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Uncertain weather forecast for the Highlands for quite a period meant I was getting stir-crazy again. The forecast for Snowdonia wasn’t too bad though, and after a brilliant Saturday in the Midlands I decided to head out into Wales on the Sunday.
I’ve walked all the hills in Snowdonia so many times that this time I thought I’d concentrate on scrambling.
Although all the scrambles on this route are standards, I thought it was worth recording this route, because:
a) unlike other scrambles I’ve done, all the routes seemed to offer variations of higher or lower grade to suit inclination, confidence, and the conditions on the day;
b) all the routes offer good rock quality (in the dry) and outstanding views;
c) and you can scramble more or less all day!
The idea was to work out a circuit of good/top quality Grade 3/Diff scrambles as a change from the more or less standard Tryfan North Face route followed by Bristly Ridge (which I’d done again a couple of weeks earlier with my nephew from Switzerland). In addition, I wanted to get in as many scrambles as possible, which would mean some zig-zagging up and down faces.
In the end I opted for the following:
• Milestone Buttress Approach (50m) Gr 3 *** & Milestone Buttress Continuation (40m) Gr 3 **
• Wrinkled Tower (70m) Gr 3 ***
• Tryfan South Buttress (135m) Gr 3 *
• Shark Buttress - Glyder Fach (260m) Gr 3 ***
I should say at the outset that all the scrambles are at least Grade 3, which means rope protection is recommended.
Certainly some of them are extremely exposed, as can be seen from the pictures.
I’m not going to give a blow by blow description of the routes, partly because this is done in various guide books, like Steve Ashton’s “Scrambles in Snowdonia”; and partly because of the many alternative options that all the routes seem to offer.
And I apologize at the start for the generally poor quality of the pics. I took the decision to use my smartphone, which was completely the wrong thing to do on a rather overcast day. So the blurring is NOT due to my hands shaking in trepidation, but rather because of the mini-aperture of the camera, and hence very slow shutter speed. At least that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!
I set the alarm for 03.30, left the house at 04.00, and arrived at Ogwen at 06.15...
Tryfan East Face looks quite menacing, as does the sky...
...where I breakfasted on the usual croissants with marmalade and a litre of tea. Superb – no cars at the park, and no-one stirring at the camp site.
It would have been possible to extend the scrambling by starting at Tryfan Bach....
Scrambling on Tryfan Bach June 2015.
....just a few hundred metres away from the Milestone Buttress; but I’d done that on the day with my nephew, and also, apart from the exposure, it’s not particularly challenging.
So the route starts on the west face of Tryfan with the Milestone Buttress approach.
W Face Scrambles
Steve Ashton’s route bears left after the first 18m, but a direct route also seemed eminently feasible, and this is the one I took.
20150705_063836
20150705_064154 The start of Milestone Approach
20150705_064625 Good rock and good holds for scramblers.
20150705_064639.
20150705_065541 Looking back about half way up Milestone Approach.
20150705_065717 Looking up from the same point.
20150705_070224 Looking back from near the top of Milestone Approach.
20150705_071251 Looking a bit further ahead than the next hold: Y Garn with its summit lightly wraithed in cloud.
Some very enjoyable scrambling on excellent rock, with great views to spice the experience.
This does not seem like a particularly difficult route technically: there are plenty of large and solid hand and food holds; but it is quite exposed, as can be seen from the pictures, so this must, I guess, be the reason for the 3 grading.
The Milestone Continuation offers more of the same, with a variety of possible routes. I try a few of them, but back off a couple of options when the holds begin to be of the finger/toe end variety. Great fun though!
20150705_071429 Start of Milestone Continuation. Excellent rock conditions.
20150705_071843.
20150705_071856.
20150705_071951 One diversion I tried, but then thought better of.
20150705_072455 Looking back down the first pitch.
20150705_073844 Fairly typical rock conditions towards the top of Milestone Continuation, which alternate with grass/heathery parts.
20150705_074610 Now the descent to the bottom again, via a gulley.
[
20150705_075248(0) Looking back up to the top of the gulley.
20150705_075308 Looking down the gulley. Some of the scrambling is tougher than the Milestone route, mainly because of the damp conditions.
20150705_082334 Start of Wrinkled Tower (centre of the picture).
20150705_083639 Looking back down the first pitch. It looks much more difficult than it is: there are plenty of good hand and foot holds.
20150705_084851 Some dramatic rock slivers.
20150705_085740 One variation that proved too difficult...
20150705_085945 And another...
Summary: Wrinkled Tower is a really fun route, with plenty of alternatives to match your appetite.
Once at the top of Wrinkled Tower you simply continue east over the ridge and then drop about 80m on to the Heather Terrace. Then it’s an easy walk on the path up to the South Buttress. If the South Buttress doesn’t appeal, there are also 6 other established routes up to the top of Tryfan on this side, some of which are technically easier. As I pass the first of these, the Bastow Buttress Variant, I see a roped party just starting out. I must say, it looks terrifying: one slip by one member of the party, and the whole lot could be dragged down with them! I’ve never understood the point of this practice.
The South Buttress offers many many options. The rock is good, and there’s much strenuous fun to be had! The following pictures are typical of the conditions.
20150705_101709 at the bottom.
20150705_103056 Towards the top.
I stop for a second breakfast at the top of Tryfan, and enjoy the views (and the jump between Adam and Eve
).
20150705_105859 Adam and Eve.
The sac starring in the pic is full mainly of rope, krabs, tat, etc., - just in case. But fortunately I don’t need to get it out once during the day.
Then I head off in the direction of Bristly Ridge.
20150705_103506 Bristly Ridge.
20150705_103515 Llyn Bochlwyd in the foreground, Y Garn in the background. The clear weather wasn't to last, though!!!
Descending Tryfan on the rough rock fields, I concentrate intently on where I’m putting my feet. I remember that one of my great heroes, Pat Kelly, was killed on Tryfan, apparently due to a freak accident with a loose rock when she wasn’t actually climbing, which resulted in a fatal head injury (I recall reading about the circumstances of the accident some time ago, but haven’t been able to find the source again; so I may have this detail wrong).
Pat Kelly on The Scoop, Castle Naze circa 1920.
How difficult this climb is can be seen from the following pic:
Scoop, Castle Naze.
She was the founder of the Pinnacle Club, and one of the great early rock climbing pioneers, in the days when the rock was the very least of the obstacles that would-be female climbers had to overcome!
Ladies climbing 1908.
Once in Bwlch Tryfan I contour in a south westerly direction around the bottom of the main Glyder Fach cliff until I get to the large triangular rock slab feature known as Alphabet Slab, which is the key orientation point for locating the start of most of the scrambles on this face.
This is roughly the Shark Buttress route.
Shark Buttress.
Instead of ascending on the north east side of this as recommended by Steve Ashton, I continue to contour around the bottom, and then scramble up a steep mainly grassy incline to reach the official start point.
20150705_114307 Start of Shark Buttress.
View looking north east from the top of the first section.
20150705_114909.
The rock on this route is more lichenous, and generally I think this is more technically difficult than the preceding routes. Unfortunately, about half way up to the Shark Pinnacle, it starts to rain, and this means that the lichenous rock starts to become unpredictably slippery.
20150705_115548 First shower....]
I therefore opt for maximising my chances of living to scramble another day and now take the easiest routes I can pick out. However, it’s clear that there are again many more challenging variations that would be great on a dry day.
20150705_120923.
20150705_121135 The shark fin feature after which the buttress is named. Easy options here.
20150705_122506 Shark fin from above.
20150705_122402[/url] Still some reasonably challenging bits....
20150705_123528 Astonishing overhanging rocks. Hard to see how they remain stable!
20150705_123535 Typical conditions approaching the top. Quite straightforward scrambling over blocks, even in the rain.[/url]
20150705_123538 And panning clockwise, an even easier route is clear to the right.
20150705_124416 View back down Shark Buttress from the top of the scrambling section. From here on it's effectively just walking.
20150705_125445
When I reach the top, the summit of Glyder Fach is in clag, and it is raining quite heavily.
I decide to return via Glyder Fawr (all in the rain
) and Hell’s Kitchen to take a look at the Idwal Slabs, one of the first scrambles I did.
20150705_141347.
To my surprise, even mid-afternoon on a Sunday, there are no climbers or scramblers on the face. Usually it would be absolutely packed out. Perhaps the showers have stopped people. It's a very heavily trafficked and therefore very polished slab, so I guess it could be quite tricky in the wet.
20150705_141722 Looking up the slabs.
20150705_141406 Pen-yr-Ole-Wen and Llyn Idwal, taken from just before the Idwal Slabs.
Just beyond the slabs I notice what appears to be a pale dog swimming across Llyn Idwal. Then, as it approaches the shore, I realise to my astonishment that it's a sheep! I'm too slow getting the mobile out to get a shot of it while it's swimming; but here's a shot of the amphibious sheep just after it landed.
20150705_142403[/url]
Then back to the car. As I change, I notice my unorthodox (= hopeless) scrambling technique has again taken its toll on my knees and shins
.
20150705_150005[/url]
Memo to self: remember to wear longs with suitable knee protection for scrambling
.
Then a quick visit to a local building of cultural, architectural and historical interest....
20150705_150254.
before heading home.
All in all, a fine day's scrambling - just a pity about the rain at the end.
