Mapping Mountains – 2023 Retrospective

 

It’s been a relatively quiet year at Mapping Mountains, the quietest since the site went public in late 2013.  However, that doesn’t mean to say I’ve been inactive so let us now look at the Mapping Mountains year of 2023 in review: 

 

January: 

The 1^st January saw the latest group of hills published on Mapping Mountains for the updating of the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales list.  During the updating of this list there was only partial LIDAR coverage for large chunks of the country, resulting in these updates relying upon interpolation for many hills.  With full LIDAR coverage impending during the next few months, I suspected this would enforce a sabbatical from the two groups per month publication schedule.

 

 

January: 

On the 7^th January the latest update to the Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru was published on Mapping Mountains.  This was the third such article, with the first being an introduction published in 2015 and the second an update published in 2019.  This latest update introduced significant changes for this list with the 490m Sub categories dispensed with and introducing the new P10 Subs category. 

 

January: 

On the 10^th January the latest group of hills for The Fours – The 400m Hills of England was published.  This list benefited from full LIDAR coverage and its schedule of two groups published per month would continue during the whole of 2023. 

 

April: 

During the month of April new Welsh LIDAR became publicly available.  When initially published there were only pats of the coastal fringes that were not covered.  This enabled a review of all Welsh surveys conducted with the Trimble GeoXH 6000; this will take time to complete and is ongoing, and when coupled with the full English LIDAR coverage it also enabled greater accuracy in all Welsh and English hill lists. 

 

May: 

One downside from new Welsh LIDAR becoming available was the realisation that the commitment toward publishing two hill groups per month of The Fours – The 400m Hills of England and the Y Trichant – The 300m Hills of Wales was too great.  Something had to give and it was the publication of the latter list I decided to take a sabbatical from with the last group published appearing on the 1^st May.  This was partly due to the former list having benefited from full LIDAR coverage during all of its updating, whilst the latter relied upon interpolation for many hills due to partial LIDAR coverage. 

 

November: 

One advantage of operating Mapping Mountains is the tinkering in the background that takes place.  This can take in updating articles with embedded links and including numerical and positional data produced by LIDAR analysis.  It can also take in updating the various pages that appear as headlines on the homepage of the site.  During November I rejigged the About Me page and separated what was continuous text into headed text, enabling it to read more smoothly and at the same time take in more detail. 

 

November: 

On the 25^th November I completed the Welsh Highlands – Uchafion Cymru list of hills.  This had been a long standing ambition and with an ascent of Esgair Garthen (SN 825 642) in the wild surrounds of the Elenydd I became the first known person to complete this list.  Fittingly I was joined by Aled Williams on the 630^th and final hill.  Aled is co-author of this list and since being so has added much to it.  I celebrated with a mince pie whilst holding a giant green balloon up to the sky. 

 

Year’s End: 

During 2023 another grand sweep for the year was achieved, as a separate post has been uploaded to Mapping Mountains on each and every day of the year. 

 

The Year Ahead: 

And what is in store for Mapping Mountains during 2024; with new Welsh LIDAR now available it enables greater accuracy and importantly comparison between it and numerical and positional data produced during surveys conducted with the Trimble GeoXH 6000.  Any amendments will be updated accordingly on Mapping Mountains, both in the published articles and in the hill lists accessed via the site.  During 2024 the updating of The Fours – The 400m Hills of England is due to be completed.  The updating of this list also introduces the P15 Subs, which will form an integral part of this list. 

Lastly, I would like to thank all those who visit Mapping Mountains for their continued support and I hope the year ahead brings lots of happiness and fun-filled days on the hill. 

 

Myrddyn Phillips (1^st January 2024)