Читать книгу Great Mountain Days in Snowdonia. 40 classic routes exploring Snowdonia онлайн

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The north face of Y Lliwedd was explored in the late 19th century, and in 1909 became the subject of one of the first British climbing guides, The Climbs on Lliwedd by J M A Thompson and A W Andrews. The testing nature of Snowdon’s wall is testified to by the fact that Edmund Hillary trained here in preparation for his successful ascent of Everest in 1953.

Amazingly, for all its trampled ways, Snowdon remains an impressive mountain, with a menu of ascents to suit all abilities and dispositions, and although, as Pennant observed ‘It is very rare that the traveller gets a proper day to ascend the hill’, when perfect days do come, the extent of view is remarkable, reaching as far as the hills of southern Scotland.

Overshadowed somewhat by the mountains that radiate from Snowdon, those of the Moel Eilio range to the north-west have the advantage of solitude, which has merit, especially on a fine summer’s day, that should not be undervalued. Lying near to Llanberis, the four grassy summits comprising this group present splendid views of Mynydd Mawr across Llyn Cwellyn, the Nantlle ridge and of the sombre precipices of Clogwyn Du’r Arddu. The complete round of the four summits is no mean undertaking, and a perfect antidote to the much-trammelled hills close by.