Rachel Colenso

500m of vertical ascent spread above us, the last mile to the summit. We had covered about 5 miles uphill. Not a great deal for an adult, but a marathon for a four year old. "I think little legs can do this." I looked down at her big blue eyes peering out from the hood of her over sized waterproof,glistening with raindrops on her eyelashes. Then I knew Rosemary would make it all the way to the top, and was enjoying the challenge. Climbing with young children takes a little extra planning and preparation as well as consideration for the routes selected. Below is a list of things we did and items we had that made our journey up Snowdon with Rosemary(4) and Jasmine(1) a very pleasant experience for all. Being Prepared: 1. Selecting the right route: Little children like variety. It is helpful to have stretches of the route where the path is wide enough to hold hands and tell stories, or point out things enroute without stopping. Having varied and interesting scenery helps young c

Wedidit! - Reached the top of Snowdon with actress Louise Bush, friend and photographer, Steve Gorton, and our entire family from Jasmine (14months, who was carried by Dad Jeremy, Rosemary (4years) and a very proud Mum. We have also reached our target of raising £1000 for the Eilidh brown Trust, and managed to carry up a huge banner to wave from the summit to highlight the dangers of fracking, (Hydrolic fracturing) for methane gas. We think Rosemary may have made a record as the youngest person to climb Mt Snowdon unassisted. She had great fun, and loved the scrambly sections in the rain. - Just the right height and age to make it exciting scrambling for her, yet not terrifying for Mum and Dad to supervise. Everyone helped 'Little Legs; to the top with encouraging drinks of ribena, stories and even errecting Steves 8 man bivi shelter next to the footpath to have lunch and hot drinks in the rain. Will post photos soon. A day to remember...

Just a few days to go until we make our charity ascent of Snowdon with Actress Louise Bush the butterflies have set in. We had planned to do loads of fun 'training' sessions with Rosemary and piggybacking Jasmine up some hills... but... London is not very hilly. So other than our Richmond Park circuit, which is beautiful (but not very hilly) we have opted to join the British Armed Forces for some real training. We have joined the Changing of the Guards Guards at Buckingham Palace and marched down the road with them to Horseguards Parade, and then through Green Park. Quite a jolly affair with lots of men in leapard skins, drums banging, and trumpets blowing etc. Rosemary's march turned more into a skip, but it was in time, and everyone seemed very happy. After our exhausting military training we took a well earned break on the Thames River Taxi. Just hope Snowdon is like a Christmas tree... after many years they grow smaller. Our hope is that our efforts will bring in £1000