Pen yr Ole Wen

The pyramidal outline of Pen yr Ole Wen

Height: 978m (3,209ft)

Prominence: 45m (148ft)

Region: Snowdonia - Carneddau

Classifications: Hewitt, Nuttall, Welsh 3000

Summit feature: Loose cairn

Times climbed: 2

Related trip reports:
The Carneddau - 16/02/2019  
The Carneddau - 13/03/2016

A loose cairn sits on the summit

Pen yr Ole Wen (Pen ur Ol-e Wen - Head of the White Slope) is the seventh highest mountain in Wales. The mountain lies to the north of Idwal Cottage youth hostel on the A5 road, from where it has a pyramidal appearance.

For many years the mountain's name was translated as "Head of the White Light", the interpretation of which was a mystery. However in 2004 Professor Hywel Wyn Owen at the Place-Name Research Centre at Bangor University in Bangor resolved the matter saying that Ole comes from Goleddf, which means slope or hillside, making the correct English translation: "Head of the White Slope".

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