Paula Climbs Snowdon

Snowdon Climb

My family and I completed our sponsored climb up Snowdon on Tuesday 12th September. There were 5 of us – Andy, Richard, Stella, Stephan and myself.
We stayed in a cottage near Caernarfon for a week on holiday and chose the best day for good weather, according to the Met office.
We were on the mountain for 8 hours in total, it took 4 hours to climb up, about an hour’s rest, and 3 hours to walk down again.
We took all the advice given regarding equipment, clothing etc. and set off in good weather. The top of the mountain was cloaked in cloud so we knew that visibility would not be good. However we were not expecting that the weather would turn quite as nasty as it did. About three quarters of the way up, the rain lashed down and the winds were very strong. It made the last bit of the climb very difficult and not an enjoyable experience.
Unfortunately my waterproofs were not up to the extreme weather conditions and I was soaked through. I was also very nervous about the walk down as it is so much harder than going up but I just had to go for it as there was no alternative.
We drank a warm cocoa in the summit cafe and luckily the rain had stopped when we ventured out to walk down. The high winds dried me out a bit as we picked our way down the rocky paths. Stephan had hard work guiding me and trying to pick the safest places to place our feet.
Around two thirds of the way down the rain began again in earnest. We were all extremely wet by the time we reached the walkers’ cafe at the bottom of the mountain where more hot chocolate was served up.
Apart from my sore hips, Richard and Andy’s sore feet and Stella’s sore neck and shoulders, there were no injuries and we all got down safely. We certainly felt a great sense of achievement although the weather did rather spoil the enjoyment of the experience.
Stella and I suffered with our leg muscles for three days after the climb and my leg joints are still giving me pain now five days later.
This has been the hardest physical challenge I have ever undertaken and I am not sure that I would have struggled right to the top if it hadn’t been for the generous people who had sponsored me and I didn’t want to let the charities down.
Thank you to everyone who has pledged money and also to my family for supporting me in this venture, I couldn’t have done it without them.
If anyone that has kindly offered to sponsor me, and would like to do it on line the addresses for Milton Keynes Reader Service and Audio Description Association are:
totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/paulasuchy
and
localgiving.com/paulasuchy-mkrs
Please could you donate half to each one. Thank You!