UK Mountains Expedition Report

The day could not have been better, the sun was shining and the clouds were few and far apart. Parking up at the car park below the Storey Arms we pulled our boots on, grabbed rucsacs and headed off for what promised to be an excellent day out.

Given that we were training for the Three Peaks, we elected to carry a similar load to the actual event, which consisted of:

Waterproofs, spare thermal, gloves, beanie hat, small first aid kit, two litres of water, food for the day including energy bars, a small emergency shelter, map, compass and a camera.

All of this was squeezed into a 22L rucsac; ideal for the job.

A common mistake is to take too much 'just in case' gear, so having a smaller rucsac prevents this situation from arising.

Rather than follow the standard tourist route we elected to follow the stream which heads left of the main path and provides a nicer (in our opinion) route up. Crossing the path that leads down to the Storey Arms, we continued until bearing right bought us to the edge of the ridge which is then followed steeply up onto Corn Ddu which, at 873m was the first peak of the day and the second highest peak in the Brecons.

Dropping down slightly there is a short climb onto Pen-y-Fan, the highest peak in the Brecons at 886m. The view from here was amazing, the entire region was cloud free, or at least it was so high it was not a problem. looking around we could see the 'Fan Dance' route stretching out in front, the reservoir to our right and the sharp descent of Cribyn to the left - something we would get much closer to later.

Pausing briefly to take it all in, we were soon off down the steep slope to the base of the climb up to Cribyn (795m). On the way down, we passed several dozen soldiers on a training exercise making their way up, loaded with huge rucsacs and rifles cradled in their arms - we were definitely not envious!

Cribyn is a good pull up but is on a good man-made path so is soon dispatched and another descent follows before the final climb of the group; Fan-yr-Byg (719m).

With such good visibility it was hard to choose a route - everywhere looked so inviting, but we decided to head down the Northern ridge, then cut across via the stream and back up onto the Cribyn ridge and ascend it via the very steep North Ridge. As there was no path down, it was tough going on very steep ground but eventually we got to the stream where a break was called.

Soon enough we were off again and steeply upwards, firstly to the lower path and then onwards to the upper ridge where the ground was so steep we could touch it without leaning forward! Eventually the final ridge appeared and we began the final climb. There is no false summit here so what looks like the summit is the summit and after 15 minutes or so we crested the ridge to stand on the top for the second time today.

It was quite windy so we continued past the summit and down in the direction of the Neuadd reservoir to find a sheltered spot to stop for lunch. It was a beautiful day to be out in the Brecons, the sun was shining and out of the wind it was warm enough for T-Shirts - it would have been so easy to fall asleep here but that wouldn't get the final climb done so we steeled ourselves, packed away and made sure to leave nothing behind.

One very important piece of equipment to take on any mountain day out is a rubbish bag. Even things like banana skins should be taken home - imagine the mess if a thousand people left one banana skin each - if you bring it in, take it out!

Dropping down to the reservoir we noticed some great spots for a future camp site but today we were climbing again, heading for the ridge line up steep ground once again. Thighs complained begging for the climb to end but onward and upward until we crested the ridge, sadly a false summit with yet more, if anything steeper climbing. We skirted to the right of the rock wall, electing to use the grassy slope in preference to some dodgy looking rocks and finally we crested the ridge, breathing heavily but pleased to have succeeded in the climb.

The reward was a nice flat path heading in the direction of Corn Ddu again and our return journey. Once again we ignored the main tourist track and continued past it, taking a circular route to pick up the stream path that had bought us up earlier in the day. We followed this down right into the car park and the finish.

Stopping the GPS tracker we saw that our total for the day was 14 miles of walking with over 1,200m of ascent. Another great day out and some excellent training for the main event.