For the moment it is all about removing the remains of the summit building as quickly as possible before the autumnal low-pressure weather systems start making themselves felt. Two trains are now being used to ferry skips between Llanberis and the summit. The P-Way wagon can take three skips and the flatbed with the Hunslet engine can carry five. On a good day twenty-four skip loads can be taken down from the summit.


An unseasonably warm October day at the summit.


All that remains of the summit building.

Next week a 'munching  machine' should arrive on site to start crushing the concrete that is going to be recycled for use as infill within the pre-cast foundation units and hopefully work will start on digging the footings.


Separating out the scrap metal from the concrete.

Yesterday, the 1936 built summit building was finally reduced to a  pile of concrete rubble interwoven with twisted metal reinforcing rods. A great deal of tidying up and removal of debris now remains. How fast material can be moved down the mountain depends on how many trips the train can make in a day. Before work ceases in November the site needs to be cleared so that hopefully work can begin on the foundations.


No shortage of summit spectators on a gloriously sunny October day although
the very top of Snowdon spent a lot of it in cloud.


The extended arm of the digger gives an idea of the depth of rubble.


Moving debris towards the skip loading area.


Clearing rubble down to the original floor level. Mynydd Mawr in the
background.


The flatbed bringing skips of rubble down the mountain passing Half-Way
House.

At the end of the day a small square section of the building still remained intact. Sunday was a lost day's work because of the train not being able to run due to high winds on the mountain. Mechanical problems and breakages also take their toll on the timetable. Problems that would easily be dealt with down in the valley are a little trickier to resolve at the top of Snowdon. Both the five ton Cat machine and the seven ton Kubota digger suffered broken hydraulic pipes and the battery started shorting on the Bob Cat.


The remaining section of the summit building.


Kevin Owen, Cat operator, repairing a burst hydraulic pipe on the pecker.

Adding to the unusual goings on at Snowdon's summit was the arrival of comedian, writer and actor Griff Rhys-Jones, being filmed for his new travelogue series on mountains. The sound crew had the unexpected challenge of trying to hear Griff above the cacophony of the demolition work. Griff was surprised at how busy the mountain was, especially considering it was mid-week.


Griff Rhys-Jones, being filmed for his forthcoming travelogue series on
mountains.


Suddenly there is a surprisingly large space where the building once stood.

Around 400 tons of the concrete rubble will remain at the summit and be re-cycled to use to fill-in the U-shaped concrete foundation units.

High winds gusting over 70 m.p.h. has meant the loss of two working days since the last post with the change in the seasons making itself felt. Not a great deal of the old building is left standing and the demoloition work must have been a strange sight for the steady stream of walkers making their way to the summit cairn on a typically busy Saturday.


Walkers congregate around the summit cairn while the building is demolished.


Levelling the accommodation section of the old summit complex.

Removing the rubble by train is a time consuming process owing to the weight limit on the flat-bed and the couple of hours it takes for the train to get up and down the mountain.
Good news for the workforce is that the generator has been replaced so the portacabin can now be heated and pies can be micro-waved for lunch.


Nine tons at a time the flat-bed removes debris from the summit.


Taking refuge for lunch in the windowless portacabin.

Half of the summit building has now been demolished. The cafe is levelled to the floor leaving the section that once provided the kitchen and accommodation facilities standing. Unpleasant is one way of describing the conditions on top today with a cold wind driving a pervasive thick drenching mist against everything. Perhaps explaining why the generator packed in.


The old cafe now has an alfresco feel to it.

The lagging in the walls has to be kept separate from the rubble meaning painstaking removal by hand and packing it into bags. Another laborious job looms on the horizon with the discovery that the remaining roof has a double layer of tiles, insulation and bitumen.


Bagging the insulation out of the walls.


The end of the platform where the entrance to the building used to stand.