did it a few weeks ago and it was great. one of the standout rides of the year so far! did it with a fair-sized group (15 i think) of mixed abilities and it took around 3.5 hours to summit. reckon more like 2.5 for a small group of good, fit riders. there are a few places where you need to push up but it gives you chance to check out lines for the way back down as they are the most technical places.
30 minutes of great DH on the way back, including a couple of stops to regroup and give the old fingers a break. the good thing about the descent that i found was that it was broken up into sections. the top being quite smooth and fast then turning into rubble and baby skulls followed by a techy rock section and then man laid slabs for pretty much the whole of the second half.
we arrived at the bottom around 1100 i think and the trail was packed with walkers. most were happy to step off the trail and watch in bewilderment (is that even a word?!) as the quickest 6 riders bounced, rattled and flew by. must have been quite a spectacle! there were a couple of, mainly older, walkers who tried were adament to stand their ground, but a bit of courtesy on our behalf (read: slowing and adding a sarcastic thanks) shut them up before they could give us their thoughts.
we set off at 7am from Llanberis and did the main tourist path (think it’s the only one you can do easily with a big group). and it was the last weekend of March so we planned around the voluntary ban, but yeah it is april to september after 9am.
highly recommended!!
