We were going to do the Ponderosa Pair, as a simple day out to boost Jimmy's SOTA Beams Challenge entry, even though it would have been 'pointless' for me. But then Jimmy's school friend Jonathan accepted an invitation to come walking, so we switched in the pair we had been saving for him as a newcomer to the hills - Tal y Fan and Great Orme.

As we closed in on GW/NW-040 on Sunday 8th October 2006, we heard MW0SGB/P activating our chosen hill, and indeed there was his motor in OUR parking spot. We selected the next parking spot and set off up the hill. Steve met us on his descent, and we shared plans for the rest of the day. Jimmy and Jonathan raced off ahead, and took the semi-scrambly route up on the trig point side of the wall. As Liam and I reached the same wall, Jimmy became QRV and I listened into him making his contacts. Liam and I did not climb straight up the ridge, but wandered around the rocks until the least steep of the grassy tracks up to the ridge. This comes out on the East of the summit, and when we made the summit itself, Jimmy and Jonathan had already left.

I did my own qualification, and set off back down to the car, where we had some soup before driving up to Llandudno. As I reached West Shore on the peninsular, Liam keeled over in the back seat, dribbling uncontrollably and unable to focus his eyes. I came round to the back door and lifted him out, realising that he was a dead weight and completely out of it. We tapped his back to remove an apparent blockage which seemed to restore his breathing, then lay him down on the tarmac in the recovery position. He was totally unresponsive, but at least his breathing and pulse were OK now. We called 999, and he was taken by ambulance to Glan Clwyd Hospital near Bodelwyddan Castle, where we were to spend the next six hours. His sleepiness during the afternoon was consistent with him having had a fit earlier. We were eventually allowed to leave after six o'clock, (Liam was finally back to himself after his tea) but then hit 2 hours worth of queues on the A55. A very long and stressful day, definitely the worst SOTA day ever, despite it starting so enjoyably.

Many thanks to the following stations, all worked on 2m FM with 2.5 watts: