My first objective was to climb Tryfan here. Just visible on the highest point are two seven foot rock pillars named Adam and Eve, between which the insanely brave or those tired of life can attempt to jump. I had a secret ambition to iron on the top of them, but was concerned about the bad weather forecast. Although any lightning would doubtless make the experience even more special.

Amazing Adventures in Beautiful Places

After fervent prayers and prolonged effort, my attempts to get myself fired were finally successful. Well, maybe not quite fired, but at least the next best thing: my services were not required for a while. Such is the nature of locum work. I therefore seized the opportunity to try some extreme ironing in my beloved Snowdonia. Apparently this combines the thrill of a danger sport with the satisfaction of a well pressed shirt. I'd never done this before but have always enjoyed ironing, which I thought might give me an edge. There are international championships now, and maybe I could make the Aussie team someday with sufficient training. But Aussies are tough, not to mention the best in the world, so I knew this would need to be hard-core. First though, I grabbed the credit card and headed to John Lewis, where I attracted strange looks as I tried most of their display ironing boards on for size and weight. The board I chose was strong, lightweight, and fitted to my climbing pack - just. The £50 caused me pain, but I knew it would be worth every pound, high on the mountain. Don't miss the published story of this adventure! And my extreme ironing training tips are revealed in this interview.

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Desperately busy as usual, I didn't make it to Snowdonia until well after dark. However, I was rewarded next morning by the sight of this bridge in Betws-y-Coed as I headed for the main range.

My first objective was to climb Tryfan here. Just visible on the highest point are two seven foot rock pillars named Adam and Eve, between which the insanely brave or those tired of life can attempt to jump. I had a secret ambition to iron on the top of them, but was concerned about the bad weather forecast. Although any lightning would doubtless make the experience even more special.

I was a bit disturbed to discover gales strong enough to be blowing about half of Lake Ogwen well up the first part of Tryfan. This climb was clearly going to be veeeery special...

After being blown over a few times and proceeding using all four limbs to hang on to anything including the grass here, I finally made it to just below this pass. Tryfan is to the left, and Bristly Ridge to the right. I'm actually sheltered from the force of the 70 mph gale, which is hitting the other side of the ridge, but would be exposed to its full strength as soon as I reach the pass. All other hikers have long since turned back. Sadly, I realised there was no way I'd be able to climb Tryfan with the equivalent of a small sail on my back, so I was forced to turn back after about 2 hrs.

Looking across Llyn Bochlwyd here to the Glyderrau range, I realised that dead ahead was the sheltered Devil's Kitchen area, from which I might be able to find another way up.

From the back of the Devil's Kitchen area, I climbed ever higher towards the Glyderrau range.

My first objective was to climb Tryfan here. Just visible on the highest point are two seven foot rock pillars named Adam and Eve, between which the insanely brave or those tired of life can attempt to jump. I had a secret ambition to iron on the top of them, but was concerned about the bad weather forecast. Although any lightning would doubtless make the experience even more special.