Mountain Racing

Between Moelwyn Mawr and Moelwyn Bach

It’s that time of year for extreme sports; 2^nd April was the Boat Race, 8^th April is the Grand National and on the same day it’s also Ras y Moelwyn. The Moelwyn Race is a fell run over the three peaks of Moelwyn Mawr, Moelwyn Bach and Moel yr Hydd, a mere 10 ½ miles and 2,800 feet of altitude gain. 

The route of the race makes an excellent walk with fantastic views but the front runners in Ras y Moelwyn don’t pause to take in the scenery. In 2015 there was a record turnout of nearly 400 and the course record was well and truly smashed - a runner from Scotland finished first in just 1 hour 13 minutes and 9 seconds for what most people would take a whole day to walk! This short film sequence gives you an idea of the terrain.

At the other end of the scale was Kurmang Rashid, the Blaenau Ffestiniog baker who is famous for his spicy Kurdish Pasties. He always competes and completes … in about three hours. It’s not the winning but the taking part!

Another local race starting in the town square of Dolgellau is Ras y Gader (The Chair Race) which takes you to the top of Cadair Idris and back. It’s the same length and altitude gain as Ras y Moelwyn but it isn’t a circular route. As you slog up the mountain it can be very dispiriting to see the front runners flying past you on their way to the finish line. This year’s Ras y Gader is on 20^th May.

Mountain racing is an excellent spectator sport!

Blaenau Ffestiniog going downhill? You’ve got to be crazy!

Blaenau Ffestiniog, about four miles up the railway line from us, is famous for its slate - it wouldn’t exist were it not for the slate. But its industry has almost all gone and instead Blaenau is repositioning itself as the adventure capital of North Wales.

Downhill with a difference

On the mountain above Llechwedd slate quarry is the start of the downhill biking track, created and run by Antur Stiniog. Riders pay £29 for a day’s pass (£32.50 at weekends) which gives them up to 20 ‘uplifts’ to the top of the mountain where they have a choice of six trails to descend. They are graded black, red and blue - a bit like a ski resort and the sort of colours you might become. It’s possibly the best competition track in Britain and is used to host international competitions.

Sharing the same route to the top of the mountain is Titan Zipworld, four parallel zip wires that take you to the bottom in three stages with the first being about 900 metres. It’s £50 a go and so exciting that words can’t do it justice. Best to take a look at their little video:

The same company also runs a series of other adventures within the massive caverns of the slate mine. One of them is an epic journey on zip lines, rope bridges, via ferrata and tunnels. A perfect pastime on a rainy day.

They also run Bounce Below which is another cavern with a series of massive interconnected trampolines. An hour in here is an excellent workout – the moment I first stepped out onto the trampoline, with the ground about a hundred feet below, I felt like a child once more. It’s recently been redesigned and upgraded and the film link below, prior to that upgrade, is an energetic and acrobatic approach to enjoying the experience.

Blaenau going downhill? You’ve got to be kidding. Blaenau is definitely on the up!