North Wales 28-29 October 2023
This weekend Yasha and Lova ran the annual OMM mountain marathon. Lova flew in from Germany and Yasha and Magda came from Sweden. We all met at Manchester airport and drove to North Wales. The campsite for the competitors was in a large field near Bethesda. We as a support team also camped there for the night. In the morning the guys were off to the race and we went for a walk.
The blue and red lines show our track on the 28 and 29 October. Shift-click on the track link will open it in nakarte.me.
The campsite at dawn. Most tents have already been packed.
A photo before the start. Sonya was busy this weekend and couldn't come with us.
It was quite windy and the rain came down from time to time but we were well prepared for the weather.
Start of the race. The teams on the left slope have already started. They study the map and choose the best route for themselves. It is better to spend time on this at the very beginning of the competition. Yasha and Lova had to find as many controls as possible in seven hours on the first day. Penalty points were given for being late. On the second day they had six hours. All participants spent the night at a campsite near Tryfan.
They are short, furry and shy. They run away if you get too close.
We climbed up Carnedd Llewelyn and got into the cloud. Occasionally the cloud would lift to reveal cliffs or lakes. This ridge has rocky cliffs on the east side and grassy slopes on the west.
The wind was quite gusty, but would occasionally die down.
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On the descent into the Eigiau valley we got caught in heavy rain. We put on our ponchos, a great defence against the rain and wind.
The Eigiau valley.
Three Carneddau ponies.
There were three tents at Melynllyn reservoir. These were the first people we met today, the runners didn't come here. We walked further to Dulyn bothy by the next reservoir where we planned to spend the night.
Our bothy. There was a young man already staying there, but there was plenty of room for everybody. He was happy to have company. We treated him to our dinner and then we all sat together chatting by the wood burner. There is no water or electricity in this cabin, but there is a table, chairs and decking for sleeping. We've stayed in bothies like this a few times. They are usually converted farm buildings which are kept in good condition by the Mountain Bothy Association.
This pony posed for a long time.
South Wales Mountain Sheep (a breed of local sheep with a brown collar).
The weather on the second day was much better. We climbed up to the ridge. Here you can see the sea, Anglesey and Puffin Island.
Rocky hills "come out" on the plateau in places.
The rocky peaks were shrouded in clouds, but we had sunshine on the plateau. Here we started seeing runners from the OMM marathon.
We took our time and climbed every rocky peak on the way back to the campsite.
The rocks in Wales are not the same as those in the Lakes. There's a lot more quartz here. Sharp rocks stick out of the ground like teeth.
Lichen on a red rock.
While we were walking, Yasha and Lova were running their course. This is Lova and his friends in the campsite after the first day of the competition. Each team carried their own tent, sleeping bags, food, stove, warm and dry clothes.
Yasha and Adam
We are heading back to the campsite. The sun has lit up the valley beautifully. We were surprised to see very little fern. In the Lakes all the mountains are reddish from withered ferns at this time of the year.
The boys are running to the finish line.
Yasha and Lova came first in their Long Score category! They were only 25 seconds ahead of the second team. In two days they ran 69 kilometres and climbed 4750 metres. We were in a hurry to get to the airport, so we didn't stay for the awards ceremony, we only had time to take a photo of them sitting down on the podium.
