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Hi Everybody, Im going to do snowdon on my full sus bike (140) in the next few weeks.
Ive come from the motorsport world, ive have half an idea of what to expect (having raced Enduro/MX before - ive climbed a fair few mountains too so walking up Snowdon should be pretty straightforward)
I am new to MTB though, although im getting up to speed wit it all as i go along.
My question: Does anybody fancy joining me? im open to any route down and in almost any condition!
and in almost any condition!
In December that could be a recipe for death, especially if going solo or as a first timer.
Conversley there might be some beautiful dry and warm (above zero) days where its the best bike ride you've ever been on.
So I guess what I'm saying is pick your weather, and have a back up (coed y brenin is nearby and great fun in any condition) so you aren't tempted to say "well we're here now, may as well try..."
A group of 7 of us did Yr Wyddfa a few years ago and managed to get 11 punctures between us coming down telegraph valley - wouldn't have been so bad in the spring/summer but in winter we rapidly ran out of light!
Llanberis isn't bad for your first run down a big mountain, but obviously you won't be blasting it because there's still a lot of walkers
Done the Llanberis path up, the Rangers/Telegraph down. We used to do it in March, before the ban came in. And on 90-100mm hardtails BITD.
Done Rangers then back down Llanberis path way back in the 90's on rigid bikes. We must have been mad. Walked the path last year, and yeh, bloody nuts on such bikes.
There's been snow on the top for the last couple of weeks!
From Friday's report:
Snow persists in places on the mountain with some patches on the path from around 700m, with more significant patches from around 750m. Above about 850m there were areas of more significant snow and ice, with parts of the path covered by snow or ice making it difficult to avoid, and a little higher up there were places where the snow covered the path completely.
[...]
There were also significant parts of the path still under snow, with this causing the most problems between around 900m and 1000m on the miners'/PyG path. There were also significant sections of the Cwellyn, Llanberis, Miners' and PyG routes under snow between Bwlch Glas (980m) and the summit.
[Summit is at 1085m for reference]
I'd leave it until April FWIW, but even then there can be snow at the top:
(ETA: I believe that the path through Telegraph valley was resurfaced a year or two ago and isn't as "interesting" as it used to be. Haven't seen it first hand since, though)
Thanks for the advice guys, a goldmine of useful information here. If the conditions are no good then I'll play in the valley. What I cannot risk is injuring a walker or any other party on the mountain so if it's bad, I'll walk it back down or until it's safe to ride.
Up Llanberis. Takes about 2 - 2 1/2 hours approx. as a rough guideline. It's possible to pedal to the first train station then the pushing and some carrying starts.
From the top I prefer Rangers and Telegraph. About 20 minutes down Rangers to the junction is good going. There was a small finger post and a green path on the right and a push up to descent telegraph. Sub 5 minutes if all goes well! Leave a good 45+ to be sure of light.
Drop back into town before Pete's Ears closes!
As above pay careful attention to the weather conditions and play safe. A few punctures had us racing the sunset down the valley.
If you've not been up a big mountain before with a bike, I'd say don't underestimate how much hard work it is to get the bike up there in the first place, and then how much a sustained long rough descent will beat you up (even on a FS bike and taking breaks).
Drop back into town before Pete’s Eats closes!
You’re about 15 months late.
Sold last year & closed for renovation.
Remember it's not a bike park - full sends are for BPW. Me and Bert are regulars up there in winter.
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Thanks mate, I've climbed at some reasonable altitude with heavy packs so I'm very confident on being able to haul a bike up there. I'm just looking to give it a very measured ride down for now if the conditions allow
You’re about 15 months late.
Sold last year & closed for renovation.
Ah, dammit! Sad to hear this. Shows I'm not a regular, but first went there on a climbing trip in the early 90s. A bit of an institution!