FRIENDS of an experienced hiker who died earlier this year on Tryfan mountain are recreating happier times they spent with him by cycling from his home village to Galway.
Iwan Huws, 34, from Penygroes, died in January after slipping on Tryfan in the Ogwen Valley, Snowdonia, a recent inquest found.
To help keep his memory alive, friends and family have formed a charity to raise money for causes close to his heart.
In launching Cronfa Iwan Huws, some of his friends will cycle from Penygroes to Galway between 28 and 30 June, a journey he and some of the same friends made in 2010.
Iwan, a talented musician with popular Welsh-language band Yucatan, was passionate about his mother tongue and cycling from a Welsh-speaking heartland to the Gaeltacht seemed an appropriate way to kick-start their charity efforts.
Elin Gwyn, Iwan’s partner, said: “Iwan was an adventurer and was passionate about everything he did.
“He was a brilliant drummer and a dedicated member of many bands over the years, including Yucatan and Afal Drwg Efa.
“He hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, the Annapurna Trek in the Himalayas, and he cycled from Amsterdam to Basel with a tent on his back. We spent a year travelling the world together, and I’ll always be grateful for my time with him.
“He often made films about his adventures, including one about Wales in the Euros, which he described as the best month of his life.
“It is a testament to Iwan that so many of his friends are retracing their journey with him from Penygroes to Galway. I’m so grateful to them for all their fundraising and for their hard work while setting up a charity in his name.
“He was lucky to have such an incredible group of friends, and I’m very fortunate to have their help and support as we grieve for him.
“We hope that the fund will enable others to achieve some of the things that Iwan was passionate about.”
The 13 friends will arrive in Galway City on 30 June on what would have been Iwan’s 35th birthday, where they will meet up with Elin and members of his family before travelling to a celebration for his birthday.
Having met up in the city, they will travel to the home of television’s Father Ted, Iwan’s favourite TV comedy, where they will have afternoon tea in Father Crilly’s parochial house.
People wishing to donate money to Cronfa Iwan Huws can do so at uk.virginmoneygiving.com/iwan-huws-galway
Money raised from the charity will go towards building a memorial to Iwan and other causes he felt passionately about, including buying new musical instruments for Iwan’s secondary school, Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle; Mountain Rangers FC, the first club Iwan played for and which was recently reopened; The Outdoor Partnership through which Iwan completed Mountain Leader courses in 2015 and 2016; Mynyddoedd Pawb, the campaign to encourage the outdoor community to use the original Welsh names for mountains and other areas; WATERisLIFE, a cause which came to light for Iwan and Ellie after they witnessed the effects of contaminated water on communities across the world; and the Volunteer Society Nepal which is based in the Himalayas which Iwan visited on his last trip abroad.
News about the journey and the charity, will be available on the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CronfaIwanHuws