Is Snowdon the best big mountain MTB ride in the UK?

Is riding to the top of a mountain in winter epic or stupid? Maybe even a little bit of both. In January I set off to ride up to the summit of Snowdon (1,085m) in Wales on the new Mondraker Crafty e-bike with the latest Bosch CX motor.

The idea was inspired by the impressive climbing potential of the latest e-bikes and motor technology. Could they make an impossible (to me, anyway) climb, possible? Unlocking excitement and a sense of achievement from the climb up as well as the descent?

I'd been up Snowdon before, with 2x World Downhill Champion Fabien Barel (in his Mondraker days) along with Ben Cathro, Chris Porter, and the guys from Cut Media filming for the Mojo Diaries. And the thing I'll always remember from that day, aside from the 80mph winds, was Fabien's astonishing climbing skills. Demonstrating power and control as he solved rocky puzzle after rocky puzzle.

It was mind-blowing. So I hoped that 14 years of bike development would help me channel a little Barel magic.

As it turned out, winter has a habit of messing with even the best laid plans, and it turned into a real adventure.

I chose to do the classic Snowdon Ranger loop, starting in Llanberis and riding up the Llanberis path, then down the Ranger Path, and cutting back to Llanberis.

When riding on Snowdon, always be prepared. it's a high mountain environment and lots can go wrong. There's a great list of advice here at the UK Mountain Rescue website:
https://www.mountain.rescue.org.uk/sa...

Please also take into account the voluntary restrictions on cycling Snowdon. During the peak season (May 1 to September 30) cycling is not permitted on Snowdon between 10am and 5pm.

This video is supported by Mondraker.

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