After a short walk the path climbs gains height quickly on a good path that after a little while opens up and levels off. We then turned to the left into a slightly snow covered Cwm Cau and begin steadily climbing again. The cwm looked like it’d hold some pretty good spots for wild camping when we skirted around it, although without checking the ground properly in warmer months it was hard to be sure. Anyone know?

Stood infront of Llyn Cau

Up into the clouds, we ascended for short while until to our right a clear ridge emerged that made its way steadily to the top of Craig Cwm Amarch (791m), with I imagine great views on a clear day. As we went higher, the patchy snow steadily became thicker, such that by the top we were on a good foot or so of snow in places. Coming down to a saddle between Craig Cwm Amarch and Penygadair was slippery in slushy snow but we were soon again making our way to the highest point of the horseshoe, with the clouds now rising to give views onto Llyn Cau below us.

Looking down into Cwm Cau from the top of Penygadair

As we climbed, the way ahead became clear for once in the walk, with the the clouds thinning and bobbing up/down over the top. Just 50m short of the top the snow became deeper and the climb more steep, Pat and me choosing slightly different routes to the top more for fun than anything else.

On the saddle between Craig Cwm Amarch and Penygadair

A quick stop just below the summit, sheltered from the now stronger winds high up, for some liquids and food, and we were off on a steady descent towards Mynydd Moel.

Looking back towards Penygadair from Mynydd Moel

Once at Mynydd Moel and having joked about the number of people wearing shorts on such a cold day, we laughed our way a little too far past the turn downwards (that’s easy to spot, just look for the fence). Looking back there were people obviously struggling with the snow and in shoes that would mean their feet were not just cold but wet on top, a poor combination! It’s always shocking how ill prepared people arrive for the mountains (in all seasons) but I guess this will never change.

Descending again was slippery in the slush over what was the loosest rock of the circuit from what we saw, but again nothing at all tricky. We were soon at the junction where we’d turned earlier into Cwm Cau and passing a stream of walkers making their way up to the lake for lunch.

The route was simple compared to others recently and the day whilst short, was a good trip out in an area new to us. When the clouds lifted the setting of the walk was as fantastic as anything else in North Wales, and showed clearly why Cadair Idris is so popular. The day was a reminder to look beyond the three main ranges in Snowdonia when planning walks/climbs in the area. Leaving Cadair Idris, I’d decided to make a point of exploring the other ranges and to come back in the Summer to see whether a wild camp was possible and also test the legend about leaving as a madman or poet after a night camping on the summit.

On Left Hand Trinity of Snowdon (Credit: Hightrek)

A friend who I climb with indoors came too, so on the first day we spent a little time covering some basics as a refresher before tackling the right side of Tower Slabs (WI ii/iii) on Glyder Fawr, which whilst a little busy with a couple of other teams on at the same time, was great fun in fantastic conditions. I spent the climb without my camera out, simply enjoying being back on snow/ice, so I’ll perhaps do a short write up in the future.

For our second day, with a good forecast predicated, we made for Pen-y-Pass and up the Pyg track towards Snowdon, aiming to climbing one of the Trinity gullies on Snowdon’s Trinity Face (Clogwyn y Garnedd).

Y Lliwedd and Llyn Llydaw from the Pyg track

The walk in was as it is usually, with a few points where the path was covered in ice that needed a bit more concentration and care. But quite soon we were over the style at the junction for Crib Goch and following the Pyg track, traversing round to where we’d begin our ascent up Snowdon. Occasionally we’d be exposed to cold winds but overall we were particularly warm, as we walked briskly in the sun. The route we’d be taking became more apparent later on and is fairly obvious on the photograph below, with the two dots at the bottom of the shadow in the centre people on their way up the first part of the route to “The Spider” (the snowfield in the centre right).

Snowdon’s Trinity Face from the Pyg track

A short drop down from the path to a saddle (near to a small pond and one of the old copper mines found on Snowdon) allowed us time to look up the first section of the route, put on an extra layer of clothing and rope up. The slope itself was fairly easy going on not too steep snow, although my friend’s crampons kept on balling up with the snow being fairly soft which took him a little practice to spot before getting into a rhythm. A short steeper section of more firm snow and we’d reached the first snowfield (“The Spider”) and looked up the gully directly to our left, Left-hand Trinity (WI i/ii).

Climbing up to “The Spider”

Ian lead the route as he’d done the day previously, with Kyle and me following. Whilst the snow was fairly steep it wasn’t difficult making our way up, although Ian did point out that the route offered little in the way of good protection. I lose count of the pitches but it was somewhere between 3-4 before we emerged from the gully and then another 2 easier pitches saw us up directly onto the summit, with Ian securing the final anchor around the trig point itself, whilst a couple of onlookers watched with a little disbelief that we were appearing from over the edge of the face.

One of the final pitches of the climb

The climb whilst not technically difficult or demanding is one of the most enjoyable ascents I’ve ever made. Climbing up to the very top of Snowdon, a mountain I’ve enjoyed many days on, was really special. That the clouds soon dropped to give us brief views across North Wales was the icing on the cake. The two days reminded me of all that I loved about climbing in Winter conditions and excited me at all the prospects for a lot more of the same next Winter.

All photos from the trip can be found in my Flickr album of Snowdonia 2010 winter climbs and also on our guide’s Flickr account.

A big thank you to our guide Ian at Hightrek, who’s based in Snowdonia and helped pick/lead us on some cracking rotues, if there was something you’d like to work on/towards then I couldn’t recommend him highly enough.

Finally, there’s a Wiki of Welsh winter climbs with further routes being put together now if you’re interested in what else is possible during the colder months. Also worth knowing about is the Cicerone Welsh Winter Climbs guide, Ian referred to as we climbed that I’ve now picked up a copy of which even though a little old is a good reference for most routes.

For a route we picked Kinder Downfall from Hayfield on Walk Britain which at 8miles seemed a good steady option for a morning walk.

After following the sat nav out of Hayfield and thinking we were going off in the wrong direction we soon were at a near empty car park (with plenty of road parking if it did fill up). Turning left out of the car park and back onto the road, we were soon at gates which we passed through and continued to find an opening with a short steep incline up a stepped path. From the top of this early climb we had our first view over the area we’d walk and the Kinder reservoir.

Skirting slightly above the reservoir to the left over flat ground we passed other groups before finding a stream that runs into the Northern corner of the reservoir. Following the stream, we started to ascend gradually on a well trodden path which occasionally became slightly more steep. Soon this section was complete and we were on an obvious saddle, meeting the Pennine Way and turning right to head up a short steep section to the top of the Kinder plateau. Reaching the top, there’s great views back over the reservoir from where we’d come and also over the plateau to where we’d go next.

Skirting around the edge on a well trodden path, we found a rather dry Kinder Downfall and with the weather become ever so slightly colder/windier on the exposed plateau, we moved past with just a quick pause to look at where the tallest waterfall in England can be seen in the correct conditions. Following the path southwards on a good path surrounded by a desolate peat moorland to the side we were soon at the trig point of Kinder Low, where we checked the map and looked at the descent back down, with the weather now turning sunny.

Once again finding the Pennine Way we turned West to complete our circuit of the reservoir, and as we did so were joined by a constant stream of mountain bikers. Following the path down was simple and after a simple descent we were back on tarmac for 10mins or before turning a corner to see the car park from where we started out from almost 4 hours earlier.

It was nice getting back to the Peak District, having ventured past the range in search of higher mountains and longer routes elsewhere in the previous 12 months. The morning walk showed there was still plenty close to my doorstep for me to look into. Finally, I’m delighted that Kev completed his goal of reaching Everest Base Camp, raising money for a great cause along the way.

Seeing the weather looked good for Snowdonia in mid September it didn’t take long to decide a day out was in order. All Summer I’d wanted to take a look at the Crib Lem Spur on Carnedd Dafydd and with good weather, a route in the Carneddau would also be a perfect to escape the crowds. So I was up at 4:30am on Saturday the 12th, to drive over to Snowdonia, where I parked in a space in Gerlan (it’s a small part of Bethesda you reach by going West on the A5, driving down a tiny road past mining cottages and then at a sharp right going back up the hill). Out on the road, you just follow it and then over a couple of styles into open ground…

Into the Cwm the path goes from clambering over rocks in boggy ground to a nice easy faint trail. There was one opening to the right I passed which I almost considered but it’s fairly obvious from mid way in the walk that the huge outcrop off Carnedd Dafydd is the Crib Lem Spur. Best piece of information from the Cicerone book was to look for an area with large boulders, with a view up to Carnedd Dafydd like this…

The walk up where I pointed to in the video is actually quite steep and with the sun not hitting the rock yet it was a little slippery on the looser sections. Not much fun. But anyway after a steepish start/middle it flattens out and you quickly ascend around the corner of the crag and up. Then it’s as though you hit a wall where you could climb higher but the trail seemed to take me to the left naturally and there’s an obvious grassy platform going up back out toward the valley, which is what you want to follow. Reaching the end of the spur by taking this you then need to ascend a section of steep grass and some small rocky scrambles to make it to the start of the climbing proper…

As explained by the video above, I stuck to the crest throughout and had fun doing so. There is however a decent trail that runs through the scramble that you can almost always drop down to if you don’t fancy climbing it all. The scrambling is mostly simply stuff, although as usual I perhaps didn’t do things the easy way a couple of times and so found a few moves more demanding, but nothing too bad. Whilst not quite the quality of what you’ll find in the Glyders, the setting of this scramble is great and you’ll feel very much on your own, unlike the other classics which become very crowded. Descent would be fine through the scramble although the walking either side is a little steep and over some loose rock, so if you’re not keen on scree be aware of that.

Up on top of Carnedd Dafydd I started to see I wasn’t quite so alone on the mountain with people littered across the ridge. Picking up my pace I was soon over at Pen yr Ole Wen and then back over Carnedd Dafydd before a short stop to drink a little more, eat a cereal bar and look at the spur from the side.

I carried on the fairly long ridge walk toward Carnedd Llewellyn where I met another walker intending on a similar list of peaks. On top of Carnedd Llewellyn, with clouds coming in and drinks in particular running low I decided it would be best to just ascend Yr Elen then descend back toward Bethesda, so we walked out together, descending via Yr Elen’s North Ridge that I’ve been up a couple of times this year, which again is a tiny bit steep but nothing tricky at all.

It was a fantastic day and great to finally check out what turns out to be a good, fun route in the Carneddau. I’m not rushing to go back but it makes for a nice change from the more crowded peaks/routes in the region and so is well worth doing. I was a little disappointed to not see the 3000s I’m yet to ascend, but the day felt fairly long and the weather did close in when we descended, so I guess I wouldn’t have seen much of them had I carried on. My watch recorded (most of) the day at over 8hrs, more than 13 miles of walking and with over 5,000ft of altitude gain, so a pretty good day out! With a lot of running coming up (I’m preparing for the New York Marathon) I may be a little quiet for walking in the coming month or so, which means a couple of posts relating to bits from my past, but don’t be too surprised to see photos/videos of me being battered by sideways rain on Snowdon… you can’t beat it.

Once again, let me know what you think to the videos and slightly shorter version of the post (it’s meant I could get this up a lot quicker). Cheers, Ian.

Wire crossing from 3/4 way up the Jegihorn via ferrata

The route begins at around 2800m and starts steadily with little more than exposed walking, which helped get quickly used to the idea of using the lanyards. Lanyards for those who’ve never used or heard of them are basically two carabiners on cord that attach through your harness and clip onto to the cable. Using the system soon becomes second nature, with the cord moving up the route alongside you and then when you reach a bolt, unclipping the top carabiner and moving it beyond the bolt, then doing the same with the lower, meaning you’re always attached, simple/effective = good.

My first reaction to the route was to use rock and only use the cable for clipping in, but as the rock became more rotten and loose I switched to making use of the cable for the majority of the time, as dictated by our guide “stop messing about with the rock and use the cable” (it may have been more bluntly put than that). With other people on route it’s sensible when the rock is loose to make full use of the cable but some advice, consider how your hands will cope with pulling on a cable for a couple of hours, particularly in this case if the weather is very hot and you’re sweating. If in doubt take thin durable gloves!

My hands suffered through over use of the cable

The cable runs almost the entire route and for the majority you’d be wise to stay clipped in given the seriousness of a slip on the terrain. There’s variety thrown in when you reach points where ladders, metal rungs and other attachments provide means of ascending. The exposure didn’t really bother me but there was one particular section that is as close to “knife edge” as I’ve encountered that took me back a little, but it’s nothing overly tricky. Over half way through the route, our group not possessing much climbing experience avoided the rope wire crossing option as it leads to a section more akin to a rock climb, instead opting for a drop down to a continuation of the scrambling with a “fun” part of steep rock that you needed to make use of small footholds and lean back whilst holding the cable to shimmy across.

“Fun” on the Jegihorn

Being my first via ferrata and unsure what grade it is (and how the VF grading works), I can only really compare it to scrambling I’ve done previously. Having spent quite a lot of time scrambling recently (on almost exclusively UK grade 1 routes) and starting to wall climb, I found myself really comfortable for the majority of the route apart from when I opted for the wrong move and made it more tricky than it should’ve been. The exposure didn’t bother me but there were times when it was quite airy. We all wore our large insulated boots for the route which were fine. Having said that, in summer conditions it would’ve made more sense to wear a lighter and not quite so warm boot if the option was available.

In terms of acclimatising it would’ve been perfect, had I not tried to get away with 1 litre of water and ended up feeling horribly dehydrated, which made the descent unpleasant over loose rock.

Jegihorn summit looking out toward the Mischabel chain

Overall, I really enjoyed trying out via ferrata, but in a funny way I felt it was potentially more dangerous than normal scrambling, as the attachment to the cable gave a feeling of safety that’s a bit false, as you’re still falling over rock if you slip! Still once you’re into moving with the cable it can speed up the ascent and the attachments provide interest and variety in the route. Definitely something I’m keen to try out again and a good way of experiencing fantastic routes and even more exposure than you’d normally be comfortable with.

I wanted to try something non Snowdonia and my mate back from a stint in the Dolomites needed to be back for a new job starting early on Sunday. We’d spoke about the Lake District and I’d bought a few extra guide books to check routes. Then out of nowhere my friend suggested we could always leave after I finished work on Friday and try a familiar route, but in the middle of night. “Yeah, that sounds great!” And so that was that. We agreed to head back up Helvellyn via Striding Edge (we’d been up together in September 2008) by torch light and wild camp on the summit which we knew was flat/grassy in areas.

Having made it to the “hole in the wall” just before Striding Edge.

Serious problems such as a lack of transport and tent were amazingly easy to sort, so after a casual trip to a supermarket on Friday night we were on our way up the M6 to the Lake District.

As before we parked up in Pattersdale in what is a fairly large car park opposite a hotel toward the Northern end of the village. Not sure about parking charges, we slowly got our kit together whilst having a beer and reminding ourselves of the route, waiting for the clock to tick over midnight to allow us to pay for a full day of parking.

So at 12:01 we paid our £3.50 for the day, took a few quick photos, turned on our head torches and began off down the road.

The Kit

Worth covering off what I took for the night. So along with sustenance (i.e. beer, a disposable BBQ and meat to cook), I packed the following kit into my 70l Arc’teryx Naos rucksack:

• Sleeping bag – I took my MacPac Sanctuary 700 down sleeping bag as it’s actually lighter/warmer than my other bag. Knew it’d be too warm, but rather that than being too cold!
• Thermarest – Mine is a trail lite which seems to be a decent mix of comfort and weight for whenever I’ve used it.
• Smock – Rab Generator smock, which I didn’t need but for it’s weight and extra warmth is great to carry. And it made a pretty good pillow too.
• First aid kit
• Lighter
• Knife
• Stove/Gas/Kettle
• Map and Compass
• Oh and I packed everything in stuff it waterproof sacks to help keep it organised and dry in the tent if worse came to worse.

I then wore the following up…

• Jacket – The trusty Mountain Equipment Kongur once again blocked out some pretty nasty gusts of wind on Striding Edge.
• T-shirts/Base layers – So long sleeve Helly Hansen active base layer with active material t-shirt over.
• Trousers – Mountain Equipment schoeller material Liskamm. Just got these for the Alps and I’ve been impressed so far, nice stretchy material that is water resistant and the reinforced knees are great for scrambling. However, they’re not massively warm when it gets really windy/cold.
• Boots – More time spent in my Sportiva Nepal Evos to just get feet as used to them as possible. Way way too hot for the most part but that’s good to know.
• Head torch – Petzl Tikka, decent light even on lowest setting made walking in the dark pleasant.
• Spare stronger torch – LED Lenser bright white torch I had hanging off my pack for when we wanted to check around further than head torches would show. Always handy to have second source of light to hand I think too.

The Route

From the car park in Pattersdale you make your way North out of the village, past the local mountain rescue and police station, where you take the first left over a small bridge. From there you avoid the first right turn and then at the next choice follow the road round to the right which is made easier by the big sign reading “Helvellyn >>”. The tarmac road carries on for another 5-10mins, and toward the end opens up to give you (given weather) your first views up toward where you’re going, with a large ridge to your right.

You’re soon off the road, and heading toward the ridge and through a gate onto more rocky/muddy group that will continue for some time. It was here in the dark that we began to really need our head torches, so as not to twist our ankles on uneven ground and with cloud cover becoming thicker and so blocking out light from the moon. Funny thing was that with head torches on all these pairs of white dots appeared all around us, which even though we knew it was sheep was a little disconcerting!

Once you’ve turned onto the ridge, get ready for a pretty long trudge uphill. The gradient is nice but with a few sections of loose rock and a decent sized pack, we definitely felt this part of the walk, in particular as we hit the rock steps that signify the “hole in the wall” is close.

Going through the “hole in the wall”, we stopped briefly to talk about the next section and take in the view back toward a lit up Kendall far away in the distance. It was at this new height we realised the wind had picked up and with it the temperature had plummeted. So extra layers were applied and some food/drink quickly taken on board before we set off to tackle Striding Edge.

Having tackled the ridge before (in thick cloud), we knew what to expect and where it narrowed which helped a lot. However, with heavier packs on (roughly 12/13kg), we felt the wind on the exposed ridge even more so as it tugged at us and sent us off balance. Yet despite this we carried on across the top apart from a few sections where it was sensible to drop off to avoid anything too narrow where we’d be taking a risk should a strong gust to come across the ridge (by my reckoning in the region of 50mph gusts).

Having just finished Striding Edge as the sun starts to rise.

Reaching the end of the ridge and down climbing off toward the final section of ascent to the summit of Helvellyn, we noticed a red glow to the North East from behind Catstye Cam. Pictures cannot do it justice, the flickering red glow from behind the sharp point of the mountain with wind causing clouds to race in front of us, was absolutely breathtaking.

Sunrise over Catstye Cam from the end of Striding Edge.

Despite the cold we sat about for a good 15minutes taking photos and taking it in… after all we knew we’d be hitting the top of Helvellyn in thick cloud and now light.

This last section didn’t seem to take much time at all, going from the top of the slight ridge line to the right and winding up a path to the summit was a breeze compared to how I remembered it. And whilst we made this final climb, we moved further into the cloud and all around us grew lighter. A walk across the plateau past the shelter, summit marker (we got there at 3:35am) and finally by a cairn at the Northern end of the top we set up camp, where the ground allowed us to pitch the tent.

Never realised just how unsettling sheep could be…

Whilst watched by the occasional sheep we set up quickly, opened some wine and enjoyed a BBQ before collapsing into our sleeping bags. Despite being tired we didn’t get much sleep with the tent being battered by wind and rain. Somehow the tent survived and at 9:30am the next morning we felt rested enough to creep out and check out the view… of still thick white cloud. However, this soon this cleared and we were joined on the summit by a growing number of other walkers to enjoy the stunning view around.

Home for the night on Helvellyn.

After packing up, we tried in vain to find the water well noted on the map just South of the summit and then began our descent onto Swirral Edge. Despite weary legs and tiredness, we decided to have a quick “run” up Catstye Cam, from over which we’d seen the sun rise some 7hrs earlier and take the opportunity to look at Helvellyn and the two ridges leading to it’s plateau. From there we skirted round Red Tarn (that’s the lake between the ridges) and made our way back a slightly different route, which after jumping over a wall soon had us back to where we’d started.

Stood on Swirral Edge, eschewing the path for a rocky ridge.

It was great to try something different and get up onto Helvellyn at night to wild camp. Striding Edge is always an adventure, but at night in the cloud with strong gusts of winds it was a lot more so. We took it steady and made a couple of good calls to avoid even small sections of exposure, where it would’ve introduced risk that was unnecessary. Anyone contemplating walking at night, it may seem obvious but know the route well in daylight, do it in good weather and have a couple of escape strategies to hand.

With the solstice weekend, came the promise of good weather for Snowdonia. So plans were made for a very similar trip to the one I’d undertaken on my own. Then the weather turned at the last minute to low/thick cloud cover so we delayed our start, and began our ascent of Tryfan at 10:30am on 20th June.

This time the climb was made in changing visibility and occasional rain, that made it more like my first time on the mountain. As we were both happy on the terrain, we eschewed the path at almost every opportunity we had to scramble. My alarm hadn’t gone off, so I’d set off late and had to have breakfast in the layby. The brioche I hastily consumed down at the foot of the mountain made me feel quite queasy going up, but the fun scrambling soon helped me feel fine.

It was the first time I’d completed the North ridge properly, as on previous days I’d always ended up on the East face coming up one of the gullys. This time we stuck to main ridge, following the crowds and had great fun despite some very wet and polished holds.

All too soon we’d made it to the summit, where we grabbed a quick drink/snack and laughed at the ironic cheers from those sat up on top, when a tiny amount of sun broke through the clouds.

Looking back to Tryfan from the start of Sinister Gully.

After a descent off the Southern ridge of Tryfan, we were soon ascending again beside a stone wall and then off to the side to the start of the scramble up Glyder Fach via Bristly Ridge.

The Route – “Bristly Ridge” ascent of Glyder Fach

You can either approach the start of the scramble which begins in Sinister Gully (cool name, no?) by following the trail up to the side of the wall and then going across 10 metres to the right (as we did) or up an obvious scree slope directly to find the gap, neither are tricky so it comes down to your preference.

The gully is between 1/2 metres wide in most places and has a fair amount of loose rock on the floor, so care is needed as you traverse inside the gully, that you don’t cover those behind you in rocks.

The climbing isn’t too tricky but it requires you to be confident. As we entered the gully, we spotted a group using a rope (likely a course I guess) which we thought was odd but given conditions it was sensible for people not used to the terrain. Most sections benefit greatly from being on one side of the wall you’re climbing, so have a quick think before rushing headlong at the next problem… which admittedly I sometimes do!

This time it being wet certainly made the gully more of a challenge and it showed, with several people slipping quite badly around me. The route was really busy with quite a queue forming, but quite why people insist on being so close to the person infront is beyond me, there were several points when I was worried a few people were going to end up falling into each other and down the gully. Maybe I’m different but I talk to people around me on routes, especially when it’s busy, as it seems courteous to me to warn those around you of problems or for example if you cross loose rock above them.

Helping point out holds to the next person coming up the gully.

Upon reaching the top, I was a bit shocked to see splatters of blood on the rocks and then the owner of the blood, a chap who’d slipped on the route and had cut above his eye quite nastily, a further reminder how serious it can be.

The gully is the most technical part of the route though, so once you’ve exited it there’s just a couple more decent pitches and exposure left to challenge you, the rest is really just a lot of fun. It’s a case of sticking as close to the top of the ridge as possible and enjoying yourself. Often a small path is available that sidesteps a problem, but there’s nothing as tricky as before in the gully so stick at it. And on the occasions when you look over a spike to a big drop, needles to say that’s not the way, so check to the side a bit for a decent and easy climb down.

Ascending Bristly Ridge to the summit of Glyder Fach

The route sadly has to end but it does so gracefully, coming up on top of Glyder Fach and fading as a line of rocks that point toward to the rocky summit and the Cantilever (see photo on Wikipedia article on Glyder Fach to see what this). We carried on to sit near the top for another drink, before scrambling over Castell Y Gwynt and then down the Cribin Ridge (listed as a Grade 1 scramble, we took a line off the main ridge which was okay for descent but not much fun) to enjoy views back from where we’d been over over Tryfan and Glyder Fach to our right, and the Carneddau infront.

Tryfan’s West face from the Cribin Ridge.

At the moment, Bristly Ridge when combined with Tryfan’s North Ridge is my favourite route in the UK. Doing it in wet conditions amongst a crowd showed me another side to the route, one that’s more challenging and also worrying, with too many people caught out of their comfort zone. But enough of the serious talk, the gully is great fun and the ridge airy enough at times to make you double check your footing. And the setting whether it was clear as before, or this time with clouds breaking around, is simply stunning. This is not a route to be rushed, get up early and enjoy it!

More information

Always carry my cicerone guide to “Scrambling in Snowdonia” by Steve Ashton which I’d recommend you’d take for any route in the area. I also posted links to details of scrambling on Tryfan/Glyder Fach on my previous day on the route.

Note: The first, third and fourth photos used in this article were taken by my scrambling partner for the day (Adele). So big thank you to her for letting me use the action shots!

Kit

With a steady trail and some grassy sections in store for the day, I decided to give my Sportiva Nepal Evo GTX boots I’d bought for the Alps, their first outing on the hills. Apart from that it was the usual, with a few extra bits of clothing in case cloud cover/wind picked up and made things cold up high. The route on a nice day whilst a little muddy in sections doesn’t really need any kit; my friend was comfortable in her day to day trainers and jeans.

Route

The first challenge is to find the car park! I’d used a Pathfinder guidebook (18 Brecon Beacons and Glamorgan) for the route and eventually found the single lane track out South of Brecon (easier to find if enter Brecon via the roundabout that’s South-West of the town) by a pub called the Drovers Arms. After that by following signs for a training camp and sticking to what appears to be the main “road”, we reached a National Trust car park.

After walking up the road through the car park, the main path is clearly visible straight ahead, instead we went to the left down into a wooded area to  cross the river (via a bridge). Up the bank and then through some undergrowth, we soon found the beginning of a trail along the side of the hillside now infront. This carries on a little way until things open up to your right and you’re at a wall and gate. If you can avoid going up to the gate, then stay up high and turn right into Cwm Sere, there is a path down by the wall but it was boggy, whereas the one starting about 10-15m to the side is much better. Into the cwm are fantastic views of Cribyn, which is quite some way from where you begin the walk in.

The boggy path to the left, the better path is faint to the top right.

And from then on it’s a case of just enjoying the walk in, with fantastic views all around until the path begins to drop down to the side of the river. Then it’s a case of working out how you want to make your way up to meet the Northern ridge of Cribyn.

The ascent up to the ridge is quite steep, and by far the most difficult part of route physically. My stiff boots (rated B3) meant side to side traversing over some sections before I relented and re-laced them looser to allow more flex around the top. And then onto the ridge, which is pretty dramatic due to the gradient when approached, even if it’s not at all exposed to the sides for the person walking it.

From the top of Cribyn, the views back down into the cwm and over toward Pen y Fan are fantastic. So good that the blustery wind on top didn’t bother us as we sat enjoying lunch, watching small clouds race overhead. The rest of the walk from there on is made up of a steady ascent of Pen y Fan, which we did with constant changes in temperature as the clouds/wind took away the heat of the sun off us. The summit itself whilst a little dull through being flat, has fantastic views in all directions (if you get the weather) and being accessible attracts large numbers that crowd the top. From the summit the main trail is obvious when looking North, which is easy going apart from a small stretch of rocky ground just below the top.

Walking in the Brecon Beacons was a nice change of scenery from my now regular Snowdonia outings, and reminded me just how many fantastic places there are in the UK for me to get out and explore. The route was scenic and whilst I wouldn’t call it difficult, my legs told me I’d done a decent walk when I woke up the next day. So whilst it may be a little while until I return, I’m really looking forward to my next walk in the Brecon Beacons.

Finally, if you’re wonderiing why I called the route “Mini”, it’s because the guidebook suggests carrying on to Corn Du before heading back, we decided to make our way to the car park from the top of Pen y Fan.

Knowing that a nice day in Snowdonia = crowds, I decided to make things more interesting by getting to the mountain before or as close to sunrise on the mountain (sunrise being at just after 4am at this time of year…). So a plan was hastily formed to wake up just after 1am and go for the North Ridge of Tryfan (grade 1 scramble) and then up Bristly Ridge to Glyder Fach (grade 1/2 scramble), before legions of walkers ascended the peaks.

Kit

Unlike previous weekends when I’d weighted a pack down, I decided to go much lighter this time. So a couple of litres of water, some food, sunglasses and waterproof if the good weather turned rainy/windy. Having worn my new Sportiva Nepal Evos the weekend before up Pen y Fan on soft ground, I decided to wear them again to see how they coped on rock. Whilst not suited to scrambling, they ended up performing well; fit continues to get better and impress me more.

Route

Stringing together the North Ridge of Tryfan and Bristly Ridge up Glyder Fach is one of the more famous continued scrambles in Snowdonia, so documenting it is pointless. The Cicerone guide to scrambling in North Wales does a great job of covering the route and then there’s lots of websites covering each (listed at the end).

Arriving at 4:40am I quickly got changed and took a couple of photos to prove I’d made it to start so early. When I arrived there was only one other car in the layby, my plan had worked and I’d have the mountain almost to myself.

The ascent itself isn’t too demanding and route finding a breeze for the most part, you soon gain height and there’s plenty of options to make it more tricky (i.e. fun) if you want to.

As I started to make may way up onto what is a very broad North Ridge, the sun started to creep up over the Glyders, striking the shattered rock around me (and a group of goats who were up early too) to make the setting really breathtaking.

After finding a band of quartz and then moving up and slightly to the right I was at “The Cannon”. To my surprise I found the owner of the other car in the layby, wild camping just below the outcrop, which made me jump a bit as I’d got quite used to having the whole mountain to myself.

Reaching the summit just before 7am I hauled myself up the first summit pillar, had a bit of breakfast, took some photos and then with it being quite cold exposed to the wind, down-climbed (making a mess of it and hurting my ribs doing so, too early, doh!) and sat in a more sheltered area briefly.

Coming down on the South Ridge toward Glyder Fach I was joined unexpectedly by someone I’d chatted with on Twitter for the scramble up Bristly Ridge. Enjoying it so much I didn’t take photos, so I guess I’ll need to go back and do it again…

The two scrambles strung together make for an absolutely stunning time in the Glyders and with the routes so quiet in the early morning the feeling of adventure you often lose to the crowds was retained. I’d probably suggest that Bristly Ridge is my favourite route I’ve yet to scramble in North Wales. I can’t wait to go back and do it again (and document it properly given I like it so much)!

Links to route information

• Fellwalker in East Anglia article on Tryfan North Ridge
• Fellwalker in East Anglia article on Bristly Ridge
• UK Scrambles article on Tryfan North Ridge
• UK Scrambles article on Bristly Ridge

Kit

As mentioned I was testing out my new 70l pack so I packed extra kit than was needed and 8 litres of bottled water to begin with to take the total weight carried to around 11-12kg (knowing I need to build up to being strong at 15kg for Aconcagua). Remembering the route area had plenty of rivers and with rainfall over night I stuck with my Scarpa Mantas to keep my feet warm and dry. I also took an OS Landranger 115 map given we were in a more remote area for the day.

Getting there/The route

First thing is to get to Bethesda and park if you’ve drove. And then up to the top of the town to an area called Gerlan which is marked on the OS map. There’s something of a crossroads on the road out, we took the road to the East which stays North of the Afon Caseg. Going South-East you find a trail that follows the Afon Llafar.

The road continues past some houses and winds its way upwards, it was around halfway that my calves told me 8ltrs was a little optimistic on top of the extra kit I’d packed. So I quickly drank some and poured the rest to leave me with 6litres of water, and a couple of litres in Lucozade. Coming to the top of the road it’s fairly obvious where the trail heads which is along the side of a ridge to staying high to avoid the marshy ground found near the Afon Caseg. We had a go at a more direct route to Yr Elen but quickly found ourselves in really boggy ground and soon went back up to the main trail. We crossed over Afon Wen and made our way up steeper ground into the Cwm on its left side, with Yr Elen looming to our right. Again on the steeper ground, I felt the weight on my back a lot more, so we stopped and I had a drink “to hydrate” (and reduce weight).

Once into the Cwm properly and with it levelling out, we crossed between a small lake and a little rise toward Yr Elen. We were soon traversing up onto the North Ridge which I’d been up earlier in the year in the snow. In normal conditions it’s not all that exciting really, there’s some scrambling if you really want it but not a great deal or prolonged and with the heavy pack I was just interested in getting up. The view/feeling of remoteness make up for the lack of excitement of the route though and coming up at the top, it’s quite a sight looking out toward Anglesey and the sea.

After resting on top for some food/drinks whilst checking out the view, we made our way off the summit and down to meet the ridge that joins onto Carnedd Llewelyn. The route now really clear is easy to follow to the top, which was covered in a sprinkling of snow when we were on top.

Then back onto a short ridge to Carnedd Dafydd, where I ditched the excess water given we’d be descending from then on and literally skipped over to Pen yr Ole Wen for some more food/drinks whilst looking out over the Glyders.

Coming down we ventured once again too close to the rivers after descending by Carnedd Fach (it’s the cairn between Carnedd Dafydd and Pen yr Ole Wen). It’d be much more sensible to cross over the ridge going up Carnedd Dafydd and into the Cwm earlier than we did to avoid the marshy ground and jump over a barbed wire fence.

The route, like the Carneddau as a whole, has a remote feeling, much more so than others found in Snowdonia. If you’re after a nice steady but long walk in, for a quiet and simple ridge up high, then it’s great. But with exciting (i.e. busier) ascents nearby it’s not perhaps the best option. I’ve heard plenty of good things about the Crib Lem Spur up Carnedd Dafydd so that may be the best for an exciting day in the range, so I’ll be checking that soon…

In terms of training, the extra weight was tough given I usually pack as light as possible. Whilst frustrating and realising I’ve got a lot to do, the real pain was felt in my lower legs which I can strengthen. Overall I felt strong coming back down and could’ve walked on. So I’m positive, whilst knowing I have a lot to do.