Glasgwm Hike - GW/NW-015 SOTA (2019)
Summits on the Air Activation Report
Activation Date: Tuesday 31st December, 2019.
Activator(s): Richard M1HAX.
Summit: Glasgwm, North Wales, Wales.
Summit ID: SOTA reference GW/NW-015 (6+3 points).
Summit Height: 779m elevation, 215m prominence.
Summit Location: Lat./Long. 52.76015, -3.72528. Maidenhead Grid IO82ds.
Also Activated: GW/NW-007.
Distance: 17.4km travelled with 1039m of ascent.
Difficulty: SAC Grade T2.(?)
Elapsed Time: 5hr 25m (incl. operating and other summit(s) on the same hike).
Weather: Feels like 1.7°C, 17 kph ENE wind, 100% humidity.
Radio Equipment: Yaesu FTM100D, MFJ-1714, Zippy 4200mAh 4S LiFePo4.
Callsign Used: MW1HAX/P.
Contacts: 8 (2m FM).
Trip Notes
Glasgwm is a mountain located in Snowdonia National Park, Wales, UK. It is situated in the southern part of the park, near the town of Dinas Mawddwy. The mountain has a height of 780 meters (2,560 feet) and is part of the Cadair Idris range.
I activated this summit on New Years Eve 2019, while on my way to the summit of Aran Fawddwy GW/NW-007. It is well paired with GW/NW-007 as it is a relatively minor detour while gaining the plateau.
At the end of a narrow road there is parking for perhaps two cars. I’ve always found this mountain area to be very quiet and have never had an issue with finding space.
The route starts off by traversing through some farm land before heading in to a forestry area. This is a wet and muddy route in winter so good boots are a necessity.
As the path exits the forest look for the stile framed by trees. This leads in to open hillside where an imminent stream crossing awaits.
Indistinct trails and tracks link their way up the hill before breaking south for the short climb to the summit of Glasgwm (779m).
The name Glasgwm comes from the Welsh language and means “blue cairn.” This is in reference to the small stone cairn that marks the summit of the mountain, which is said to have a blueish tint.
After a quick Summits on the Air activation with my Yaesu FTM100D radio, I headed back the way I had ascended before continuing north towards Aran Fawddwy GW/NW-007.
Photos
Below are some photographs taken during my activation of Glasgwm on Tuesday 31st December, 2019.
Walking Route for Glasgwm
The interactive map below shows my GPS track taken to the SOTA activation zone for Glasgwm. Note that this summit was activated as part of a multi-summit hike and the map below shows the full route taken on the day. The GW/NW-015 summit area is marked on the map with a blue pin icon.
You can download the route shown above as a GPX file suitable for use with most GPS devices. This file is provided for information only, to support your own walk planning and research (it may contain navigation errors, detours and/or safety hazards). The route downloads provided here are governed by the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Station Log
I logged the following 8 amateur radio contacts operating as MW1HAX/P from GW/NW-015 Glasgwm on Tuesday 31st December, 2019 (all times shown are UTC):
| Time | Callsign | Band | Mode | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11:41 | G4ASZ | 2m | FM | Adrian, 5/1 |
| 11:42 | MW0GSR | 2m | FM | Simon, 5/9 |
| 11:43 | M6NSV | 2m | FM | Neil, 5/7 |
| 11:44 | 2E1ELE/M | 2m | FM | Peter, 5/4 |
| 11:45 | MW7ROY | 2m | FM | Don, 4/8 |
| 11:46 | M0NTC/M | 2m | FM | Jez, 5/4 |
| 11:47 | GW7LFC | 2m | FM | Derek, 5/1 |
| 11:50 | GW4VPX | 2m | FM | Allan, 5/7 |
In the notes field I will usually log the other operator’s name and the signal report they provided. In accordance with the Summits on the Air rules, I do not make a log entry where a complete exchange of callsigns and signal reports was unsuccessful.
Additional Information
The following resources may be helpful to walkers, mountaineers and SOTA activators interested in Glasgwm:
- Sotl.as Summit Page for GW/NW-015 Glasgwm.
- Hill Bagging UK Summit Page for Glasgwm.
- Google Earth view of Glasgwm.
- Wikipedia entry for Glasgwm.
- 360° Panorama near summit of GW/NW-015 Glasgwm.
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