One of the few British mountains you genuinely can't walk up, whichever way you choose
Open accesson open access land, where the right to roam applies
Tryfan stands apart from most of the Eryri skyline for one simple reason: there’s no route to its 918-metre summit that doesn’t involve using your hands. Every line up it, from the popular North Ridge to the scrambles on its flanks, asks for a bit of proper scrambling rather than just walking with steep bits, which is exactly why it’s so well loved by people who want their hillwalking with a bit of an edge.
Part of the reason it grips so well underfoot is what it’s made of. Tryfan and its neighbour Glyder Fach are built from old volcanic rock, ash and lava laid down when this part of Wales sat under seas full of erupting volcanoes hundreds of millions of years ago. Solidified ash makes a rougher, grippier surface than the smoother sedimentary rock found on plenty of other British hills, and that’s most of the reason scrambling here feels so secure under boot and hand.
The summit carries two upright blocks known as Adam and Eve, and there’s a long tradition of stepping, or for the braver, leaping, between them to earn the “freedom of Tryfan.” It’s entirely optional: the drop either side is real and it has caught people out, so it’s a call for a dry day, good balance and a clear head rather than something to feel obliged to attempt.
Pen y Gwryd, a well-known mountaineering base to the south, makes a sensible start or finish point. Snowdonia weather turns fast, and wet rock changes the whole character of a scramble like this, so a fine forecast isn’t a nice-to-have here, it’s the difference between a scramble and a genuine hazard, and conditions underfoot are worth a realistic look before setting off.
More at hill-bagging.co.uk
