who have this honour. Be patient. You’ll find out further in this report.
So we left London a few hours later than planned, night had already fallen and the busy streets of London were not as busy as they use to be during rush hour. Thanks to our highly skilled minibus driver Hannes (definitely a name to be remembered, too...) we arrived, after a short cross-country adventure, at the same time as everyone else. In fact, it felt like arriving in the middle of nowhere: from the bustling groove of London to complete darkness, fresh air and silence! The only sound to be heard was the running of the little stream just beside our hut - the Pinnacle Hut, a women’s climbers club.
The next day then revealed the true face of this wonderful place; green landscapes as far as one could see and of course a few sheep!
And this was the day to get active. While one group went off hiking to discover the beautiful landscapes and the local pub, I joined the climbing group.
It was a wonderful climbing day with the only problem that no one managed to switch off the stubborn Welsh wind. Not even for a minute! We went up to the crag (near Tremadog) which offers a nice variety of climbing and bouldering routes for all kinds of levels and on top an incredible view as far as the sea! I guess that’s just the way any climber can easily and happily spend a day. And that’s what we did! But the night had to come and it did come.
While the kitchen team (headed by chef Rosie – another well remembered name!) was filling the hut with incredible dinner smells, the rest of the group was warming up for what was going to be the long night of games! It started traditionally with a few beers, some international variations of card games and the usual stuff, as for example this hand-tapping game - in Swiss German we call it “Töpperle” ;-). But the games did not stop there and they got more extreme every hour!
But let me first tell you about the dinner. Who expected overcooked pasta with two different sauces and ready-made pudding as desert, as I did, would have been extremely disappointed.
I still can’t believe that in this middle of nowhere we had aincredibly delicious carnivorous and a vegetarian version of stew followed by fresh apple crumble with custard!
But the night did not end there. And it was time to enter the realms of unknown KCLMC-games...
- A slightly sectarian ceremony to pledge our allegiance to the two highly honoured flagon masters Rosie and Sam (long they live!) [1]. At the same time, we were all being baptised a KCLMC-member or at least I hope so. (I hope we have a picture here because this is just not possible to explain in words). But it got even more extreme...
- Table wrestling, definitely a potential Olympic discipline. Poor us and poor table! Most tried, some with more success than others! But this year we saw the coming of age of Pete, a clear champion who managed to do four rounds around the table in 30 seconds. Congratulations! Although I suspect some secret training behind this great result. But this was not all...
- The hardcore gamers finished off with a combination of extreme sport and extreme creativity: the shrinking Kellog box picking game. Conclusion: there definitely seemed to be a few potential ballet dancers in this group!
The next day started pretty wet. However, I had to satisfy my curiosity about the highest peak in Wales. So we went off with our mountaineering guide, Matt, to hike the highest peak in Wales, the Snowdon mountain which is set in a beautiful, “fairytalish” landscapes – only the dragons and dwarfs were missing. However, getting closer to the peak, we seemed to be part of a mass pilgrimage.
I have never seen so many people in a row walking up a peak and somehow I expected another ceremony to the flagon masters at 3,560 ft but firstly our two masters had gotten stuck in the local pub and second there was nothing to celebrate, except for the thick and grey clouds and the still stubbornly cold Welsh wind! So time to return and get back to London...
And if I couldn’t convince you, let me assure you that it was a great trip! Many thanks to Cat for the whole organisation as well as to Martin – el Presidente – and the whole KCLMC-crew!
Words by Leonie Schüssler
[1] For further information on the history of this well-known KCLMC tradition, please see Alps Trip 2011 Report.
