Today Jason and I are going to tackle some of the best scrambling ridges in Snowdonia.
The route we'll be taking is from Tryfan's north ridge, down the south ridge, up Bristly ridge, Glyder Fach, over Castle of the Winds, Glyder Fawr, down the steep scree slope and finally down through the Devil's Kitchen to the Idwal carpark.We left one car at Idwal carpark and one at the foot of Tryfan which cancels out the need to walk along the A55.
Here is a quick map with our route plotted for the day.
Parked along the layby just off the A55 at the foot of Tryfan, we headed up the steep climb. (9:50am)
Looking across Llyn Ogwen, A55, with my car in the distance below! Foel Goch in the middle with some low level cloud cover.
A bit more elevation gained.
At this point there are no distinct paths so route finding was up to us.
On my way up!
We could see the first of the three summit points of Tryfan.
A great photo opportunity on the famous cannon stone.
Conditions were damp so the climb down was a little bit trickier.
Jason doing the vertical stuff. This is what a grade 1 scramble looks like.
Looking across to the summit with one of the Adam and Eve stones in view.
Llyn Bochlwyd, Llyn Idwal and Llyn Ogwen all in one shot with Y Garn and Foel Goch in the background.
More of the north ridge traverse.
Taking a quick break on the summit.
It was too windy and scary to stand up or jump between the stones!
Adam and Eve.
View of Bristly ridge and Glyder Fach from the summit of Tryfan.
South side descent of Tryfan.
After the descent of the south face of Tryfan we were faced with the gnarly Bristly ridge. We had a 5mins stop and think time to discuss our line of attack!
Jason at the start of the scramble up one of the Gullies, Sinister Gully? Possibly.
A view down from a safe standing point. Not a good place to be if you suffer from Acrophobia as the exposure is quite severe.
Looking across the gully.
Plaster on my finger, minor mishap, the rock won and my finger lost!
Quite a distance down!
Nearly there at the end of Sinister Gully.
Near the top of sinister gully, notice a small group of people in the distance! I can sum up the gully as having some serious exposure, sheer drops, slippery damp rock foot and handholds and much more technical than most parts of crib goch.
Topping out, the only way is over and down climb.
My turn.
A vertical down climb part.
Looking back at the wall we'd down climbed.
Another pinnacle ahead, the great pinnacle gap perhaps?
Resting spot. me admiring the drop!
Looking across the Glyders from Bristly ridge. The lake below is called Llyn Bochlwyd or sometimes it is also known as lake Australia, due to the fact that its shape, when seen from above, resembles that of Australia.
Looking back at Tryfan from Bristly ridge.
Jason down climbing one of the pinnacles.
Llyn Bochlwyd through the gap.
Looking back from Glyder Fach after topping out on Bristly ridge. After doing Tryfan and Bristly ridge I would rate the latter as harder and more technical of the two as some lines were a definite grade 2 scramble in dry conditions!
The boulder field summit of Glyder Fach.
The famous cantilever stone on Glyder Fach.
Coming off the cantilever, there was still a fair gap to jump over!
The amazing Snowdon horseshoe viewed from Glyder Fach.
Straddling the summit stone of Glyder Fach. I must say that it was quite narrow!
Snowdon horseshow and the Castle of the Winds to the right.
Looking across to Glyder Fawr. This was a straight forward walk between the two mountains after negotiating round the castle of the winds' boulders.
Y Garn and Foel Goch from Glyder Fach.
Where's the summit point on Glyder Fawr?
Jason going down the nasty scree slope of Glyder Fawr.
More of the never ending scree slope descent.
Heading toward the top of Devil's Kitchen, our final descent.
Descending the Devil's kitchen.
A view of Pen Yr Ole Wen from Devil's Kitchen.
Looking back at Devil's kitchen.
Back to the start and we have Pen Yr Ole Wen basking in the afternoon sunshine. It was a great day out, a proper mountain day, with some scars and bruises to prove it as well!
Duration of walk:- 6hrs 20mins
Weather:- Forecast to rain, but it was dry all the way through.
Nearly there at the end of Sinister Gully.
Near the top of sinister gully, notice a small group of people in the distance! I can sum up the gully as having some serious exposure, sheer drops, slippery damp rock foot and handholds and much more technical than most parts of crib goch.
Topping out, the only way is over and down climb.
My turn.
A vertical down climb part.
Looking back at the wall we'd down climbed.
Another pinnacle ahead, the great pinnacle gap perhaps?
Resting spot. me admiring the drop!
Looking across the Glyders from Bristly ridge. The lake below is called Llyn Bochlwyd or sometimes it is also known as lake Australia, due to the fact that its shape, when seen from above, resembles that of Australia.
Looking back at Tryfan from Bristly ridge.
Jason down climbing one of the pinnacles.
Llyn Bochlwyd through the gap.
Looking back from Glyder Fach after topping out on Bristly ridge. After doing Tryfan and Bristly ridge I would rate the latter as harder and more technical of the two as some lines were a definite grade 2 scramble in dry conditions!
The boulder field summit of Glyder Fach.
The famous cantilever stone on Glyder Fach.
Coming off the cantilever, there was still a fair gap to jump over!
The amazing Snowdon horseshoe viewed from Glyder Fach.
Straddling the summit stone of Glyder Fach. I must say that it was quite narrow!
Snowdon horseshow and the Castle of the Winds to the right.
Looking across to Glyder Fawr. This was a straight forward walk between the two mountains after negotiating round the castle of the winds' boulders.
Y Garn and Foel Goch from Glyder Fach.
Where's the summit point on Glyder Fawr?
Jason going down the nasty scree slope of Glyder Fawr.
More of the never ending scree slope descent.
Heading toward the top of Devil's Kitchen, our final descent.
Descending the Devil's kitchen.
A view of Pen Yr Ole Wen from Devil's Kitchen.
Looking back at Devil's kitchen.
Back to the start and we have Pen Yr Ole Wen basking in the afternoon sunshine. It was a great day out, a proper mountain day, with some scars and bruises to prove it as well!
Duration of walk:- 6hrs 20mins
Weather:- Forecast to rain, but it was dry all the way through.
An amazing scramble and terrific images!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great adventure...
DSD
useful resource. thx for putting it up.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff. A nice summary/overview. I am taking my family this summer on the same route. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteRF
Thanks for the comments guys, will hope to re-visit soon this year.
ReplyDeleteDid Bristly last week after backing off it last autumn. I found your stream of photos very useful when googling the route. A woman in front of me slipped and cracked her head in the gully you went up requiring a lift in a helicopter, just what I didn't want to see! I went up the gully to the left instead which has a very exposed exit left to avoid the tight chimney that it becomes. I think that this is Sinister (sinister=left) Gully as it has the stone wall at its base referred to in the Steve Ashton guidebook.
ReplyDeleteHi simon, just read your journal on your horseshoe, sounds like you had a great day. I did this climb the other week, (start of August). Apparently there are two gullies to go up at Bwlch Tryfan, round the buttress to the right there is one wide gully, but carry on over to man made wall is the more difficult Sinister Gully. I did what you did & thought it was Sinister Gully last year, but when i read about it in Steve Ashtons book i knew it wasnt, so this Aug we did a slightly diffent route to get there & tried the other Gully, hence the name sinister, more intimidating i thought. For an extra slog we did Y Garn aswell, that is hell on your knees coming down those little steps.
ReplyDeleteThanks guys.
ReplyDeleteConditions can get wet/damp even on a dry summer's day, so safety is always first.
Be safe have fun!