Daily Prompt: Being Out of my Element!

Daily Prompt: When was the last time you did something completely new and out of your element? How was it? Will you do it again?

It was probably last year in April when my parents, sister, dog and I went on holiday to Wales and decided to climb Mount Snowdon, (the highest mountain in Wales). One thing to bear in mind is that because this is Britain, it was still snowing in April.

Despite the news reporters advising people not to climb the mountains, we decided that we would drive to the bottom of Snowdon and see how bad it looked when we got there. As it so happened, the path didn’t look too snowy and there were other walkers around which reassured us. We started our way up the mountain and before we knew it we were halfway there. Of course, then we thought it would be a good idea to carry on up to the summit, seeing as ‘it would be a bit pointless if we didn’t and had already walked to the halfway point’. So we trudged on and that’s when the snow started to get a bit deeper and the ice underneath it a bit more slippy. When it started to get steeper we had to walk by a fence and help pull ourselves up.

Mum, me and the fence.

We eventually reached the summit where a few other crazy people like us were shivering with their sandwiches and obviously there was barely any view because it was so cloudy. When the clouds did part it was like a miracle, with people all around running towards the fence wielding their cameras!

The view from the top…

Going down was the scariest part because we couldn’t find the path we had walked along. Instead we followed the railway track for a while which was a terrible idea. Soon it had disappeared and we were just following the silhouettes of other walkers in the distance. At one point we were walking along a slope which was so slippy I started to slide down it. I genuinely thought I was going to end up falling down the invisible drop at the bottom of it. No need to panic though – Dad to the rescue!

…and when the clouds finally parted!

We finally reached the bottom of the mountain and I can safely say I have never been more relieved in my life! It was a very different experience mixed in with a bit of terror – I don’t think I will be climbing any mountains in the snow again. At least now I can say I have climbed the three peaks in Britain. Boys and girls – please listen to what the news people tell you!

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