Winter Paddle on Llyn Padarn

Since we started kayaking, we have wanted to do two things. One of them was to paddle with twinkling lights on our boats, and the other one, was to kayak in the snow (falling snow preferably). Both of these things were inspiration taken from seeing other paddlers across the world doing similar things.

Over Christmas, a group of four of us managed to get out with our boats lit up in the dark, so that was quickly ticked off. Then in early January, we were blessed with snow in North Wales, so we packed our gear up, got our dry suits on, and headed out to Llanberis, to Llyn Padarn.

Now as a rule, we try not to paddle Llyn Padarn too often. Not because there’s anything wrong with the lake itself, because there isn’t. It’s just we’ve been there quite a lot with many different groups of people, and we just love to try to paddle in different places.

However on this occasion, Llyn Padarn was the perfect place. Large car parks, and easy access for a disabled person, means we’d have a great chance at launching decently, and also then we’d have a great chance of getting out of the car park when we’re back out of the water.

We know, that as a general rule, when it snows for us down on the coast (at sea level), it has probably snowed significantly up in Llanberis, and so it was a good bet once we saw the snow falling at home, that there would be sufficient snow up in the mountains. The ride up was magical (woodlands with snow on branches is so Narnian), and when we got there, we chose car park three, because it was the one with the easiest slope out, meaning we’d have the best chance of not getting stuck. It also had the easiest access into the water, as the pontoon in the first car park had about six inches of snow on it.

That was it for snow. The whole place was covered in between six and eight inches of snow., but it was enough for us to fulfill our winter paddling ambitions, whilst also completing the first step of our Harryår, or Harry Year challenge. This is a Swedish challenge, named after a Fin, who questioned why his Swedish friends, were putting away their boats in winter and not paddling all year round. So the challenge is simple. Paddle at least once, every calendar month, for a whole year. This earns you your Harryår badge (or sticker), for that year. This snowy winter paddle was the first of 2026 for us, and thus, our first Harry Year paddle of the year.

We prepared our gear, and launched into the icy waters. Cerys launched normally, however I chose to slide my kayak down a small snow covered banking and into some ice that had developed in the lagoon we were launching into. A first for me on two counts. Sliding down a banking in a kayak, and kayaking through ice (which is fun, but weird).

We set off and had a look through the lagoons, which were all eerily quiet, and snowy white. We then headed off around the lake counterclockwise, with plenty of people looking at us as though we’d lost our marbles. The sun was out, too, so we go to see Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), and Eryri (Snowdonia), up close, lit up, and magnificent in their new layers of the cold stuff.

The paddle was pretty standard, however it was very cold. The air temperature was -1°C, so we are presuming the water was much colder. We took loads of precautions, and while this is not as cold as many kayakers experience around the world, it was still quite enough for us, and we definitely felt it when we got out and started to pack things away.

It did not snow for most of the trip around the lake, something we were a bit sad about, but could definitely cope with, given what we were experiencing. However on the last quarter of the circumnavigation, the sun went behind the mountain, the skies darkened, and it did, for the briefest of time start to snow on us. It was all too brief, but it made our day complete.

After we’d packed up, there were a number of cars in the car park spinning their wheels to try to get out. Luckily, I’d spent most of the winter with a garage, fixing my 4×4 systems, and we just drove out. One person left the car park on cross country skis., which was weird to see in Wales. It was an amazing day, that took a lot out of us, but it’s one that will definitely stick in our memories.

Here’s to spring.

Emma

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Equipment for this trip: We wore dry suits, with many layers. I wore ski pants underneath, a rash vest, and a couple of layers on top. We both had our PFDs, with personal radios, and phones. I also have a safety knife with me. We both have whistles. I have two strobe lights, one on the boat, and one that activates when I enter the water. There’s a safety line, and paddle float also on my boat, and we both carry a spare paddle. We were both wearing neoprene gloves, and pogies, although often just using the pogies on their own.

We both have a set of dry clothes with us (just in case), and another set back at the car, along with water, energy drinks, food (like flapjacks), and a large first aid kit with everything in it (like space blankets etc), and even the ability to sew someone up, should we need to. There’s also another one in the car as redundancy. On the sea we would both have VHF radios too, and likely a PLB soon, along with hot drinks, and flares.