Winter Mountaineering on Glyder Fawr, Snowdonia

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

You must bring an ice axe. Crampons/microspikes are optional, an axe is essential.

THIS IS NOT A WINTER WALKING EVENT. It will be a bona fide mountaineering exercise with a fair amount of technical scrambling on rock, snow and ice.

Route: Glyder Fawr via Y Gribin Ridge

Meet at: Tryfan car park on the A5 just West of Tryfan and Milestone Buttress and on the same side of the road. OS map reference SH663603. As an environmentally conscious group, we actively encourage car sharing. Further details of car sharing arrangements from Sheffield, Manchester and elsewhere will appear in the comments section nearer the time.

Get 2026 off to a flying start with a winter ascent of an iconic 1,000 metre high Welsh mountain. Towering above the cwms of Bochlwyd and Idwal, Glyder Fawr is the highest mountain on the south side of the Ogwen Valley. It is well known for its moonscape like summit plateau and on a clear day it gives spectacular views of Crib Goch and Snowdon to the south and Tryfan and the Carneddau to the north. Our route of ascent will be via Y Gribin Ridge, a long clean rocky spur with a smidgen of exposure (avoidable if preferred) and some exciting positions. The route leads all the way to the summit plateau and provides plenty entertainment in winter conditions.

The full day will include a short steep walk in to Llyn Bochclwyd from where we will make a Grade I winter ascent of Y Gribin Ridge followed by a crossing of the plateau to take us to the summit of Glyder Fawr, we will then descend steep scree slopes to Llyn Y Cwn and continue on down the Devils Kitchen path with a little easy scrambling before passing the famous Idwal Slabs and the placid shores of Llyn Idwal on the way back to the car park.

Photos of our previous winter ascent of Glyder Fawr via Y Gribin Ridge can be seen here:

https://www.meetup.com/sheffield-mountaineering-rock-climbing-meet/photos/34045026/

Difficulty: Grade I winter climbing (suitable for beginner/novice winter climbers). For more information on winter climbing grades see:

https://www.thebmc.co.uk/winter-climbing-grades

Experience Required: No previous winter climbing experience required however some previous mountain scrambling experience is essential.

Duration: Approx. 8 km with height gain of approx. 800 metres. Estimated time 5 to 6 hours.

Ordnance Survey Map: OS 115 Snowdon/Yr Wyddfa 1:50,000 scale.

Guidebooks: Scrambles in Snowdonia published by Cicerone Press, Scrambles & Easy Climbs in Snowdonia published by Grey Stone Books.

Accommodation: For anybody who wants to make a weekend of it, we can make the following recommendations:

Gwern Gof Isaf campsite: https://gwerngofisaf.co.uk/

Idwal Cottage Hostel: https://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/yha-idwal-cottage

Snowdonia Mountain Lodge: https://www.snowdoniamountainlodge.com/

As always, if everybody wants to contribute £2.00 towards our Meet Up site fees and other operating costs that will be great, thanks.