This should be quite obvious advice, but I suppose people need quite obvious advice sometimes.
Moderately experienced walker reporting in.
I’ve had the experience of a Zero-Visibility situation. For me, I was being silly. There’s a hill in my city which gives some amazing city views normally, and on a night of heavy fog, I wanted to see if I could climb to the top, get above the fog level, and see the city’s lights glowing through the fog. I thought it could look amazing. I know the hill well enough that I can pretty much do it with my eyes closed, and regularly do it with only moonlight as illumination.
I made it to the top, and it was completely dark, and still laden with thick fog. The thing with the fog was that I couldn’t see anything, which meant no reference points. I couldn’t see the sky and get my direction from the stars, couldn’t see the city, couldn’t see the surrounding hills, and couldn’t even see anything on my own hill, except for maybe a 6ft radius of ground. I’d lost the path, so that wasn’t any help.
It’s a scary, scary feeling to be completely removed from all of the things you use to figure your location and direction. Imagine being blindfolded, having your ears plugged, and spun around, and trying to navigate your surroundings by feel. Except, imagine if your surroundings will also kill you if you go the wrong way, or slip and fall in an unfortunate place. It’s genuinely terrifying to realise that you are lost and, frankly, fucked, unless you can find some familiar ground.
The thing with falling snow is that you don’t even have the benefit of familiar ground.
Don’t risk it.
>!If you do, as a minimum, carry two phones, and use one (and, of course, make sure it’s one with a lengthy and reliable battery) to track your journey with an app like SportsTracker or Strava. I prefer the former because it’s slightly easier on the battery, but you pick your brand. The thing with these apps is that leaves a trail of virtual breadcrumbs that you can use to navigate your way back to safety, or to re-find your route if you veer off it. Imo, it’s worth using them for all hikes. Particularly on less popular routes, paths are often poorly marked or only lightly treaded, which makes it easy to lose them.!<
Still amazes me how people with no experience no gear and no idea what the fuck they are getting into keep doing this.
Can’t tell if people are just thick or deluded.
My cousin volunteers in mountain rescue, and is always amazed at how many rescue operations could be avoided by people not being idiots, and doing minimal research.
No path up a mountain like Snowdon should be considered “easy”.
If you have experience of mountain hiking/climbing that experience should inform your decisions – no experience and take time to build experience but carry some basic kit in half decent clothing and footwear at least.
Too many places – websites, guidebooks etc – make it sound like a sunny jaunt around a park – any mountain needs respect and some caution.
The first lockdown saw a lot of people going into nature but not respecting it, an attitude that is all too common these days. We live pretty safe lives and a lot of people have forgotten just how unforgiving nature can be. A hike is not a walk in the park and you do need to prepare for it, especially in winter when weather can change so quickly. If you have not prepared then it is better to simply not go, otherwise you run the risk of getting caught out and needing a rescue.
Would this be the same Snowdonia which contains Mount Snowdon, which has poor reviews on trip advisor because its steep and goes uphill all the way to the top?
There should be official requirements for climbing certain mountains. If you require mountain rescue and are found to not be well equipped (Flip flops, t shirt, no water in summer, or no coat, improper footwear etc in winter) you should be charged for the rescue. You should still not he stopped from these walks as it’s he crazy to stop people, bit they should face consequences of their stupidity renders them in need of assistance.
Even the easiest path up Snowdon takes a lot of effort, it’s not just any old stroll through the country.
I work in an outdoor gear shop and I’ve twice in recent memory have had cases of people coming in like ‘I’m going up Snowden I need some walking boots and I’m going tomorrow’ and then not wanting to actually pay out for the right sort of boots to do the job. Had someone who was like ‘Are you sure I can’t do it in trainers?’
Over the last week I’ve had
‘What do I really need snow boots for my skiing holiday’
‘Do I really need ski trousers for my trip to Iceland’
9 comments
This should be quite obvious advice, but I suppose people need quite obvious advice sometimes.
Moderately experienced walker reporting in.
I’ve had the experience of a Zero-Visibility situation. For me, I was being silly. There’s a hill in my city which gives some amazing city views normally, and on a night of heavy fog, I wanted to see if I could climb to the top, get above the fog level, and see the city’s lights glowing through the fog. I thought it could look amazing. I know the hill well enough that I can pretty much do it with my eyes closed, and regularly do it with only moonlight as illumination.
I made it to the top, and it was completely dark, and still laden with thick fog. The thing with the fog was that I couldn’t see anything, which meant no reference points. I couldn’t see the sky and get my direction from the stars, couldn’t see the city, couldn’t see the surrounding hills, and couldn’t even see anything on my own hill, except for maybe a 6ft radius of ground. I’d lost the path, so that wasn’t any help.
It’s a scary, scary feeling to be completely removed from all of the things you use to figure your location and direction. Imagine being blindfolded, having your ears plugged, and spun around, and trying to navigate your surroundings by feel. Except, imagine if your surroundings will also kill you if you go the wrong way, or slip and fall in an unfortunate place. It’s genuinely terrifying to realise that you are lost and, frankly, fucked, unless you can find some familiar ground.
The thing with falling snow is that you don’t even have the benefit of familiar ground.
Don’t risk it.
>!If you do, as a minimum, carry two phones, and use one (and, of course, make sure it’s one with a lengthy and reliable battery) to track your journey with an app like SportsTracker or Strava. I prefer the former because it’s slightly easier on the battery, but you pick your brand. The thing with these apps is that leaves a trail of virtual breadcrumbs that you can use to navigate your way back to safety, or to re-find your route if you veer off it. Imo, it’s worth using them for all hikes. Particularly on less popular routes, paths are often poorly marked or only lightly treaded, which makes it easy to lose them.!<
Still amazes me how people with no experience no gear and no idea what the fuck they are getting into keep doing this.
Can’t tell if people are just thick or deluded.
My cousin volunteers in mountain rescue, and is always amazed at how many rescue operations could be avoided by people not being idiots, and doing minimal research.
No path up a mountain like Snowdon should be considered “easy”.
If you have experience of mountain hiking/climbing that experience should inform your decisions – no experience and take time to build experience but carry some basic kit in half decent clothing and footwear at least.
Too many places – websites, guidebooks etc – make it sound like a sunny jaunt around a park – any mountain needs respect and some caution.
The first lockdown saw a lot of people going into nature but not respecting it, an attitude that is all too common these days. We live pretty safe lives and a lot of people have forgotten just how unforgiving nature can be. A hike is not a walk in the park and you do need to prepare for it, especially in winter when weather can change so quickly. If you have not prepared then it is better to simply not go, otherwise you run the risk of getting caught out and needing a rescue.
Would this be the same Snowdonia which contains Mount Snowdon, which has poor reviews on trip advisor because its steep and goes uphill all the way to the top?
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/snowdon-trip-advisor-steep-hike-17507381
There should be official requirements for climbing certain mountains. If you require mountain rescue and are found to not be well equipped (Flip flops, t shirt, no water in summer, or no coat, improper footwear etc in winter) you should be charged for the rescue. You should still not he stopped from these walks as it’s he crazy to stop people, bit they should face consequences of their stupidity renders them in need of assistance.
Even the easiest path up Snowdon takes a lot of effort, it’s not just any old stroll through the country.
I work in an outdoor gear shop and I’ve twice in recent memory have had cases of people coming in like ‘I’m going up Snowden I need some walking boots and I’m going tomorrow’ and then not wanting to actually pay out for the right sort of boots to do the job. Had someone who was like ‘Are you sure I can’t do it in trainers?’
Over the last week I’ve had
‘What do I really need snow boots for my skiing holiday’
‘Do I really need ski trousers for my trip to Iceland’