Atmospheric scrambling on Tryfan's shattered western side.
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West Face, Tryfan -
Snowdonia
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Grade: 3
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One of only two routes up the
shattered west face of Tryfan between Milestone Buttress and
Bwlch Tryfan, and somewhere for those late summer
afternoons
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Equipment: Protection and ropes
advisable for the crux moves.
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Online Map link
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Views: 3
Technicality:2/3
Exposure: 3
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GIBBER FACTOR* 3/4
*out of
five.
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Overview One of only two routes up the shattered west face of
Tryfan between Milestone Buttress and Bwlch Tryfan, and somewhere for
those late summer afternoons. A less circuitous route than the nearby
Wrinkled Tower with a good start and finish, but a place to avoid in
wet weather.
Tryfan from near the top of Bristly Ridge
Approach As with most routes on Tryfan the ideal approach is
from the laybys on the A5 road below Milestone Buttress.
Continue past Milestone Buttress and Milestone Gully, then past
the next set of slabs and first main scree slope.
A second scree slope follows, more vegetated and falling into a
rock and heather channel. To the right of this a rib ends at a
scree-covered ledge from where the route starts..
Route From the right-hand corner of the ledge move onto the
rib and follow a line moving slightly left as you gain height.
The line then straightens despite initial appearances of being too
hard until after 150 ft easier ground beckons to the right.
Ignore this and instead move left onto a continuing rib
culminating in a series of solid blocks to a large slab.
On the route - Mycroft in action :-)
Take the heathery groove up the centre of the slab for 25 ft to
spikes then move left to an easier angled and vegetated slope. This
is the spot to rope up, if you haven't already, with the crux moves
ahead.
Precarious looking blocks on the left provide a route up, but more
appealing is a grassy tongue on the right.
The tongue narrows as you climb before a ledge to the left
provides an escape. Make a couple of exposed moves over blocks then
traverse left to emerge above the precarious blocks noted at the
start of this section.
Looking back towards the A5 and Llyn Ogwen
Ahead a delicate move leads to a 20ft wall which can be taken
directly or bypassed to either side. Either way leads to easier
ground to another pronounced rib.
Sunset Rib, provides some of the best scrambling of the whole
route and leads directly to the main Tryfan Ridge close to the Nose.
Descent The descent options from Tryfan's North Ridge are
essentially limited to the North Ridge itself down to Ogwen Valley,
or the South Ridge to Bwlch Tryfan and Llyn Bochlwyd.
For a complete day you can add the classic Bristly Ridge ascent
for a traverse of the Glyders and a descent via one of the many
routes back to Ogwen.
Caution Scrambling is
potentially dangerous and, particularly at the higher grades,
requires technical skills and equipment to minimise the risk. We
suggest that you take professional instruction or climb with an
experienced partner.
