Update on life in Snowdonia
For the past few months since the busy period of August both Josh and I have been up in the mountains working away and this blog post runs through what we have been up to and how we maintain Yr Helfa. The weather has started to take a turn, the wind is blowing, the rain is rather heavy at times but thats what makes running a remote accommodation business exciting and it hasn’t stopped us from servicing the off-grid equipment, carrying out upgrades and taking new pictures for our social sites and this very website.
To effectively look after Yr Helfa, with the aim to upgrade every year, we split the work into three main areas. The first being power. As Yr Helfa is powered by off-grid technology our first and foremost priority is to ensure that the equipment is working effectively, efficiently and any servicing is booked in by our specialist engineers before winter takes hold. The backup generator has now been serviced, the biomass boiler and underfloor heating has had a pump repaired and is working perfectly and the fire service has visited and completed its annual fire check. The main source of off-grid power over winter is via the wind turbine which is subjected to some quite high crosswinds! The turbine itself is in good condition, this year all we needed to do is to ensure that the mechanisms to lower and raise the turbine is in good order, a bit of oiling and we are good to go for the winter.
Next priority is the building. All windows are checked, the flue for the fire is cleaned, any pointing is replaced and so on. Then third and last, but my favourite is the interiors. During lockdown we have painted, built and created new furnishings. Much of our interior items are vintage sourced, built by hand by local craftspeople or sewn by me! We never buy of-the-shelf and repurpose and reuse where ever possible. We love working this way as it stands by our beliefs to reduce our and our guest’s carbon footprint.
So I write this as we have finished all our set tasks before winter, taken new photos of Yr Helfa and cleaned ready for reopening next week. *please see the link below to read more about our COVID reopening details.
http://crashpadlodges.com/covidupdate
We have missed the opportunity to meet many new and familiar guests booked in for this year, however most of which have been transferred until next year. We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone for their patience, kind words and understanding in these times. Yr Helfa is still standing, gleaming brighter than ever before ready to welcome new and old adventurers as soon as it can.
We look forward to seeing you soon, along with Captain Chunk.
Please see below some of the new pictures of Yr Helfa
The wood burner all fired up for winter.
The communal “crash'“ room fully equipped with classic board games, a book collection, comfy handmade cushions and sofas. A few oddities also from the surrounding area that we have collected and polished up!
The legendary dining room, a table around which many stories, drink and food have been shared.
The unique kitchen at Yr Helfa, looking out towards Snowdon
One of the bedrooms, all of which have a mixture of single and bunkbeds.
Another bedroom looking out towards the mountains.
Bathroom 1 of 3. Spacious with large step in showers.
Looking out from Yr Helfa to the Llanberis path. You can watch the climbers make their way to and from the summit of Snowdon.
The rear of Yr Helfa
The front exterior of Yr Helfa ran by Crashpad Lodges.