Walking through the Cafe early on Saturday morning I glanced over to the sofa’s to see two familiar figures in the form of Tim Smith & Dean Millington, guessing what they might be up to I changed direction & went over for a chat. Sure enough my hunch was correct they were back to have another crack at our Siabod Challenge!

The year before had seen Tim & Dean (both clearly fit hillwalkers) attempting the challenge & making initial good progress over the Glyderau & Snowdon sections before being thwarted by the allure of Beer at the Pen y Gwryd Inn but a good effort nonetheless.

This year would be different, or so they said but the repeated mention of the Pen y Gwryd as they fuelled themselves with our breakfast did cause me to wonder. Would they get past this penultimate hurdle (honestly guys I did not design the route with this hazard in mind) & march on to tackle the final ‘charms’ of Moel Siabod to complete the Challenge.

They departed at 08:45 in gloriously perfect conditions but knowing they had a very long day ahead, just to commit to it again was success in itself.

Hours later I looked at my watch, my record was safe, but how are the guys doing???

Then at 17:57 their tired but smiling faces walked through the door, well done guys, great effort! As we exchanged anecdotes about just how far it is from the summit of Snowdon to the summit of Moel Siabod & more particularly the brutal final Siabod climb which takes away anything you’ve got left & more besides I knew inside they had the satisfaction of knowing it & yet conquering it, marvelous effort guys. To cap it all their time of 9 Hours 12 Minutes was the fastest of the challengers to date, clearly as words turned to Beer the only option was ‘that’s on the house Dorina’

Beer & the Sofa’s were their outer rewards but a little knowledge makes me understand the Inner Rewards will mean a lot more to them. What next for Tim & Dean, the 15 Peaks in June, with training like the Siabod Challenge under their belt go for it guys, sub 12 hours? surely yes!