Eton College Silver Expedition

With A to Z Expeditions last week Eton College embarked upon their Silver Qualifying D of E Expedition.

The groups I supervised started their exped, on the 28th, by crossing the Carneddau. The groups showed good navigation and were clearly able to look after themselves.

Tryfan in Ogwen.

This is the spot of the groups wild camp on night 1. These boys had a relatively good nights sleep, but another group at a different wild camp had a disturbance... They had a fly-by from 2 low flying Chenook helicopters. They also passed my camp, but at a safe distance. The low flying helicopters ripped several guide lines and zips on the 2 tents - but the boys were fine and dealt with it really well.

On day 2 the groups were due to cross the Glyderau. It was a perfect opportunity for me to have a fun journey. Ordinary Route on Idwal Slabs, then Cneifion Arete (shown above) on the way up and Hope on the way down.

Here I'm on Cneifion Arete

The top of Cneifion Arete.

Castle of the winds.

Dr Russel taking the obligatory photo of a group on the Cantilever.

The second group approaches...

Day 2 proved to be quite a long day for some, but eventually everybody got to camp. Day 3 started with hill fog covering the top few hundred metres of Snowdon.

My groups went up the Llanberis path (easiest, longest and most popular of the well beaten tracks) and down the Watkin Path eventually back to Llyn Gwynant base camp. The visibility was very poor at the summit, but by now the groups navigation was good in all conditions.

The new cafe at the summit.

The train coming up the track...

My route down was via Crib Goch.

After Garnedd Ugain along Crib y Ddysgl, I came across a couple of men who seemed to be sunbathing! About 2 minutes later the helicopter arrived to evacuate the man with an injured leg.

The groups all got back to camp within good time. They had all successfully completed their Silver D of E Exped in good strong style - Congratulations to you all...

A section of Crib Goch.

To celebrate getting their 'Eton Silver' they enjoyed a BBQ while we drove back to Fort William. I'm glad I'm not working tomorrow.