"IF THE WORLD HAD ENDED AT THAT MOMENT, I COULDN’T THINK OF A BETTER PLACE TO SAVOUR OUR LAST BREATHS."
we were in a race to the top to capture the sunrise, so we plodded on in our own little headtorch bubbles stopping every couple of minutes briefly to admire the light. As we got closer to the summit, we couldn’t resist
getting the cameras out, the colours in the sky were just too beautiful to risk missing. We confirmed that if we didn’t get to the top for sunrise, it didn’t matter. In all honesty, if the world had ended at that moment, I couldn’t think of a better place to savour our last breaths. After half an hour of drone flying and getting some action shots, we moved up to the southwest shoulder of Pen Yr Ole Wen as the summit was too flat and would lose the vantage point of the Ogwen Valley. As we sat and watched the glorious scenes unfold in
front of us, we compared the flowing cloud to the ice age glaciers and couldn’t take our gaze off the cloud swirling around Tryfan and the Cwms of Llyn Idwal and Bochlwyd. The cwms and neighbouring valleys were acting as tributaries for one another. As far as the skyline stretched, everywhere was covered in a sea of purple and orange textured cloud from the pre sunrise glow. When the valley floor is covered, it seems as though you could be in any high- altitude region in the world, only being reminded of civilisation by the echoed sounds of vehicles against the valley walls. We rolled a time-lapse, flew the drone and then decided
to put the cameras away and enjoy the sun rising. This is a very important thing when you’re out, if time allows, it’s almost criminal not to stop and enjoy the moment and appreciate the environment around you. It's easy to get swept away with your phone or camera, there is a happy medium to be reached.
R Lauren looking over the sea of cloud covering the Ogwen Valley.
A couple of hours passed sitting on the shoulder of Pen
Yr Ole Wen, but we were completely oblivious to time. As we reached the summit, in the distance the clouds were eddying into the Carneddau Cwms and extending into the distance over Anglesey and beyond. We had already spent six hours on the mountain by this
time, it felt like we had experienced a once in a lifetime sunrise and were more than happy to head down the Eastern ridge of Pen Yr Ole Wen. Neither of us wanted to leave this heavenly place, knowing that only a few hundred metres below us, the world was in cloud perhaps unaware of what lay above. We reluctantly headed down keeping our eyes fixed on the endless magnificence of the cloud inversion. After we down scrambled the well-known gully, we were soon met with a wall of cloud and as expected, a significant drop in temperature. Hoods up and hats on, we followed Afon Lloer down to the valley floor and headed back to Ogwen Cottage for tea and medals.
Words & pics: Sam Beaumont is an adventure photographer, videographer and blogger. Sam and Lauren Henshall own Sam Beaumont Media, a photography and videography company in Llanfairfechan, North Wales.
Our content can be found on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube by searching Sam Beaumont Media.
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