The Cneifion Arête

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Route: Idwal Cottage, Llyn Idwal, Cwm Cneifion, Cneifion Arete, Y Gribin, Clogwyn y Tarw, Llyn Idwal, Idwal Cottage

Date: 31/03/2019
From: A5 - Idwal Cottage

Parking: Laybys on A5
Start Point: Idwal Cottage
Region: Snowdonia

Route length: 3.1 miles (5.0 km)
Time taken: 04:13
Average speed: 1.4 mph
Ascent: 522m
Descent: 515m

Summits: None

Other points of interest: The Cneifion Arête

The Cneifion Arête is perhaps one of the most famed scrambles in North Wales and admittedly, one I never thought I'd end up doing. It's not through fear that I didn't think I get round to it, more through not knowing the correct skills to tackle it safely. You see, the Cneifion Arête reaches a scrambling grade of 3 - the top of the list. Unless you are super confident or have no regard for your personal safety, grade 3 scrambles usually necessitate the use of ropes, harnesses and protective climbing gear - aspects I am unaccustomed to and have no experience with.

Fortunately, luck has lent me a helping hand - a friend looking to build their climbing instruction log book. We've been talking about doing Pillar Rock for a while but managed to find some time for a weekend away in Snowdonia - home to some of the finest scrambling in the UK. It was a win-win situation; I get to experience some higher grade scrambling while my friend, Adam, gets some days logged towards his qualification.

After a morning spent at a local climbing centre near Caernarvon, we traipsed back to Ogwen with the sun out in full force, grey clouds having drifted away, and a warm afternoon beckoning us back into the mountains. Despite being 2pm, the Cneifion Arête makes the perfect objective for an afternoon and it would most likely mean that it would be much quieter.

The Cneifion arete viewed in profile from Y Gribin

The Cneifion Arête stands hidden away in the depths of Cwm Cneifion, a hidden corrie high above the popular Llyn Idwal. It forms a steep, exposed route between the cwm floor and the base of Y Gribin - a popular grade 1 ridge that leads to Glyder Fach. The first task of the afternoon then was the reach the base of the arête.

From Idwal cottage we proceeded to follow the stone path which climbs up to the shores of Llyn Idwal, nestled amongst its dramatic mountain scenery. Continuing along the shore of the lake, and with Garry Smith's excellent book to guide us, we found the faint grassy path which branches off a short distance after the wall below Clogwyn y Tarw.

The path leading up from the youth hostel

Pen yr Ole Wen stands over Idwal Cottage

Castell y Geifr and Y Garn over Llyn Idwal

Llyn Idwal and the path leading to the Idwal Slabs

Llyn Idwal

The path winds up alongside some small streams - a fairly steep affair to begin with but, this soon brought us towards the famed arête, viewed side-on in this instance. A couple of groups were already enjoying its charms. Fortunately for us, they were well on their way and there was no one waiting at the base. Perfect.

The Idwal Slabs

Looking across to Y Garn

The Cneifion Arete

Approaching the base of the arete

The Cneifion Arete - the climbers give it some sense of scale

We moved around to the base of the arête where its superb situation becomes more apparent, a sharp, curved ride climbing steeply overhead. I've read it's very alpine-esque. Time for a crash course in using ropes, harnesses and belay devices (not literally I may add).

The dramatic line of the Cneifion Arete. The route climbs the lower wall directly before turning right to meet the main ridge

For the uninitiated like myself, this is how the entire process would progress. Adam, being the experienced hand, would lead the climbs (or pitches) with me acting as his belayer. As he climbed, Adam would be placing protective gear along the route, consisting of either nuts or hexes jammed into cracks or long slings looped over protruding rocks.

Tools of the trade

Once at the top of the pitch, Adam would make himself safe by anchoring to the mountain, allowing me to detach him from the belay device. Then it would be my turn to climb, this time protected by Adam belaying from above and the gear he had already placed. My job was to collect the protection as I passed it, attaching it to my harness in the process - best not leave any behind! Upon reaching Adam's safe location, I would anchor to the rock, we'd switch belays, flake the rope and start the process all over again.

The view across Llyn Idwal from the base of the arete

Adam readies the rope

So, that's the technical aspect covered, now on to the actual route itself. As I mentioned, at grade 3, the Cneifion Arête is at the higher end of scrambling difficulty. It is very exposed in many places and has quite a tricky start.

Looking up the first pitch

The initial wall of the arête is the most technical part of the route - the crux - and perhaps warrants a climbing grade of moderate. That said, there are good holds and the rock quality is superb - much like the neighbouring Tryfan or Bristly Ridge. This wall tops out at a small ledge - a perfect location for some belaying. Here, an interesting chimney leads on to the arête proper.

Adam at the top of the first pitch

Scrambling the arête is technically easier than the initial wall, however, the exposure is pretty massive with big drops on either side. The photos just don't seem to do it justice. The line and difficulty can be varied but the best of any scrambling keeps to the right of the arête, over the spiky protrusions that line it. It's an awe-inspiring sight.

Ogwen and Nant Ffrancon from the arete

Looking down from the top of the first wall

The sharp crest of the arete - the highlight of the route

Proof I actually made it!

Adam atop the arete

Looking down from the final belay location

Y Gribin

Eventually, the steepness subsides and the arête terminates on a grassy shoulder below Y Gribin - you could continue your day out by scrambling up to Glyder Fach but it had taken us a couple of hours to complete the route and it was time to head back to the YHA in Ogwen.

Some atmospheric rope management

Tryfan seen over Cwm Bochlwyd

We descended across the 'football pitch' at the base on Y Gribin, a broad, flat-ish expanse of grass which. A pitched path leads towards Llyn Bochlwyd before we deviated off to make a slightly less glamourous descent to the shore of Llyn Ogwen, now basking in the late afternoon light. Once past the footbridge at the outlet to the lake, it was a quick descent back to the Youth Hostel where we were staying.

Descending back towards Idwal Cottage

Looking back up at Y Gribin

Llyn Idwal and the slabs once again

The Cneifion Arete

Tryfan

 This was a super outing which I really enjoyed. It makes a difference to hunting out and bagging peaks while the use of ropes and climbing equipment really adds a sense of occasion. Highly recommended!

The Bochlwyd Horseshoe

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Route: Tryfan North Ridge, Tryfan, Bwlch Tryfan, Bristly Ridge, Glyder Fach, Castell y Gwynt, Bwlch y Ddwy-Glyder, Y Gribin, Llyn Bochlwyd, Bochlwyd Buttress, A5

Date: 30/03/2019
From: A5 - Idwal Cottage

Parking: Laybys on A5
Start Point: Milestone Buttress
Region: Snowdonia

Route length: 5.3 miles (8.5 km)
Time taken: 07:50
Average speed: 1.0 mph
Ascent: 957m
Descent: 970m

Summits: Tryfan (917m), Glyder Fach (994m), Castell y Gwynt (972m)

Other points of interest: The Cannon, Bristly Ridge, The Cantilever, Y Gribin

The Bochlwyd Horseshoe is a full-day adventure; an almost non-stop scramble around the popular Glyderau. It includes all the popular scrambles of the range; Tryfan North Ridge, Tryfan South Ridge, Bristly Ridge and Y Gribin. It also has several of the classic north Wales photo ops; the Cannon, Adam and Eve and the Cantilever. I think it's fair to say this route is rivalled only by the Snowdon Horseshoe.

Pen yr Ole Wen

The sparkling Llyn Ogwen

While the distance is very short (around 5 miles) it's a tough day with hands on rock from almost the word go. We made our way from the youth hostel to the foot of the imposing Milestone Buttress, a popular haunt for climbers, home to a number of longer mountaineering routes if you are that way inclined. We would be heading the way most walkers tend to begin with, following the drystone wall from the car park before scaling a fairly obvious path that heads in an easterly direction, towards the north ridge.

The initial, bouldery climb from the roadside

Looking down on Llyn Ogwen

The east end of the Ogwen valley

Rounding the shoulder to gain the main ridge

The high Carneddau

We followed the path until we reached a heather-covered shoulder, an obvious landmark among a sea of rock. We were aiming to reach the crest of the ridge, the most direct and easy to follow line towards the summit. Here, a scree-strewn path starts to climb up and around a seemingly impenetrable wall of rock (no doubt experienced scramblers will enjoy finding their own way up) and before long, reaches a relatively flat area with a large cairn - an area supposedly known as Piccadilly Circus as it can get very busy.

The large cairn at Picadilly Circus

The north ridge leading to the Nose

Some modest walking through heather and rocks is required before we tackled a few more entertaining scrambles. As with most routes on Tryfan, they can be made as easy or difficult as you choose and many of the really challenging parts can be easily bypassed. After some more climbing, we found our way to the Cannon.

The Cannon is one of the icons of North Wales, a jutting slab of rock, visible from the valley floor which simply begs to be photographed, usually with someone teetering on the end of it.

Tryfan's famed Cannon

Easier walking above the Cannon

The route between the Cannon and the Nose is generally pretty straightforward and more of a walk than a scramble, though you can seek out the odd hands-on route I'm sure - it's a nice respite for the arms before the stiffer challenges ahead. On a clear day, the Nose will be a clear objective.

Tryfan's north ridge

Looking across to Y Garn and Foel Goch

The Nose

The Nose is an imposing pyramid of rock that bars the north ridge route. By far the best way is to tackle it head-on. Again, the main routes should be easy to pick out given the amount of polished rock. We opted for a slightly different line to avoid a queue forming though still remained around a scrambling grade of Grade 1 with the odd 2 thrown in for good measure. If you chose to bypass the nose, a path skirts to the left, cutting across the slopes and a number of gullies. I'd highly recommend you attempt to climb the first gully (the upper reaches of Nor Nor gully) to get back up onto the ridge before you find yourself on uncertain ground.

A line of people follow the easiest route up the Nose

The upper section of the Nose

Above the Nose

After the Nose, another flatter section beckons and leads to the North Tower. The North Tower is as you might expect, a tall tower of rock on the north ridge. The easiest route (which we took) heads to the right of the tower to make some easy scrambling up onto the ridge. The Tower can be attempted directly but the grading here is probably a high 2 and looks technically quite difficult.

The North Tower

The North Tower

The gully to the rear of the North Tower

Tryfan's summit from the top of the North Tower

Once up and over (or around) the tower, Tryfan's summit will present itself. After a brief notch in the ridge, the final scramble leads to the summit proper, marked by the two immense monoliths - Adam and Eve. To hop across the 1.2m gap between them is to gain the 'Freedom of Tryfan' and is perhaps more intimidating than it looks.

Tryfan's summit

Gaining the freedom of Tryfan

With no rain forecast but the clouds lowering, we made tracks towards Bristly Ridge where some more quality scrambling awaits. Descending Tryfan's south ridge is easy compared to the scramble up the north and we found our way down to Bwlch Tryfan. Bristly Ridge rises up overhead.

The start of the south ridge

Descending the south ridge

Bristly Ridge in the gloom

Approaching the foot of Bristly Ridge

The first challenge is getting up onto the ridge itself, achieved via one of two gullys; Sinister or Main Gully. While the name 'sinister' may not be overly appealing, it is, in fact, the easier of the two taking its name from the Latin for 'left' - it is the left-most gully of the two. You can identify it by the large, overhanging rock above it.

Climbing to the foot of Sinister Gully

Sinister Gully is a fairly straightforward climb, though steeper than any of the main routes on Tryfan. Again, there is an abundance of hand and footholds and the whole route shouldn't pose many problems to an experienced scrambler.

Sinister Gully

Looking down Sinister Gully

Sinister Gully led us onto Bristly Ridge itself where some easy walking is interspersed with some light scrambling. Don't let this fool you, however, the ridge is only just getting started. After clambering around some smaller pinnacles we reached the Great Pinnacle Gap, a deep notch in the ridge preceding an immense spire of rock. This is the crux of the ridge.

Heading along Bristly Ridge

Climbing towards the pinnacles

Great Pinnacle Gap

The platform in the pinnacle gap

Getting to the notch requires a tricky downclimb though, as ever, there are hand and footholds when you search them out. The downclimb leads to a fairly narrow, flat slab which can be lethally slippery when wet. Upon first inspection, the spire of the Great Pinnacle seems to block the onwards route, however, passing around to the right reveals a blocky gully which leads back up to the ridgeline

The Bristly Ridge pinnacles

The top of the pinnacles

After tackling the gap a final, steep scramble is required to finish Bristly Ridge. We emerged on the summit of Glyder Fach to some wavering sunshine, the layer of cloud was lifting at just the right time. An hour earlier and we'd have been right in the thick of it. We passed the famed Cantilever; a seemingly precariously balanced slab of rock that simply begs to be photographed, usually with people on it. Glyder Fach's summit is a short distance away but requires some additional scrambling to reach the very top.

Bristly Ridge

The end of Bristly Ridge

The Cantilever

The clouds begin to part

Looking back to the Cantilever

Pen yr Ole Wen appears across the valley

Glyder Fach's summit

After clambering round to the other side, a short flat section of the mountaintop leads to the odd Castell y Gwynt - a spiky rock protrusion at the end of the main Glyder Fach ridge. In some circles, it's classed as one of the Welsh 3,000s, reason enough for another short scramble through the spires to the top.

Castell y Gwynt

The route from Glyder Fach to Castell y Gwynt

Castell y Gwynt

Looking back to Glyder Fach

The clouds had all by broken by the time we had crossed Glyder Fach. Beyond Castell y Gwynt, the path crosses Bwlch y Ddwy-Glyder, skirts around the head of Cwm Bochlwyd and onto Y Gribin and further scrambling.

Bwlch y Ddwy-Glyder

Cwm Bochlwyd

Castell y Gwynt and Glyder Fach

Glyder Fach

Cwm Bochlwyd and Tryfan

The top of Y Gribin

The famed Cneifion arete

The football field at the foot of Y Gribin

Y Gribin is a narrow ridge that separates Cwm Bochlwyd and Cwn Cneifion / Cwm Idwal. The crest offers the best line, though a loose path avoids it if necessary. The main scramble doesn't last long, eventually petering out at a broad, flat, grassy area along the ridge - 'the football field'.

A perfect view of Bristly Ridge

Castell y Gwynt

Looking down Y Gribin

The football field as the cloud closes in once again

From the football field, we followed another path which descends firstly towards Llyn Bochlwyd before cutting across towards Llyn Idwal. By now the clouds had returned, shrouding the main summits in mist. We crossed some pathless ground until we reached the shore of Llyn Idwal. From here it's a simple stroll back to the hostel.

The path leading down from the football field

Llyn Idwal

Clouds swirl around Devils Kitchen

Llyn Idwal

A cloudy Tryfan

This is a truly sensational outing, one that will live long in the memory. In my opinion, the scrambling is just the right level of difficulty. Challenging enough to feel a real sense of achievement but not over the top for a typical walker like myself.