The Glyders, Snowdonia

The Glyders - Snowdonia - North Wales

After the recent positive feedback on my Ben Alder review I thought it would be good to share a few more of my walking experiences. So first up it’s the turn of the Glyders. I want to tell you a little bit about these mountains, what makes them so unique and exactly what to expect if you give them a visit. I will tell you my personal experience of these mountains and how they made me feel and by doing this I will hopefully give you an idea of what they have to offer.

What Are The Glyders?

Well as you have probably worked out, the Glyders are mountains. Three mountains to be precise. This mini range is made up of Tryfan, Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr. These three peaks are of special significance as they are all above 3000ft and make up some of the highest peaks in Wales. The highest peak Glyder Fawr sits at 3278ft and is Wales’ third highest mountain. The range is in North Wales in the Snowdonia national park. The word Glyder in Welsh translates as ‘heap of stones’ and when you see these mountains you can understand the reference. Some mountains are rounded and tame, these mountains are the opposite. Jagged rocks and sheer cliffs makes the Glyders an exciting playground for climbers and thrill seekers alike.

The mountains sit in pride of place wedged between the Snowdon range and The Carnedd range. The mountains are in an area of outstanding natural beauty and are surrounded my stunning mountains, lakes and valleys. The nearest town is Bethesda which sits on the A5 road that runs up through the mountains. This is the most popular side of the mountains and where most people tackle them from. However you can also go up the A4086 through Llanberis and tackle the range from this side.

Personal Experiences

I have been up into the Glyders twice. I once went up with a friend in the summer months on a wonderful hot and clear day. One this occasion we tackled all three mountains and had a great day out. The other time we went up was in the winter on a cold day with high broken cloud. On this occasion we did not have time to do all three mountains and just stuck to two. As I have been up twice I think I have a great knowledge of these mountains and really know how to get the best out of them. So I am going to now tell you what in my opinion is the best route for these mountains and how to get the most our of them.

Humble Beginnings

From where I live in the North-West of England it’s a three hour drive to the mountain. We break the trip up by stopping for breakfast on the way down, for some reason we always seem to settle for Little Chef which is generally a mistake as the food is nasty and the coffee should really not be legal! A word of advice, if you have the time, head for Llanberis and visit Pete’s Eats. Supposedly the best café in Britain and they do a simply stunning breakfast that will set you up for a day in the mountains. Anyway, after our visit to Little Chef or Little Thief as we now call it, we headed up into the mountains. The drive up there is really spectacular as you climb the valley. Even if you are not up to taking on these peaks, it’s a great place to drive through with some truly inspirational views along the way.

On both occasions we climbed the mountain we parked at the head of the Llyn Ogwen lake. The little hamlet is called Pen-y-benglog and here there is a nice little car park with toilets and a small youth hostel. There is also a little café where you can buy refreshments from if for any reason you are running low. The car park does tend to fill up quite quickly so if you want a space you need to get there early. If you do find the car park full there is plenty of parking to be found further up the A5 road itself.

As me and my friend Tom got out of the car we noticed that you really can’t see much from the carpark. Despite being surrounded by jagged peaks they are all hidden at the start of the walk. This kind of lulls you into a false sense of security for the coming struggle. As we set off from the carpark we knew we first had a walk of around a mile along the A5. This is not a nice walk as it’s on a busy road, but it’s an easy way to get into your stride and break your boots in for the day. As we walked along the road with the lake to our left we admired the impressive mountain scenery all around, this was going to be a good day!

Hands Needed For This One

After our trek along the road we turned right to head up our first peak. From here you are looking almost straight up! The imposing Tryfan was our first challenge. We did this peak on the summers day, we missed this one out when it was winter as it represents a much greater challenge in winter conditions. So with the hot sun beating down on us we made our way up. The walking here is great, for the first half of the mountain it’s all rock and slabs, not to difficult but enjoyable as it’s not just a trudge up a path. We gained height very quickly and were soon towering above the valley below.

After you have gained about a thousand feet there is something to look out for. The Cannon rock is one of the most distinctive features of the mountain. It’s basically a big rock that sticks out at 45 degrees and looks like a cannon. It’s not always easy to spot but if you keep your eyes out you should come across it. We went over and sat on top of the Cannon and admired the views for a few minutes while we caught out breathe. From this point things get interesting.

The second half of the walk is not really a walk. It’s a full on scramble. This basically means you will have to use your hands. It’s not quite rock climbing and in good conditions most people should be Ok getting up here. However, a word of warning, care must be taken in route finding. There is often no clear path and you can find yourself in a dangerous spot. Here is an example of what can go wrong. On this hot day me and my friend were sweating away, we had just shorts and T-shirts on but even that was to warm. So we had decided to loose the tops and don the sun cream. So after we had applied our cream we carried on. We seemed to be heading into steeper ground. I was leading with Tom behind and then a few other lads had decided we looked as if we knew what we were doing so started following us.

After a few tricky spots I came to a massive slab of rock. I could see no way around other than going back down. The slab was about ten feet high and I could get a decent foothold a few feet up. So I put my feet up and then flung myself up, all I needed was a hand hold to pull myself up. Something I’ve done many times before and was not to worried about. However as I hauled myself up and threw a hand out all I felt was smooth bear rock, my hands were slippery from the sun cream and I could get no grip anywhere. I could simply not hold on and felt myself falling backwards. This was it! The end! The drop behind me was not straight down, but there was nothing to stop my tumble down the mountain side, falling backwards I would have no chance, if I didn’t die I was going to be spending a lot of time in hospital! My entire life flashed before my eyes and time seemed to slow. As I went into free fall something hit me hard. It was Tom! He had thrown himself across and pinned me to the rock. I have no idea how we both held on, but somehow we did. It was like a scene from Cliff-hanger. I clung there battered and bruised and wondered if my friend had just saved my life!

The lads who were behind us seemed more shocked than us. They had seen me fall and were convinced it was curtains. As we headed back down to get round the slab, one of the lads decided he wanted to go back down as it was getting to intense. Ironically he seemed in more shock than I did. Anyway we left them to find there own way and went to find a safer route up the mountain.

Our First Summit

An hour later we were on top of Tryfan. The going had been tricky but after our little incident we had had no major problems. Now we stood in the bright sunshine admiring the views. As this was a Saturday afternoon the top was quite busy. There must have been a good twenty people up there and to be honest this is probably the only down side of these mountains. It’s not like Scotland where you can walk for hours and see nobody, in Wales on a weekend the peaks do tend to have lots of visitors.

Although Tryfan is the smallest peak of the three, for me it is the most impressive. Sitting at 3002ft this jagged peak represents a real achievement to all who conquer it as it’s the only one of the Welsh three thousanders that demands a scramble. On the top of Tryfan sit the famous Adam & Eve stones. These are two three meter high standing stones which are visible for miles around. The rocks are 1.2 meters apart and each visitor is supposed to try the ‘leap of faith’ between the two rocks. There is a foot hold on Eve and when on top you jump to Adam, there is quite a drop off the far side of Adam so if you don’t have a head for heights this is not for you. All those who make the jump are said to gain ‘The Freedom of Tryfan’. Tom went up and did the jump, although he wobbled a bit he landed safely. I would usually give it a go, but due to my earlier fall I was not feeling overly confident and had already found my legs were shaking enough without trying this.

Top Of The World

After taking his leap of faith we found a comfy rock to eat our lunch. I noticed that my hands were shaking and I could not stop them. I was slightly concerned I was going to suffer delayed shock but decided not to worry about. I discovered the best thing for shock is cheese butties! After a couple of these and a hearty Scotch egg I was feeling much better. We spent about twenty minutes enjoying the views and recovering our strength for the next leg of our walk, we packed away our drinks and headed down the other side of Tryfan. Again it’s a hands on job and you have to watch your step. But this time we managed to get down without any major incidents. You only drop down about 300ft here and then you join the main ridge that takes you up to the summit of Glyder Fach.

The walk we did on the winter day joins the path here. We had missed out Tryfan as it was very icy underfoot and we did not want to risk the dangerous scramble in icy conditions, so we used a path that climbs up between Tryfan and Glyder Fach that easily takes you onto the summit ridge. If you think Tryfan is going to be to much of a challenge then this is a good option for you.

From this point the walking becomes a lot easier. A clear path winds it’s way up to the summit. Even though it’s easy walking the summit is still very spectacular. Giant boulders litter the area and it looks as though two giants have recently engaged in a rock fight. There are some bizarre rock formations, the most famous of these being the Cantilever. A rock that sticks out like a plank on a ship, there are some great photo opportunities on a clear day as long as you have a good head for heights. From here the views over to Snowdon are marvellous and on a clear day you can see all the way out to the sea.

After playing around on the rocks for a while it was time to tackle our third and final peak. Glyder Fawr is another interesting peak, it lacks the jagged rocks and massive boulders but still has a very unique feel to it. The summit area reminds me of what I think the moon looks like. It’s a very strange place and it always strikes me at how different it is to the other two summits. This is one of the big pulls of the Glyders, they are all so different and have their own unique personalities. After reaching our final summit and spending a while cooling down in the afternoon sunshine, it was time to finally head down. After spending the last two hours so high up it almost felt like an anti climax descending back into the valley. However we still had one more spectacle to behold.

The Devil’s Kitchen

From the top of Glyder Fawr you have two options. You can either continue along the ridge and go up another smaller and less well known peak, or you can do we what did and most other walkers do, head down. To do this you take the left path and descend into Twill y Du or as it is more colourfully known, ‘The Devil’s Kitchen’. As you come down you have to be careful to stick to the path, there are dangerous cliffs in this area and straying far from the path can be very dangerous. The path follows a steep slope down off the ridge and must be tackled with care. In wet or icy conditions it is particularly tricky and you have to really watch your step. Always remember that more people injure themselves coming down mountains that they do going up.

After about half an hour of picking our way down through the massive boulders and cliffs that surrounded us, we reached the valley floor. Make sure at this point you turn round and look where you have come from! You are now in a massive cauldron like arena. From this vantage point you can see why it’s called the Devil’s Kitchen and from the bottom it looks as though it’s impossible to negotiate the cliffs, but as you look back you feel proud that you just have descended those cliffs!

From here the walk suddenly becomes very pleasant. There is a nice little lake or tarn that you walk past and on our hot sunny day the breeze coming off this was pure bliss. The path is now smooth and easy to walk on and it’s about a mile before you start heading down to the car park. At this point in the walk I noticed there were lots of families and older people out enjoying the late afternoon sun beside the lake. I was seriously hoping they had not just taken on the walk that we had or it would have rather taken the sheen of our achievement.

Half an hour later we trudged into the car park, we were tired, thirsty and a little bit sunburnt. For the last twenty minutes I had been tortured by the sight of young children licking ice creams as they ran past me. I had resisted the temptation to mug one of the little show offs as I decided being arrested for stealing ice cream off a little girl would not have ended our day well. But back near the cars we were rewarded for our patience and went and bought two each! The ice cream here is home made and I have to say possibly the best ice cream I have ever tasted, although this may have been due to the circumstances more than the actual product itself.

As we sank down into the car we reflected on our adventure. It had been a really good walk. Although it was only eight miles, which for us is relatively short, it was a real challenge. Some serious scrambling and three peaks for the price of one really is impressive for such a short walk. Now we decided we need to go and find a decent pub to have a nice cold beer.

To finish off our day we drove to Llanberis. It is a little bit out of the way but does offer more places to eat and drink than Bethesda. We settled on an Indian and Tom reminded me it was my round, apparently saving someone‘s life has it‘s perks! We enjoyed our curries and were impressed with the Indian. Lucky for me it was Tom’s turn to drive for this trip so I downed a few more Cobras, an excellent Indian beer, and then I was ready to fell asleep on the way home. What did I dream of I hear you ask….. Falling!

Go On, Give It A Try

If reading this had inspired you to have a go at these mountains then there are a few things you have to be aware of. If you want to tackle all three then you have to be aware of the dangers of Tryfan. As I found out it’s a very dangerous mountain. Anyone with walking experience should be fine in good conditions as long as they are careful. However in wet, windy or icy conditions this is a whole different proposition. There are some really exposed areas on the walk and it would be wise to use a rope in some places. If you want to try this and have no experience of scrambling then it would be a good idea to take someone with you who is experienced and knows what they are doing.

You also have the option of missing out Tryfan. The other two Glyders are still an excellent experience and offer some of the countries best walking. You need to make sure you have a decent pair of walking boots and some reasonable walking gear as this is still a tough walk. You don’t have to be super fit to tackle these mountains but you do need fitness of a certain level. You don’t want to be having to call out mountain rescue from the top of the ridge. You also need a map and the skills to use it. Although in good conditions navigation in the Glyders is pretty easy, if the mist comes down it can be an entirely different story.

My review is not meant to be a guide to the route, it’s meant to give you an idea of the best way to go and give you a feel for the walk. If you do want to take this on there are sites on the internet that can give you detailed routes and provide you with maps, so it would be wise to check these before you venture out into the hills.

Final Conclusions

Over the years I have done many mountains all over the UK. If you are wanting to visit Wales I would say this is the best walk you can do. Mount Snowdon tends to get more visitors simply because it’s the highest mountain, but for me the Glyders have something a little bit special. There is so much to enjoy while walking in these mountains and there always seems to be something different. I have heard the Glyders called ‘Blockbuster Mountains’ and I can understand why as they are just so impressive. There are some wonderful photo opportunities and every where you look there is something of interest.

I think I enjoyed the walk we did in the summer more. Despite my fall which I must admit shook me up a bit, the inclusion of Tryfan really added something to the walk. The other two mountains are excellent but Tryfan just stands out as something slightly special. I loved the Devil’s Kitchen as usually when you are coming down the mountain you don’t tend to enjoy it as much. But this was a really spectacular way to finish off the walk and a great place to see.

The mountains are also very accessible. There are nice easy roads that run straight past the foot of the mountains so there are no soul destroying walk ins to worry about. The facilities in the car park were also excellent with nice toilets that were clean and have always been open when I have visited.

So I am hoping that my experience has inspired you to go out and give something like this a go. I understand it’s not for everyone, but even if you can’t climb these wonderful mountains you can still drive through the valleys and admire the spectacular scenery of Snowdonia. Either way I recommend getting yourself to North Wales and taking full advantage of the Glyders. They truly are Blockbuster Mountains!