FROZEN WORLD

'No TikTokers in gym kit and flip flops'as Snowdon Mountain Railway shares dramatic images of Yr Wyddfa, with workers braving -9C wind chill to prepare for 130th anniversary

- By ANDREW FORGRAVE

IN summer, Wales' highest mountain is alive with walkers and climbers. When the days shorten, and icy winds whip the summit of Yr Wyddfa the peak becomes a different place entirely.

Photos shared by Eryri volunteer warden Tony Ellis shows a cloud-shrouded mountain gripped by ice and snow. When he took them earlier this week, the wind chill in this frozen world was -9C.

On its weather-blasted southern wall, Hafod Eryri, the summit cafe and visitor centre, was covered in ice formations bent upward by incessant wind. In the absence of visitors, the mountain's summit cairn and its slippery steps looked strangely forlorn.

At the summit station operated by Snowdon Mountain Railway (Rheilffordd yr Wyddfa), old snowdrifts blocked steel barriers though which summer passengers file. Trains have not be chugging up here since October 27, and they won't be venturing this far for another three months.

Despite being a volunteer, Tony regularly climbs Yr Wyddfa to monitor the summit building for damage, carrying out temporary repairs if needed.

He also keeps the railway team updated about weather conditions and the state of the summit station.