Foel Offrwm Hike - GW/NW-055 SOTA (2021)

Summits on the Air Activation Report

Activation Date: Wednesday 16th June, 2021.
Activator(s): Richard M1HAX.
Summit: Foel Offrwm, North Wales, Wales.
Summit ID: SOTA reference GW/NW-055 (1 point).
Summit Height: 405m elevation, 236m prominence.
Summit Location: Lat./Long. 52.77198, -3.85457. Maidenhead Grid IO82bs.
Distance: 3.0km travelled with 199m of ascent.
Difficulty: SAC Grade T1.^(?)
Elapsed Time: 1hr 10m (including operating).
Weather: 19°C, 10 mph SW wind, 92% humidity.
Radio Equipment: Yaesu FTM100D, MFJ-1714, Zippy 4200mAh 4S LiFePo4.
Callsign Used: MW1HAX/P.
Contacts: 7 (2m FM).

Trip Notes

Foel Offrwm is a modest but scenic hill located in North Wales, rising to an elevation of 405 metres. The hill sits in the shadow of the more famous Cadair Idris, but offers its own rewards with excellent views and a relatively easy walking route. The name “Foel Offrwm” translates roughly to “Hill of Sacrifice” in English, referencing potential ancient ritual use.

For this activation, I approached the hill from the western side, where there is excellent access. The starting point features a good-sized car park with space for a couple of dozen vehicles and public toilets. Despite being somewhat off the beaten track compared to nearby Cadair Idris, the car park was surprisingly busy on this June afternoon.

The route begins by heading northeast on an easy-to-walk 4x4 track, which provides firm footing for the initial part of the journey. After a short distance, the surface changes to a grassy footpath as the route continues across gentler terrain.

After about 600 metres of walking, the path turns south and begins climbing more directly up the slopes of the mountain. A well-worn path leads through heather-covered terrain toward the summit. The ascent is steady without being too challenging, gaining about 199 metres of elevation over less than 2 kilometres of walking distance.

At the summit, I found an excellent large stone shelter which provided welcome protection from the misty wind. This substantial structure is unusual for such a modest summit and made for a comfortable operating position. I was able to use the shelter as a support for my VHF mobile radio setup.

Using my Yaesu FTM100D with the MFJ vertical antenna, I easily made seven contacts on the 2-metre band.

After completing my activation, I made a swift exit and headed back down to the car, retracing my steps along the same route. On the descent, I passed several groups of walkers making their way up the hill, indicating its popularity with local hikers.

For those wanting a longer outing, there is the option of a circular loop around the lower slopes of the hill which could extend the walk into a more substantial walk. Overall, this was an enjoyable one-point hill that offered a pleasant, straightforward activation.

Photos

Below are some photographs taken during my activation of Foel Offrwm on Wednesday 16th June, 2021.

Walking Route for Foel Offrwm

The interactive map below shows my GPS track taken to the SOTA activation zone for Foel Offrwm. The GW/NW-055 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 7 amateur radio contacts operating as MW1HAX/P from GW/NW-055 Foel Offrwm on Wednesday 16th June, 2021 (all times shown are UTC):

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 Foel Offrwm:

• Sotl.as Summit Page for GW/NW-055 Foel Offrwm.
• Hill Bagging UK Summit Page for Foel Offrwm.
• Google Earth view of Foel Offrwm.
• Wikipedia entry for Foel Offrwm.
• 360° Panorama near summit of GW/NW-055 Foel Offrwm.

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