UKC

I’m a reasonably competent climber, and I have previously lead icefalls, winter routes, trad routes single pitch and in the Alps, etc.
Next weekend we are planning to go to Snowdonia with a mate who’s a competent hill walker, has done some high altitude hiking as well as scrambling, but has never lead.
Initially I was thinking of doing the Snowdon Horseshoe as it’s meant to be the best hill walk in the area, and I’m assuming that we won’t need any protection (friends, nuts) for that, even in February (?)
Also perhaps you could recommend a scramble, or a hill walk with some scrambling sections, so that both of us could have a good day out with me leading a few scrambling/easy climbing (Diff maximum, or winter I-II) pitches placing gear, and my friend learning the basics of handling trad gear etc?

In reply to alps_p: No protection for the horseshoe normally.. but in feb it can be anything.. it gets stripped fast.

With needing to rope? North ridge of Tryfan followed by bristly ridge..

or make a step up and do Dolmen ridge.. Dolmen is easy but has one nasty pitch.. its 2/3 I think, but for some reason the pitch hit me and I had to lead it as a pitch.. once you took it seriously it was simple climbing, but we were expecting to move together, almost running up the route..

In reply to alps_p: Tryfan north ridge would be a good route. Its a grade 1 scramble but you can make it as hard or easy as you want. If your friend is feeling happy you could then do Bristley Ridge then over the Glyders and either go over Y Garn or descend via Devils kitchen.

In reply to IainRUK: For these routes, will we need crampons (I only have step-in crampons so would need my big alpine boots for that) or hill boots will be OK?

In reply to alps_p:

Bethesda - Grib lem (on carnedd dafydds n.eastern side) - Carnedd Llewelyn - Concrete road - Ogwen valley - Bethesda via bus/hitch

Good - a better version of tryfans n.ridge, and not many people at all.

In reply to alps_p: I second tryfan ,bristly ridge.a great day out but not to
be taken lightly in this weather

As far as know Tryfan should be ok without crampons at the moment...Bristly Ridge holds some frozen snow so I would advice winter kit...Snowdon,. Crib Goch see this link give you some idea about present condition there youtube.com/watch?v=w1QdKfuZl1U&

In reply to alps_p:
At the harder end of what you're looking at, consider the Clogwyn Y Person Arere, possibly with the diff start, or the utterly brilliant Cneifion Arete.

In reply to alps_p: Tryfan has to be the obvious choice, it is technically more interesting then a the horseshoe* and can be varied to introduce as much climbing as required, particularly if you climb one of the routes on the milestone buttress to gain the ridge. The only downside to Tryfan is that it is a pure scramble without much hill walking in between, so it might not hot the mark for your friend if he was hoping for more of a walking experience.


*although the horsehoe should not be dismissed as a tourist path, it's a stunning route albeit technically easy for anyone with climbing or scrambling experience. I was pleasantly surprised when I did it.

In reply to alps_p:

Another vote for crib lem. Tryfan is just a pile of blocks and rather monotonous.

In reply to Tim Davies: thanks everyone for replies.

In reply to alps_p: How about Cneifion Arete? No idea what conditions in N Wales are like at the moment, but if there isn't much snow / ice, the start involves a pitch of Diff and then it is a jolly rock scramble to the top. Not quite a day out, but certainly a good hours worth.

In reply to EeeByGum: this might be too late but... I did Tryfan North Ridge yesterday and although there was very little snow apparent from the bottom, towards the top (from the plateau where the Bastow Buttress meets the ridge) compacted snow and ice cut down the options available. I've done it, and Crib Goch in the summer and his was very different!