This evening we went up Snowdon. On mountain bikes. This involves a 2 hour ride/push to the summit, followed by a bone-shaking 25 minute decent back to Llanberis and a pint.

The new summit cafe is really taking shape now. People often comment that in demolishing the previous eyesore that was the 1960’s cafe from the summit of Snowdon, there was the opportunity to return the summit of our highest mountain to its natural state. Every year though, this hill gets busier. At the weekends there can be a queue to stand on the summit platform even when the train is closed.

Although this bustling summit feels at odds with the relative freedom of the rest of Snowdonia, in the wider context, Europe’s mountains are scatted with are cable cars, funicular railways and high alpine cafes. These cafes often offer wonderful local food and impressive views. In this tradition, one beautiful piece of modern architecture on our most trafficked Welsh summit doesn’t seem one too many to me. Maybe now it will become the exciting mountain experience for the masses it always should have been. Let’s just hope when it’s completed, that the chef is as good as the architect…