Smash and Grab Adventurous Weekend in North Wales
A weekend with nothing in the diary and a stunning spring weather forecast is the perfect recipe for an adventurous weekend in North Wales.
But all this amazing spring weather does unfortunately mean the stagnation of whitewater kayaking. ‘Yeah but you can go mountain biking and running instead?’ is what you’re undoubtedly thinking. ‘Yeah but I’m off to the Italian Alps next week, for a week of grade 4/5 kayaking – so we need to get as dialled into the kayaks as possible!’.
It’s a hard life.
North Wales is home to one of the most reliable whitewater sources in the UK, the Afon Tryweryn. Based around the hub that is the Canolfan Tryweryn, just outside the small town of Bala, this section of whitewater is fed by a dam release at the discretion of the Conwy council. Canolfan Tryweryn (aka National Whitewater centre) operates a popular guided whitewater rafting experience, whilst allowing recreational use of kayaks on this section of river.
The river is talked about in two sections; upper and lower. The upper being the section next to the whitewater centre, this section is primarily grade 3 rapids with enough features to keep even the most experienced occupied. Wave-surfing and eddy-hopping keep the hardy white water kayakers on their toes – occasionally dishing out beat downs to those not careful on edges of their kayak.
Whilst the lower is a long mild stretch of river, with one class 3 rapid at Bala mill falls, it allows the feeling of having paddled a complete river.*
Of course it would it have been sensible to just take kayaking kit to go kayaking, right? But with a garage full of other adventure ‘stuff’ it seemed daft not to pack some other kit… namely mountain running and biking kit, to complete said adventurous weekend in North Wales.
With legendary fell and ultra-runner Nicky Spinks out to set an unprecedented record of a double Paddy Buckley round, I headed up into the Snowdon massif to lend my support from the summit.
Setting out from Pen-Y-Pass car park, I was gassing after 7 miles and 2986ft ascent completing the Snowdon horseshoe – whereas Spinks was out to complete 122 miles with 56’000ft of elevation. After over 57 hours on the go, she made her way back into Capel Curig to complete this incredible feat of endurance!
Spinks record breaking feat of endurance completes her series of running the double Bob Graham round in the Lake District & Charlie Ramsay round in Scotland, making the breast cancer survivor the first person ever to complete double rounds of all 3 classics. Absolutely incredible – huge congratulations to Nicky and her supporting team!
For those seeking the ultimate adventurous weekend in North Wales, Crib Goch should be high on list for more exhilarating thrills. Crib Goch itself is a mountain standing at 923m and is accessed only by ridge from Carnedd Ugain to the west or Crib Goch ridge (and grade 1 scramble to access) to the east. Once on Crib Goch, it is extremely committing & exposed – a fall can result in serious injury and escape routes are severely limited.*
Whilst there are other less popular and equally as phenomenal ridges and graded scrambles in north wales, the idea of completing the Snowdon horseshoe appeals to so many given the opportunity to stand atop the highest point in Wales & complete one third of the national 3 peaks.
No adventurous weekend in North Wales would be complete without taking my beloved bike out for a spin. North Wales is somewhat of a haven for off-road bike riding – I strongly recommend checking out the following for route guides; North Wales MTB and MBWales. In typical me fashion, I made life simple by picking a huuuuge mountain in southern Snowdonia – taking 2.5 hours to get to the summit of Cadair Idris!
As they say in skiing… ‘earn your turns’! From the summit of Cadair Idris it took a whole 15 minutes to complete the descent… talk about ratios of work-play! Credit to FlatTyresMTB for the route.
For a more chilled bike ride – definitely add Coed-y-Brennin trail centre to your agenda for the mountain bike element of your adventurous weekend in North Wales.
Oh yeah, last but not least, add a campfire in the woods with no phone signal to ultimate adventurous weekend in North Wales bucketlist. No questions, just go do it, you’ll thank me later!
Thanks for reading – safe adventuring!
*Disclaimer – I cannot be held responsible for any accident or injury sustained as result of undertaking the adventurous activities in this blog post. You should be competent and have sufficient knowledge/skillset/experience in the environment where these activities are undertaken.
As tame as some of river rapids may appear, whitewater kayaking should not be attempted without proper safety equipment, knowledge of how to use it or experience in a whitewater environment.
Crib Goch (or any exposed ridge/graded shamble) should not be attempted by those without experience of such conditions, those unprepared & the weather (particularly wind and gust speed) should be a huge factor is anybody’s decision to cross this ridge.
