The weather forecast predicted snow and wind and I decided for Fan Fawr (GW/SW-005) over Pen y Fan (GW/SW-001) which was in the clouds all day. When I arrived at the car park at 8am (sunrise was 8:21 am) I was the 3rd car there. The ground was still frozen and there was a few mm of snow. The walk itself was easy and the last 100m in elevation was covered in snow. On top of Fan Fawr I stayed at the cairn and didn’t visit the trig point as it was elevation wise further down. I started looking for a “quiet” place and at the border of the activation zone on the NE side I settled down. Rig was setup quickly and after a few CQ I got the pile-up running. My biggest challenge was the immense noise produced by high wind. After 30 QSO I called it a day and descended Fan Fawr as the weather closed in. Overall Fan Fawr is a nice mountain.
30 December 2012: 09:33 – 09:54UTC
Temperature 4C at the car park and 0C on Fan Fawr. High wind, a bit snow on the ground but dry.
Rig: KX3, 10W, 4400mAh LiPo
Ant: SOTApole, 13.1m Inv. L, 5x 4m Radial
30 CW QSO on 7’032.3 kHz
Car park: 51.871940N / 3.479472W, 446m.
Hiking statistics – uphill only:
Time: 35 min
Distance: 2.0 km
Total Ascend: 298 m
Total Descend: 3 m
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- Fan Fawr climbed from NE.
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- At the car park at Storey Arms. The ground was still frozen.
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- Up on the first plateau
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- 180 degrees shot during the last 100m in elevation to be climbed.
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- The first time I saw the sun in GW/SW this winter 🙂
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- 360 degrees shot on top of Fan Fawr.
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- Half frozen lake at the cairn.
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- Corn Du with Pen y Fan (GW/SW-001) behind on the other side of the valley.
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- My inverted L with Corn Du in the background
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- Inv. L with Beacons Reservoir (left) and Cantref Reservoir (right).
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- KX3 with banana plug for the Inv. L plus 5 radials (4m each).
HB9CZF 