NW-001
SH609544 1085m ASL
Busy all year round despite the weather.
Operating best done away from the summits peak/train station though little antenna support for antenna masts
After a quarter hour wait to get into the car park at Pen y Pass. Snow was falling and the the Snowdon was shrouded in cloud, the warden at the rescue centre said conditions at the top were icy and grim.
As I started along the Pyg Track I wondered if I would make it to the top, I didn't have crampons and to my dismay realised that I had forgot to pack waterproof trousers.
Nonetheless I made quick progress up the track, there were plenty of others on the mountain to ask about conditions up ahead. Visibilty was down to about 30 yards all the way up and blizzard conditions prevailed all the way to the top which I managed in 1 hour 40 minutes.
After quickly eating lunch I set up my dipole across the end of the railway track at the cafe (all of which were closed) and sat against the track wall. Getting the equipment out I glanced at the thermonitor which read -4 degrees and dropping with windchill making it feel it colder still.
I managed to contact Syd G4XUH but it soon became apparent that there was a loose conection inside my transceiver, this was later traced to a broken connection on the audio mod that I did for the rig. Two more contacts followed with difficulty and by then I became very cold and thought it wise to move and try for a fourth contact on 2m just below the summit out of the wind.
It was not my day, the dipole I had brought for 2m had broken at the center connection so I just used the simple flexi antenna. No one was heard on 2m but I made contact with MW0BET who I'd just worked on the summit using 20m CW and asked her to give a call on 2m to find somebody!
Eventually, Ross MW0BYT picked up her calls and he swung his beam around to Snowdon, he was only in Bangor so there was a good chance he'd hear me. Well he was a good 59 with me but no copy from his side.
So in a last ditched attempt to get my fourth contact I connected up the dipole and held the centre connection together, and to my relief got a 56 report. With four contacts made I scurried down the mountain vowing only to go up again in better weather!