CLIMBING SNOWDON: PART 2

3am. I couldn’t help it. A rustle of sheets, followed by soft footsteps across a creaky floor. The sliver of yellow light around the door filled the room as I stepped quietly out and onto the landing.

I needed the loo. In the quiet dark cottage, I could hear the sweep of rain outside. It fell on the cars and the bins and the tarmac. I stood a while and listened to it, convinced that it only makes that particular quiet pattering sound in Wales.

8:32am. Togged up, we waited at Pen-y-Pas. The early morning sky was grim. It hugged the mountains like evil clings to Mordor - dense, dark fog and swirling mists hiding the craggy tops and silhouettes. We were waiting for the other half of our crew, who’d parked the cars at Llanberis so that when we came down the other side at the end of the day, we’d be ready to just drive off. They were catching the bus back.

Rain pattered into my raincoat.

After a while, a bus did draw up. We watched as it swung into view..

Then, almost as if drawn by some divine comedy, a man in a bright yellow banana suit got out.

I don’t know if it would have been so obvious otherwise, but the morning was so dark and so grey, the luminous, felt banana costume slipped into the scene as though a powerful lamp had just been lit.

He was followed by Luigi (green overalls, fake moustache, felt hat), Buzz Lightyear, Jack Sparrow, Robin Hood, and most comically of all, a rather soggy looking Batman, who looked like he would rather be anywhere else than Snowdonia dressed up as the Caped Crusader.

“Stag do?” said Ant, looking round at us.

“Wouldn’t be my choice of stag do,” retorted Tim.

The fancy dress crew shuffled past us on their way to the toilets. A few moments later, I saw the banana ordering coffee in the little cafe, without a hint of oddity. Batman was still sulking.

9:04am. Synchronised tracking watches, found the path (more about that later) and set out into the cloudy hills, heading for Snowdon.

You know, in all that happened after that, we never saw the fancy dress crew up the mountain.

Climbing Snowdon Part 3 >>