A gamble paid off for a photographer convinced the aurora borealis would be visible from Wales’ highest mountain last night (Friday, December 1). Mark Griffiths began climbing Yr Wyddda (Snowdon) at midday and arrived at the summit just as the light was fading.
With his equipment set up, he grabbed stunning aurora images above the coastal lightscape. Although he can’t say for certain, Mark believes his are the first images of the Northern Lights ever to be taken from peak's summit.
The first flakes of snow convinced him discretion was the better part of valour and he hot-footed it back down the mountain. “In all that time I only saw eight people,” he said. “It left me thinking if it had been wise to make the trip!”
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It’s been another stellar week for aurora chasers, with social media awash with dramatic images of night skies above North Wales splashed green and red. Some of the best were shared on Facebook's North Wales Storm Watch page.
Friday night carried high expectations following the eruption of a powerful M9.8-class flare from the sun on Wednesday evening. Widespread auroras were predicted and Mark, 40, was ready for them.
“Canada had good displays ahead of us,” said the building cleaner and restorer from Crewe, Cheshire. “By midday on Friday the stats were dropping. But I knew the Earth’s magnetic field was being hammered, so I decided to take a chance on Snowdon.
Climbing the Llanberis Path, the going got tougher half-way up following recent snowfalls. Mark was checking in with friends every two hours in case he ran into trouble.
He arrived at the summit just after 3.30pm, just as the sun was setting. “It was bloody freezing!” he said. “I was nervous about it all, it was minus 12C at the top. I had to get the camera up quickly as you can’t do much when it’s pitch black.
“By 5.35pm, the Northern Lights began to show, much earlier than I usually see them. The naked eye can’t pick out colours but I knew they were there – I could see columns of grey light in the sky. They were very faint, but then got stronger and stronger.
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“I’ve seen the aurora many times from the ground, but never from the top of a mountain. It was no more spectacular, just different, with all that fantastic landscape laid out below.
“Before I went up, I researched Snowdon and I couldn’t find any photos of the aurora taken from the summit before. I just wanted to get some green and reds, then get down."
He added: “By 9pm, the first snowflakes began appearing and I thought it was time to get off the mountain. Walking down was a bit hairy but I'm delighted to have got the pictures.”
He didn’t go straight home – on the way back he called at the Great Orme, Llandudno, and Talacre Lighthouse, Flintshire. “The aurora was still going strong there,” said Mark, who finally arrived home at 4am today.
He later shared his images on his Facebook page, Cheshire Northern Light Hunters & The Natural World. Users were impressed not only by his “absolutely amazing” images but also by his ability to emerge unscathed from icy Yr Wyddfa in the inky darkness.
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