Martin and Jack participated in a charity event called the Snowdon Push on this May Bank holiday weekend. The event involved people with spinal injuries getting to the top of Snowdon and back with the help of their team. The team that Martin and Jack were members of was centred around climbing buddy Mike Garton, who broke his neck in a climbing accident last year. Mike's story has been reported in most of the UK's national newspapers, so won't be repeated here. The day was a major physical challenge for all and a mental challenge on top of that for Mike himself. Our mission was accomplished though in a total of about 7 hours and it's fair to say that a satisfying and memorable day was had by everyone concerned.
The route we took was the one that pretty much follows the railway.... about 20km round trip. Quite a walk by any standards.
Note that you can view or download full size versions of the photos below by clicking on the image and then saving.
A few sites that tell Mike's story: Spinal Cord Injury Zone , The Telegraph , The Sun
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| Martin and Jack camped at Tremadog, about 20 miles away from Llanberis. The cliffs in the background are about 200 feet high and the site of Martin's very first ever rock climb, Christmas Curry, when a 19 year old student! The plan had been to climb a route or two the day after the Snowdon event but the weather was too bad for this to happen unfortunately. |
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| We arrived at about 09:30pm on the Friday just as the sun was going down.... |
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| Saturday, at the start of the event. In general, people's wheel chairs etc had been customised to make it easier for team members to pull, push, haul etc |
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| Jack looking happy at the start :-) |
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| The camera blur here is caused by the fact that Jack is *whizzing* up the mountain! |
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| Jack head-butting a miniature sheep for some reason |
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| On the way up but still quite near the start... it was already getting steep and rough |
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| In a lonely place.... |
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| Heave! This was actually one of the easiest sections as the path was quite "forgiving" here |
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| Martin and Jack took their turn..... Martin reckons the position directly behind Mike was the hardest of all the places he worked throughout the day |
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| More than half way now... Jack with the 500 foot cliffs of "Cloggy" in the background. Martin and Gareth have been talking about climbing them for about 3 years now! One day we will..... |
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| Jack was beginning to feel the strain as we got into the last quarter of the climb... the photo doesn't show it well but this section was very steep |
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| Not far now.... probably less than 500 feet left to climb. |
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| Jack was getting tired now... but never complained once and most importantly... never gave up. |
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| Jack using the classic "press down on your legs to keep them working" technique! |
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| Another steep and rough section. |
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| Jack, recovered from the recent steep sections and ready for the final stage |
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| And there he is. Jack on the summit of Mount Snowdon, the tallest peak in Wales and England at a height of 1,085 metres (3,560 feet). |
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| Getting Mike to the summit |
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| And we're there! |
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| Martin had to get himself in the group pic too :-) Mike has been buried behind his happy team. |
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| Martin and Jack with the splendour of Snowdonia National Park behind them |
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| It was *really* cold at the top so Martin gave Jack his fleece |
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| The end! |