After lunch at the Ponderosa and the earlier activation of Cyrn-y-Brain GW/NW-043, Liam and I commenced our climb of Moel y Fan 548m (which must be scaled en route to Moel y Gamelin) without our coats as the day had rather warmed up, as had we.  However, after dropping down steeply to the coll at Gribin Oernant 488m, an icy wind was blasting across and the coats were retrieved from our rucksacks.

The ascent wasn't the most pleasant, for the sun was directly in my eyes all the way up, compounded by the sweat running in and stinging.  The summit of Moel y Gamelin always looks impossibly distant until you are virtually upon it.  Strangely, the reverse is not true, with Moel y Fan and beyond that, Ponderosa appearing that one could reach out and touch them as one commences one's descent. The battery in my handheld lost the will to live during the ascent, so I couldn't call back when I first heard Steve and Jimmy calling from Cyrn-y-Brain GW/NW-043. 

On the summit, I first found and signed the Sotacache, adding my callsign to the earlier entries of M3EYP and G1INK.  Still concerned with making good enough time back not to leave Steve and Jimmy hanging around, I again decided to operate without setting up the beam.  The 817, propped up against my rucksack on the grass, functioned really well, and contacts were made easily.  First up was Jimmy and then Steve to complete our own little closed set of S2S contacts, and then I realised that Jimmy was struggling for a fourth contact. I assumed the role of net controller as several stations attempted to work Jimmy without success; he could hear them, but they couldn't hear him.  Nonetheless, I completed my own activation by working them, and eventually Jimmy had his four contacts.

It was 0 degrees C as we left the summit, and I activated one of my hot gel handwarmers which me and Liam passed between us.  The final steep ascent of Moel y Fan was a cruel end to a long day, but that was soon forgotten with a downhill stroll to the Ponderosa.  As expected, this time Steve and Jimmy had beaten us down, although Liam did again make respectable time.  We found the first pub that was (a) open and (b) looked as though it served proper ale and relaxed for 30 minutes or so over a pint, as Manchester City began to pull away from Charlton Athletic on the big screen. We then managed to get stuck for one hour in a horrendous traffic jam, that was caused by what appeared to be a horrific car crash.  We listened to the 6pm reading of the GB2RS News, read by Martyn G3USF/P at Keele University ARS. Steve was returned to his own car at Lymm, and we got home to Macc around 7.20pm, greeted by Marianne's homemade tater ash, which was enthusiastically received. Thanks to everyone that worked us, and especially to Steve G1INK who made it possible for Jimmy to activate the opposite hills to me for the S2S QSOs.  

Many thanks to the following stations who worked us.  The first table below shows Jimmy's earlier (morning) activation of this summit, with the first four contacts on SSB, and the fifth on FM - all on 2m with 5 watts.  The second table shows my afternoon activation, all 2m FM with 2.5 wattts: