Snowdon - GW/NW-001 SOTA (2021)

Summits on the Air Activation Report

Activation Date: Thursday 1st July, 2021.
Activator(s): Richard M1HAX.
Summit: Snowdon, North Wales, Wales.
Summit ID: SOTA reference GW/NW-001 (10 points).
Summit Height: 1085m elevation, 1039m prominence.
Summit Location: Lat./Long. 53.06850, -4.07623. Maidenhead Grid IO73xb.
Also Activated: GW/NW-008.
Distance: 19.6km travelled with 1425m of ascent.
Difficulty: SAC Grade T1.^(?)
Elapsed Time: 7hr 55m (incl. operating and other summit(s) on the same hike).
Weather: 22°C, 5 mph NE wind, 79% humidity.
Radio Equipment: Yaesu FTM100D, MFJ-1714, Zippy 4200mAh 4S LiFePo4. Yaesu VX6, Diamond SRH770S.
Callsign Used: MW1HAX/P.
Contacts: 62 (2m FM, 70cm FM).

Trip Notes

Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa in Welsh) is the highest mountain in Wales, standing at an impressive 1,085 metres above sea level. Located in Snowdonia National Park, it boasts several well-marked paths to the summit, panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and the Irish Sea, and is even served by a mountain railway. It is a P600 classification mountain with a prominence of 1,039 metres, and is worth 10 points on the Summits On The Air amateur radio scheme.

For this SOTA activation, I completed a linear out-and-back route, having already summited Snowdon earlier in the day via the Llanberis Path and continued on to Y Lliwedd. This second ascent would see me returning to Snowdon’s summit from Y Lliwedd before descending back to Llanberis.

I began by descending from Y Lliwedd’s west peak, heading northwest towards Bwlch Ciliau, where the grade 1 scrambling route ends and joins the Watkin Path at approximately 744 metres altitude.

The ascent on the Watkin Path is generally straightforward for experienced hillwalkers. However, the upper section becomes less defined with loose terrain where it’s easy for the unwary to stray from the established route. Around this area, I deliberately left the footpath to escape the crowds and sought more engaging terrain around Clogwyn y Garnedd. Readers should take should note that the detour visible in the GPX route is not part of the standard Watkin Path.

Arriving at Snowdon’s summit for the second time that day, I moved to the eastern side where it’s quieter and away from the main tourist pack. Here I set up my amateur radio station and operated for about 90 minutes, making a satisfying 62 radio contacts primarily on the 2-metre band and a few on 70cm.

The log included many familiar callsigns, including a notable contact with Richard GW3CWI, one of the founders of the Summits on the Air scheme and owner of the SOTA Beams online shop. I also made two summit-to-summit contacts: one with Rick M5RJC on Burrow (G/WB-014) and another with Andrew GM4VFL/P who was still on GM/SS-030 in Scotland, having spoken with him earlier from the summit of Y Lliwedd.

After completing my radio activation, I descended via the Llanberis Path back to the car park, completing an enjoyable 8-hour day in Snowdonia’s mountains.

Whilst I think that every keen hillwalker should experience all of the major routes up Snowdon, I found the Llanberis Path to be the least inspiring. It offers good quality footpaths with easy gradients, making it perfect for those seeking a less challenging ascent. However, for more memorable experiences, consider the Watkin or Crib Goch routes. For experienced mountaineers looking to get off the beaten track, options like the Clogwyn y Person arete (S3), Y Gribyn (S1), or the Eastern Terrace of Clogwyn Du’r Arddu (S2) offer more technical ascents.

Photos

Below are some photographs taken during my activation of Snowdon on Thursday 1st July, 2021.

Walking Route for Snowdon

The interactive map below shows my GPS track taken to the SOTA activation zone for Snowdon. 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-001 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 62 amateur radio contacts operating as MW1HAX/P from GW/NW-001 Snowdon on Thursday 1st July, 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 Snowdon:

• Sotl.as Summit Page for GW/NW-001 Snowdon.
• Hill Bagging UK Summit Page for Snowdon.
• Google Maps Page for Snowdon.
• Wikipedia entry for Snowdon.
• 360° Panorama near summit of GW/NW-001 Snowdon.

If you found this content valuable, why not Buy Me a Coffee?