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Sometimes it just doesn't work out! Roger S tells of a trip to conquer Wale's greatest peak... Snowdon is a special place. It's home to probably the UK's only colony of glutinous snails (Myxas glutinosa), but as a place to go mountainboarding, it's not that special, and the snails will probably beat you down... It all started, as these things do, with some talk on forums about the perfect run and about riding Snowdon. Well, any chance to do something outside the norm has to be grabbed with both hands (mindy, anyone?), so we set a date and started to round up some downhillers to tackle what we hoped would be a run that would live up to the reputation of the highest mountain in Wales. With waterproofs packed, boards checked, maps learned, water platypied, GPS' charged, weather reports checked, and routes planned, we began to feel the excitement of riding Snowdon. Saturday came around and Ian (Kent ATB's head honcho and famous climber) met at my place. After half an hour of waiting we got a call from Evil C (Remolition's Web Wizard and walking disaster) to say his alarm clock hadn't gone off and he was going to be late. We decided to meet him half way at Reading Services, and after a Burger King breakfast, threw Clive's kit (including his new set of clean dry underpants in a waterproof plastic bag) into my car and drove off to Cheltenham to meet Bieran (Alpine mountain rider and New Zealand-bound soon-to-be snowboard instructor). With four out of five riders on their way north up the M5, and only four hours behind schedule, the anticipation built. As the daylight faded, and the winds battered us, and the rain fell in sheets, we turned onto the Llanberis Pass and drove between awe-inspiring and overwhelming rock faces, wondering what we had gotten ourselves into. After some aimless driving around Llanberis looking for somewhere to stay Clive found the Jesse James Bunkhouse, and off we went to the pub for some dinner and talk about computers and conspiracy theories. Sunday morning, with liquorice aftertastes and lots of bacon and baked beans in our bellies, we met JC (International cheese sandwich expert and couloir kayaker). With the usual military precision of mountainboarders, our 9am start slowly dragged on, and eventually, after a spot of shopping in Llanberis, we strapped our pads to our boards and started the hike at about 10.30.
The "ride" down, if you can call it that, was interrupted by long flat sections with anything that resembled a slope being madeup of large uneven rocks. On the plus side, the walk down didn't take as long as the walk up, and as we got near the bottom JC spotted a grass field to our left. We all strapped in and bombed the only bit of terrain worth riding on Snowdon. At the bottom of the field we climbed over the train tracks and onto a road. Which turned out to be a really nice little road ride into Llanberis. Beiran got to the bottom first and so he gets first descent (as far as we know). After disappoint and de-padding we headed back to the cafe for some dinner, apple crumble, and banana splits. And then began the long drive south with discussions on innovative board designs to keep us awake. With Bieran dropped off in 'nham and and me back in Oxford, Ian took Clive back to Reading Services, only to find he had left his car unlocked with the keys in the ignition all weekend! LOL! Words by Roger S and Photo courtesy of Ian H's phone.
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