I'm back!

Back from North Wales after a week of successful mountaineering. Due to adverse weather--first very cold then very hot--we were forced to miss out Carnedd Dafydd, Glyder Fawr and the sub-3000 foot hills, but we still climbed four of the highest mountains in Wales, and completed all of our major objectives. The hills we climbed were Y Garn (947m), Glyder Fach (994m), Pen Yr Ole Wen (978m), and Tryfan (915m).

All of these ascents were longer, higher and tougher than anything I've achieved before: Wales is more rugged than England. All ascents involved some scrambling, particularly Tryfan. I chose the most challenging route, going straight up the Alpine-like North Ridge, which is the finest and most popular Grade 1 scramble in the world. It gives a sense of true mountaineering--perhaps more so than a hill of "merely" 3,000 feet deserves.

I've beaten my personal altitude record of 978m, and added four of the 15 Welsh 3000ers to my list of mountains climbed. James fell slightly ill on the last day, making an assault on Glyder Fawr impossible, but the trip was still a great success and tremendously enjoyable. Scrambling on famous mountains is a great ego-booster!

Here are a couple of photos. Click on the thumbnail for a larger image. I'll post a full .Mac photo album next week.

This is the East Face of Tryfan, from the path linking Gwern Gof Uchaf with Capel Curig.



And this is me standing on the famous Cannon Stone, halfway up Tryfan's North Ridge.



Photos (C) Alex and James Roddie 2005