Start them young!

On the 28th November My 10 year old son Ollie and I set out for Snowdonia. Ollie had asked if he could climb Snowdon during his half term holiday and I was more than happy to oblige! We stayed in LLanberis on the Sunday night and had the obligatory fish and chip carbo load supper. Early on Monday morning we set of for the Pen-y-pass car park. I had asked Ollie the night before if he fancied doing Snowdon the easier way or the harder way, and he opted for the harder way. So after setting off on the Pyg track in glorious weather we set our sights on Crib Goch!

We crested after a hard scramble and made our way across the knife edge ridge enjoying fantastic views to the Rhinogs, Carnedds and Anglesey. Having enjoyed wonderful peace and tranquility on Crib Goch we didn't hang around at the summit of Snowdon; it was like a building site, in fact it was a building site. The café is being rebuilt and there was the intrusive noise of construction and hordes of people to hasten our retreat. We made our way down the Pyg track and back to the car. We both agreed that it was a fantastic trip and that going downhill is much harder than going up!

Ollie and I were really impressed with our Inov8 footwear. Ollie wore the Roclite 390 GTX and I wore the Roclite 318 GTX. They were incredibly light, provided superb grip and support, and I can say that they were the most comfortable footwear I have worn in the hills in over 30 years of mountaineering!

Our next trip is planned for Tryfan in December.

Paul Trepte