Inquest Hears Guidebook Is Misleading

Information given in a guidebook was described as 'misleading' at the inquest last week into the death of a man who died on Tryfan while referring to the book.

Christopher Parratt, 32, died after falling around 25 metres while descending the mountain on wet and slippery rock in cloudy conditions. The mountain is notoriously tricky in descent, particularly on the north side where the ground is very broken and it's hard to pick a safe line from above.

The book, Walks in the Snowdonia Mountains by Don Hinson has a chapter titled 'Tryfan The Easy Way', but a member of the Ogwen MRT told the hearing that:

"It is a serious mountain, a mountaineering mountain, and there are no paths on it. The title 'Tryfan The Easy Way' is extremely misleading and gives a false representation." He also said a map accompanying the chapter was misleading and hard to follow.

The publishers of the book say they are reviewing the content and have written to the author with a view to clarifying the section on the mountain. Of course it's easy to be judgemental either way, but if there's a general lesson here, it's that you should always be wary of taking guidebook advice at face value.

Often it's not until you've used a guide several times that you get a feel for the level at which it's pitched. Many experienced mountain walkers, for example, would view a descent on the south side of the mountain as relatively straightforward, if broken.

Full story at news.bbc.co.uk