Heading underground on an adventure day with Go Below

Have you ever been inside a mine?

I personally haven’t, so I was excited to head inside one for the first time with Go Below on their Challenge adventure. After doing the trip, I thought I’d share my experiences with you. I figured it would make for an interesting read!

What is the Go Below Challenge?

North Wales has historically hosted many mines, and slate mining is an integral part of Snowdonia’s history and culture; so much so that the Slate Landscape of North Wales is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Naturally, this has expanded into tourism. As caving is an exhilarating activity in its own right, there are several operators offering adventure trips down in the mines.

One such operator is Go Below, which offers trips through several slate mines in Snowdonia. Their trips are firmly on the adventurous side. They offer three of increasing difficulty, of which the easiest is the Challenge. This half day trip is advertised as hosting a range of obstacles such as zip lines, abseils and waterfalls, all underground in the mines.

Go Below advertises the trip as medium difficulty because most of the obstacles can be skipped, with alternative routes in the mine available for anyone who’d rather not face them. But, as you have to climb a hill to get to the mine entrance, it still requires a reasonable level of fitness.

Of course, there are other options as well as their more difficult trips, such as Zip World Llechwedd, where you can take adventure tours, play golf or go on trampolines underground. And there are other mine tours which are better suited for all the family, some focused on fun, and others on learning about the history of the slate industry.

Why did we book it?

So, why did we choose Go Below?

I headed on their Challenge trip with my dad and sister. It was what my mum had bought him (and by extension, us) for his Christmas / early birthday present.

What motivated my mother to book it was simply that she saw it on Groupon for a good price. If it’s on Groupon, she can’t resist! Therefore, she booked us in.

Our initial plan was to stay the night at a nearby B&B due to open a few months before. However, the B&B’s opening got delayed and we ended up just driving up on the day. There’s no problem with that either!

Beginning our trip

So, on a Saturday in March, my dad, sister and I drove across from Cheshire to Go Below’s base at Conwy Falls in Snowdonia; a journey just under two hours long. We arrived just before the recommended arrival time of 10:30 am, to give us enough time to get kitted up before the trip departed at 11 am.

We signed in at the office, met our two guides and handed in our waiver forms. Then we had a group briefing, where we were given our helmets and harnesses and shown how to use them. There were fourteen people in our group in total – one family, one group of friends, several couples and us.

Once everyone was ready, we split into two minibuses, and the guides drove us to Penmachno Quarry, where the mine was located. The journey was only fifteen minutes long, and the scenery was stunning, but that’s what you expect when you’re in Snowdonia; there are gorgeous landscapes at every turn.

Climbing up to the mine entrance

The guides parked the minibuses outside the quarry, and when I got out, I had a moment of dread. Of course, the route now was entirely upwards, until we reached the adit (horizontal passage) through which we’d enter the mine.

The first fifteen minutes of the walk was through a quarry. I’d been to a quarry once before, during a geology field trip in the first year of my degree, but this was on another scale. There was slate piled up everywhere. The landscape was starkly manmade – of course, in human cities, our landscapes are manmade, but never before had I seen it in such a raw form.

On our walk up, we saw little buildings, now falling apart, also made from slate, and slopes made from slate, which existed to help transport slate down the hill for onward transportation: an interesting introduction to what was to come!

We then walked through forest for ten minutes, fortunately on a much flatter route, before reaching an adit which marked the beginning of our mine trip. One by one, the group switched on their head torch and slid through the opening into the adit.

Inside the mine

I didn’t know what to expect from the mine itself. It was dark, of course, and wet; water was flowing out of the adit and down through the forest, after all.

As we walked down the adit – the first part of our trip – I kept getting distracted by looking at my surroundings. The floor was covered in generally quite clear water, up to calf deep in places, so it was good that everyone was kitted up and wearing wellies. The adit was clearly manmade, with the ceiling sloping in line with the dip of the slate strata. Where the ceiling was wet, I could see little stalactites, no more than a centimetre, beginning to form. Every so often, a different tunnel would split off, heading far away to help the miners find the best slate.

The mine has generally been left in situ since quarrying stopped, so I was surprised to see how many original features remained. Within that first adit, the tracks used to push down carts of slate still remained – corroded and worn from decades of disuse and visitors walking over them, of course, but still there. And there were relics, such as an old cart, which had been left there to show visitors. It was an interesting throw-back to what the mine might have been like.

There were also long cylindrical grooves in the wall, predictable in length and shape. These grooves really captured my interest. The guide explained that the quarrymen would use iron rods to form grooves in the wall, which, when combined conveniently with gunpowder, could efficiently remove sections of slate. It sounds like grueling work, especially when the men down here would begin working at the age of fourteen.

Challenges in the mine

After ten minutes of walking, we arrived at the part of the mine where we’d begin doing our ‘challenges’.

The first one was to go across a flooded section of the mine by dinghy. This section is where a massive cavern had been made by mining, which had since filled up with clear water. Our group split in two to hop in a dinghy and travel across the water.

After that, there was a zip line – the shortest zip line in the world, our guide called it. In actuality, it was super interesting as the guides set up the rope and attachments whilst we were watching. I assume this is so that they never have to worry about the rope decaying in the wet conditions when it isn’t being used. I’ve never been a massive fan of zip lines (due to a traumatising zip line trip at the age of ten), but I’ll admit, this zip line, which only must have lasted three seconds, was pretty fun.

The third challenge was a rock climb followed by an abseil down the other side. The guides described this as the most time consuming part of the trip, so we were split into two groups. The first would do the rock climb and eat lunch on the other side; the second would eat lunch then do the rock climb. I was in the second group – I’m easily distracted so it made sense for me to be last on everything, so as to not hold anyone up – but eating was a stressful experience with only ten spare minutes.

Still, I enjoyed the climb and abseiling!

More challenges in the mine

For the next part of the trip through the mine, we headed up a long tunnel, which has since become a lovely waterfall. I wouldn’t say it was particularly steep, but I enjoyed walking up it. There’s something relaxing and pleasing about waterfalls in general, so the walk was fun.

Before our next challenge, one of the guides showed us the coolest thing. She got us all to pick up a few pieces of quartz from the ground; then everyone in the group turned off their head torch, so it was 100% pitch black. (It’s remarkable to think about how often we don’t have darkness in real life – even outside away from lights there’s the stars and moon to guide you.) She instructed us to rub our pieces of quartz together, and what would you have it? The quartz made a flicker! It reminded me of seeing fireflies for the first time; that incredible moment of witnessing light when you don’t expect it.

For our next challenge, we climbed up a rock face. I should say, in all of these challenges, we were harnessed in and attached to rope. If I hadn’t been attached to anything, I would’ve been nervous. With the security of my double rope and harness keeping me safe, I felt much more fearless.

Leaving the mine

Getting out of the mine was an interesting experience… We went up through the mine shaft!

I actually thought this part of the trip was so fun. The shaft, which was perhaps 20 m tall, had metal ledges that you could put your feet on and use to pull yourself up. There was faint but increasing light coming from the top of the mountain above, and all we had to do was climb up there.

Then: freedom and fresh air! I was at the top (or side, anyway) of the mountain and no longer in darkness.

We walked down the mountain in a different route to what we had done the first time, which gave spectacular views of the same landscape as before, just from a different angle. Of particular note, the guide pointed out a peregrine falcon, whose caw we could hear. The bird was far away but we could still see it swooping majestically before settling in the cliffs. The icing on our very lovely cake!

Everyone hopped back in the minibus to drive back to Conwy Falls. We handed back our equipment and were then free to go back home.

My thoughts on Go Below’s Challenge Adventure

So, what did I think to the Challenge adventure that Go Below offers?

I really enjoyed going into the slate mine and seeing an artificial subterranean landscape. Caverns, shafts, adits and lakes: this mine had it all. I hear the drops within Go Below’s ‘Xtreme’ trips are even greater, so maybe that’s a shout for another day.

For me, the trip was the perfect balance of history and adventure. The guides often told us about the lives of the quarrymen that worked there and the wider slate industry in North Wales. It never got boring to me, and I think it was pitched at the right level and quantity for this sort of experience.

I enjoyed all the adventure activities too. I wouldn’t say you’d need to do them in a mine, per say; they enriched the experience but I don’t know how necessary they really are. With the group size being fourteen and only one person able to do any activity at one time, there was a lot of waiting around which, to others, probably got boring at points. For sure this trip was lengthened to five hours by the group size; if it was a smaller group, we would’ve completed it much more quickly.

But overall, I was really happy with my experience!

Summary

Go Below’s Challenge Adventure in Snowdonia was a great introduction to slate mining, with several adventure activities to keep me engaged throughout. I loved hearing about the mine’s history just as much as I did the adventure part of the day.

If you’re into adventure trips and have never been inside a mine before, I’d definitely consider adding it to any trip through North Wales. But pick the ‘Xtreme’ options if you are really into your extreme sports.

Do you have any questions about this trip? Let me know in the comments.

The practical details

• You can book the Challenge trip from Go Below’s website; it costs £59 off-peak and £65 at peak times.
• I bought my ticket through Groupon, which works out significantly cheaper – check this out if you are wanting to visit.
• Go Below also offer ‘Xtreme’ and ‘Hero Xtreme’ variants at different mines, which are better for more adventurous people.
• Make sure to wrap up in a few layers and put on your waterproofs – it’s not particularly warm or dry down there!

Similar experiences

• Creating light from quartz reminded me of when I saw fireflies for the first time in the Philippines. It also had echoes of when I witnessed bioluminescent plankton in Cambodia!
• The natural caves of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in Vietnam were the most amazing I’ve ever seen.
• Go Below’s trip reminded me of my time visiting the Caverna de Umajalanta in Bolivia. I headed through this cave without any ropes or harnesses – by comparison, the mine in Snowdonia felt so safe!