Climber captures stunning images of starry night in Snowdonia

The 29-year-old electrician said he had been waiting to get the shot for a few weeks and when the cloud started to clear on Saturday he headed up to the knife-edge ridge with friend Eilir Hughes.

One of the snaps shows Gareth standing on top of the snowy ridge which is lit with a glowing blueish light created by his head torch while thousands of stars light up the night sky.

Gareth, from Llanberis, Wales, said: “We usually go out once or twice a week if the weather allows. We try and get a sunrise or a sunset.

“I’ve been climbing on and off since I was about 12 years old but for the past six or seven months I’ve been going up regularly and have started to get into photography.

MERCURY PRESS.

“It gives you a real sense of achievement if you get to the top and to capture that sunset or sunrise.

“There was a gap in the weather on Saturday. It had been miserable and we did not think it would happen but we kept checking the charts and could see a gap.”

Gareth, who has been taking photographs for about nine months, said they set off about 7pm on Saturday and got to the ridge at about 9.30pm.

The shot was taken at about 11pm with a Nikon D7000 with an 11mm lens.

Gareth said: “I put my camera on a timer and took the photograph with the head torch pointed at my feet so you can really see the stars.

MERCURY PRESS

“It is a shot I had been eyeing up for a while – getting it with the snow and the stars. It was in my mind as we were climbing.

“I was really pleased with how it came out. It was hard to tell from looking at the screen but when I got back and saw it on the computer I was really surprised at how well it came out.

“By the time we got back to the van at around 2am it had clouded over again.”

Despite the Crib Goch ridge being described as ‘dangerous’, Gareth said climbing up the 920 metre route is not as bad as it looks.

MERCURY PRESS

Gareth said: “It’s not as bad as people imagine. As long as you know where you are going. If you’ve done the route in the daytime it’s not that bad with the head torch.

“My friends and family know I do it but I try not to let my mum know I’m going out until afterwards.

“My housemate is part of the mountain rescue team so I always let him know when I’m going and what time I’m expected back.

“I just find it relaxing up there. You do not think about anything else. It’s my way of relaxing and chilling out.

“You feel like you’re the only people in the world. You see other people going down from the mountain while you’re going up.”

“I can be up in an attic fixing lights in the afternoon then up a mountain taking photos a few hours later.”