Snow

My blog starts at my local fishmonger’s in East London.

As my fishmonger handed me the quarter of fine smoked salmon I had just bought for my breakfast he asked, ‘Not going to work today?’. It was, after all, the day when the national news was full of severe weather warnings. Heavy snow was expected and a repetition of the previous Monday’s ‘Snow Chaos’ across London and the South-East of England, almost certain.



In London these days we rarely see snow and although we routinely use expressions like ‘to be snowed under’ (by work) most people would hardly imagine ever being ‘snowed in’ i.e. unable to travel or to move about because of too much snow. Well, the past week allowed many Londoners to experience the full meaning of the term ‘snowed in’. Tubes and buses across the city were suspended. People were unable to get to work. They weren’t literally ‘snowed in’ because many of them were able to get out and make snowmen in the streets or roll gigantic snowballs while trying to estimate their weight but travel in and out of town was not recommended.
My fishmonger was therefore assuming that perhaps I was bracing myself for another day of snowstorms – at the mercy of Mother Nature.
Imagine his surprise when I answered his question with the casual reply of, ‘No, I’m heading for Snowdonia’.
‘You’re having me on!’ he nearly choked, ‘Have you heard the weather forecast?’
Indeed I had, but with a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon and some warm mountain gear all nicely packed in my trusty rucksack, I felt ready to face the worst that nature with her elements could throw at me.

Anyway, time to explain about Snowdonia and me. Snowdonia is a National Park in Wales. It is home to Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. In Old Welsh the top of Snowdon is called Yr Wyddfa, which means ‘the grave’. The English name Snowdon comes from the somewhat unimaginative Saxon name ‘Snow Dun’ meaning ‘snow hill’. Perhaps it’s the rather ominous Old Welsh term that draws thousands of walkers, climbers and scramblers to the mountain each year. I fall in the walker/scrambler category and for the past six years I’ve joined a group of like-minded and like-hearted men, who take a stroll in the peaks of Snowdonia roughly at the end of January each year.

‘Why at the end of January?’ you ask. Well, because it’s a chance to experience some extreme weather – and to enjoy some classic male bonding, in the face of adverse conditions.

So it was, that my brother-in-law and I headed North and then West towards Wales, a journey that took us five hours by car, to join our group of mountain enthusiasts.

To our surprise we left most of the snow behind just outside London and we didn’t see much snow again until we reached Snowdonia itself. It was getting dark and a frisky snow blizzard promised that the next day’s ‘walk’ up Snowdon was going to be interesting.

We stayed in a charming hotel called Pen-Y-Gwryd,



the very place where the British 1953 Everest expedition stayed while training before their historic conquest of Mount Everest.





The rooms are comfortable, the food and hospitality excellent. In front of a blazing log fire our group made plans for the following day’s ‘expedition’ up Snowdon.

There are several ways of getting up Snowdon. The easiest by far is the Glogwin railway that takes you to the summit in comfort. One reason for going up the mountain in winter is that the railway isn’t operational, forcing people to try the various other routes.

Bernie, our leader, and an experienced mountaineer, told us that in addition to our warm weatherproof clothing, good quality boots, flasks of tea and sandwiches we’d each also need an ice axe and crampons, neither of which I had. Indeed I’ve never had to use them, as most of my mountain walks happen at times when there’s no snow or ice.

The members of our group were of mixed mountain experience and profession. We consisted of engineers, educational psychologists, managers, computer programmers and me, an English teacher turned broadcaster.



We decided that we would take the Pyg track up the mountain with a careful eye on the weather. Most of us had been on this route several times before but with mountains no two walks are ever the same.





Gazing out across Snowdonia the following morning we knew we were going to be in for a treat. A low howling wind blew flurries of snow into our faces. We braced ourselves and set out.



We weren’t alone. The mountain was swarming with people taking advantage of the excellent snow and ice climbing conditions. Many were fully kitted out but we also saw people without ice axes and crampons.

An ice axe is essential; I learnt, to stop yourself sliding over a precipice, if you slipped on the ice – quite easily done under the conditions we encountered. Once you take a fall it’s impossible to stop yourself going over a cliff or getting smashed on jagged rocks and boulders. The art of using an ice axe correctly is to dig it into the snow or ice to stop you moving and to hang on for dear life! It’s a kind of brake rather than a chopper for hacking up ice, which is, I must confess, what I thought its main use was.



As we steadily climbed, we saw a yellow mountain rescue helicopter hovering over the icy crags. Quite a sobering sight.



Three walkers had been killed in recent days and on the day we were on the mountain there had been six rescue calls.

Our group split half way to the summit – three decided to climb down and four of us reached the summit.





What I love about this group of guys is that it doesn’t matter – it’s being there which is definitely as important as getting to the top.
Conversations on the mountain range from family and kids and relationships to reasons for the global recession and politics. By the time you come down bonding is complete, at least for another year.
With mountains and snow there’s never a dull moment and as fellow walker Pete said, ‘Isn’t this great! All you have to do is put one foot in front of the other’.
I wouldn’t miss it for anything.

Kaz, Producer, BBC Learning English

severe weather warnings: warnings to people that bad weather is coming
Snow Chaos: problems with transport and daily life caused by heavy snowfall
to be snowed under: to have more work than we can cope with
snowed in: unable to travel or leave where you are because of heavy snowfall
snowmen: human figures made from snow
snowballs: snow rolled into balls!
snowstorms: heavy snow
Mother Nature: the natural world in the image of a woman
You’re having me on (informal): you’re joking or you’re trying to make fun of me.
warm mountain gear: warm clothing and footwear
the grave: a place where dead people are buried
ominous: worrying or frightening
walkers: people who walk up mountains or in the countryside
climbers : people who climb up mountains (with rope etc.)
scramblers: people who have to use their hands and feet to get up rocks
stroll: to walk slowly
peaks: tops of mountains
extreme weather: difficult weather conditions
male bonding: men getting to know each other better and feeling close as a result