Moel Siabod via the Daear Ddu ridge – scrambling day with Gemm.UK and Ray of Sun Adventures. 872m/2,860ft
So, there are days in the mountains when you feel strong, capable and completely in your element…
…and then there are days when your body appears goes completely on strike and decides that the sofa, chocolate and an early death are all preferable options.
My day on Moel Siabod and its Grade 1 scramble up the Daear Ddu Ridge was, quite spectacularly, the latter.
But it was also propably one of the most rewarding and worthwhile mountain days I’ve had, because sometimes the days that feel like impossible hurdles to overcome are the ones that remind you just how much you’re actually capable of.
Having previously done a scrambling introduction course on Tryfan and a climbing introduction course, when I was contacted about an last minute Scrambling day place with Gemm.UK and Ray of Sun adventures in Eryri I couldn’t really say no. With so many scrambling routes around the park, and it being one of my favourite places in the UK to hike, whatever the route it promised to be a brilliant excuse to spend a day in the Welsh mountains.
I was especially excited when it was decided that the route would be the Grade 1 Daear Ddu Ridge on Moel Siabod. Moel Siabod has been on my list for a while. A Welsh Marilyn and known for its iconic and an imposing presence on the mountain panorama of Eryri, Moel Siabod and the Daear Ddu ridge is considered one of North Wales’ finest scrambles.
The day was led by Gemma of Gemm.UK, with Ray of Sun Adventures hosting, and right from the beginning I knew this wasn’t going to be a gentle little wander through the hills.
Unlike Tryfan, which starts at a higher base elevation and the scrambling begins almost straight away, on Moel Siabod the approach to the Daear Ddu ridge involved a 4.5km hike in with 400m of elevation gain before you’ve even made it to the ridge. THEN you have the sustained Grade 1 scramble climbing roughly 300m in elevation over just 1km, which means an average gradient of around 30%, with considerably steeper sections
So today, there was no, “let’s warm up with a gentle hike for a couple of hours and then do the hard bit.” We were straight into elevation from the off. Here is the mountain. Off you go.
Now normally, this would be my usual territory and well within my comfort zone. I’d stop occasionally to take a few pictures, admire the view, off we go. But TODAY my body was already filing a very long, formal complaint.
Apparently hormones decide they have other plans
I’m not going to spend the time in this post to lie and give a ‘social media highlight’ style review sugar coated to make myself look like a brilliant mountaineer. I’m 41, navigating the joys of being a perimenopausal woman with PCOS/PMOS, and on this particular day my hormones seemed determined to make every single step feel like a hostage negotiation.
It was bloody hard. REALLY bloody hard
Energy? Zero
Legs? Furious.
Brain? Increasingly interested in the possibility of simply lying down beside the trail and accepting death. At various points from the word go, my body was screaming that it wanted nothing more than a sofa, a blanket and chocolate.
Preferably immediately and FORGET this mountain nonsense. Who the HELL did I think I was thinking I was capable of doing such a ridiculous stunt.
And when you’re already dealing with the mountain of your mind and body that’s hell bent on killing you off, 900 metres of ascent on an ACTUAL mountain was seemingly the last thing my body wanted to hear.
By 2km and 370m elevation, my legs were concrete and my energy levels in the floor. By 4.5km and 560m elevation as we approached the ridge, my soul had officially left my body.
For the first time in a LONG time, I found myself actually saying the words “Gemma, I honestly don’t think my body can do this today. I have nothing in me.”
But this is where having the right people around you makes such a massive difference. Gemma, our mountain leader, knows what I’m capable of. She led our Winter Skills Course in Scotland, and our climbing weekend. She knows I don’t give up unless there is no other sensible option, ie the conditions have deteriorated to dangerous levels, or it’s simply unsafe to continue. While I can be a stubborn and competitive person, this doesn’t come out in genuinely risky or potentially dangerous situations. I have ZERO interest in becoming a mountain rescue statistic anytime soon or falling off a damn mountain because I made a stupid decision.
So when she responded with “You absolutely CAN do it. You’ll regret it if you give up now.”, I knew she was right.
Deep down, I didn’t WANT to quit. My mind was ready to tackle the ridge head on. But my body absolutely wanted to give up.
Not dramatically.
Not in some inspirational “I nearly quit but found the inner strength to carry on” movie montage kind of way.
More in the very practical sense of:
Could I just crawl into a ball here and die?
Fortunately, Gemma wasn’t having it.
She refused to let me give up, and I’m incredibly grateful she did. I always hate writing posts which could be seen as cheesy or cliche ‘fighting against the odds’ kind of nonsense, I have no interest in trying to paint myself out as some kind of hormonal martyr. But the reason I write these posts, is because self doubt can be the loudest voice of all, and as an ageing woman, I’m now having to navigate changes to my body that society doesn’t adequately prepare us for.
And when your body is screaming NOPE, it’s remarkably easy to believe it.
So, sometimes you need someone outside your own head to remind you that your body not feeling 100% does NOT mean you’re incapable. Struggling doesn’t mean you’ve failed and sometimes all you can do is keep putting one foot in front of the other.
And before you know it, you’ve climbed considerably higher than you thought you could. Or, at least in the case of Moel Siabod, found yourself nearly losing a boot to the peat bog.
That’s one of the things I love about being part of supportive female groups and going out with genuinely brilliant guides, there’s no judgement when you do struggle and no expectation that you should magically find something easy just because you’ve decided to do it and turned up that morning.
Instead, there’s acceptance that you’re having an off day and reminders that actually, you CAN do it.
The Scramble
The Daear Ddu Ridge is where the day really came alive.
Scrambling sits somewhere between hiking and climbing, and Grade 1 is the lower end of the scrambling grade, you’re moving over rocky terrain, using your hands as well as your feet and constantly working out the best way forward with no discernible path. Often, scrambling routes are more exposed, precipitous and involve greater risk than standard mountain hiking. Beyond Grade 1, routes usually involve needing ropes, and so Grade 1 can be incredibly risky if not taken with care. It’s physically challenging as you’re climbing and route finding through rocks, boulders and crevices using nothing but your hands and feet, but there’s a mental element too.
You have to look at what’s in front of you and plan.
Where’s the next foothold? How slippy is that rock? Do my boots have enough grip on that type of rock? Where can I put my hands? What’s the best line? How do I move my body and weight to get over this?
And all of that is happening while your legs are already wondering why the bloody hell you’ve brought them here.
But I absolutely love it. Like my time on Tryfan, I adore scrambling.
There’s something incredibly satisfying about physically moving yourself over a mountain rather than simply walking along a path. You’re not just looking at the landscape, you’re interacting with it. It’s tactile, raw and the fear and exhaustion become part of the experience rather than something that stops you from overcoming the obstacle in front of you.
And then you look back…
One of the best moments came when we eventually got the chance to look back along the ridge from higher up.
Suddenly, you can see what you’ve actually climbed and the sheer scale of it.
The distance. The elevation. You’re LITERALLY climbing up a mountain. Using your hands and feet.
And it puts everything into perspective.
Those steps that felt individually completely impossible and SO bloody difficult had somehow added up to being stood on top of a STUNNING mountain.
Eryri is breathtaking. Properly, genuinely breathtaking. The view from the top of Moel Siabod is known for being one of the best panoramic views in Wales. From the top you can
The panoramic views make the long slog worthwhile, and there’s something particularly satisfying about experiencing that landscape away from the crowds and queues you can encounter on some of the more popular routes. From the summit, the landscape stretches for miles, far beyond the familiar silhouettes of Yr Wyddfa, the Glyderau and Carneddau across the valley. On a clear day you can find yourself taking in the Moelwynion and distinctive Cnicht to the south-east, Moel Hebog and the Nantlle Ridge to the west, even reaching as far as the Rhinogydd, Cadair Idris and the distant Arans. It feels like you can see all of Wales from one mountain top.
You don’t necessarily need to be fighting your way up Yr Wyddfa to experience the beauty of Eryri.
Sometimes you just need to pick a different mountain.
(And maybe prepared to work for it.)
So, standing there looking out across Eryri, with those huge panoramic views stretching around me, I couldn’t help thinking about how different this version of me is from the woman I was a few years ago. I’m older, my body is changing and I’m navigating learning what this version of me is capable of.
I’m not interested in making my life smaller just becaome I’m getting older, or buying into the narrative that certain things are “not for women my age.”
I’m not interested in waiting until the perfect time, “maybe I’ll do it when I’m fitter, stronger, more experienced or somehow more deserving before I go and do the hard things I want to do”. If you spend your life waiting for the right time you’ll be waiting forever.
Sometimes you just have to start.
Ok sometimes you might start badly and struggle. SOMETIMES your hormones decide to launch an all-out assault on your energy levels on the day you’re supposed to be tackling a 872m mountain, but nevermind, hey?
Just START. Then keep putting one foot in front of the other until you get where you’re going.
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