UKC

Done them both but years ago.

How do they compare in terms of technicality and exposure?

I just can't remember.

AT

In reply to An Triubhas: I thought Bristly Ridge was a little harder, more exposed and twice as good.

In reply to Cheese Monkey:
agree - the lack of easy escapes and obvious line make it a far better route

In reply to Dr.S at work:

Better to bypass tryfan and go straight to Bristly?

In reply to Dr.S at work: I agree - bristly is much better all round I would say (apart from the scree gully approach).

In reply to An Triubhas: It would be a pretty short day just doing bristly, if I were going again I would do both, especially if my partner hadn't done them before.

In reply to LJC:

Thanks.

My partner hasn't done either. Suppose can start and do tryfan and carry on to do Bristly if all goes well

In reply to An Triubhas: The north ridge of Tryfan, Bristly Ridge and down the Gribin is one of the best trips south of the highlands. All differently excellent.

T.

In reply to Pursued by a bear:

But is the entire circuit recommended for someone who has not done any scrambling but has done indoor climbing, definitely has a head for heights and is fit?

In reply to An Triubhas:

In a word yes.

Starting on Tryfan North Ridge means you can judge how well they will cope with Bristly Ridge.

In reply to Trevers:

Perfect. That is the answer I wanted : )

In reply to An Triubhas:

If fit, do both no question. Tryfan superb in own right and I say that as a bit of a crag rat nowadays (did Tryfan, again, in the hot weather - superb). Have done both in ell weathers. I actually prefer the Tryfan scramble but it is less serious and ending up on the Glyder plateau after Bristly is great.

In reply to Skyfall:

Thanking you.

What is the decent of Y Gribin like?

In reply to An Triubhas:

If you've still got it in you, come down the Gribin Ridge.

Another nice day is to go up past lake Idwal and the slabs, up the ramp and onto Y Gribin and down the Gribin Ridge. Less scrambling but great scenery.

In reply to Skyfall:

Where is Gribin in relation to Y Gribin?

There is a new detour on the North ridge that cuts out some of the technical difficulty.
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/101445307@N05/9862442463/

In reply to An Triubhas:

Comes down between Idwal and Tryfan - can turn either way after you come off the ridge. Nice.

In reply to An Triubhas:

There's a few tricky steps where you have to down-scramble with care but same would go for any grade 1 scramble on the way down. It's wide enough that you can pick your own route, but sticking to the crest gives some nice exposure! Be wary of loose holds and scree, but again if you can get up BR fine you'll be alright coming down.

In reply to Trevers:

its easier than the descent from tryfan (south ridge) i would say?

I'd echo others comments - if your partner has used up all of their moral capital on tryfan, then skip bristly, but if they are gagging for more bash on!

In reply to An Triubhas: getting down Y Gribin is pretty straightforward, a few grade 1 downclimbs but you can usually move left and get on a zig-zag path beside the true ridge.

Finding the start of Y Gribin can be hard if there is poor visibility though, and take care picking the right route after the end of Y Gribin as there are different options and you don't want to head too far west.

By the way in the wet I'd say Bristly gets proportionally harder than Tryfan North Ridge, and there's a couple of exposed moves high on Bristly that can be worrying in the wet(the move across the head of the gully and to get up to the ?Great Tower), although if they've coped well with descending into The Notch they should be fine.

In reply to Pursued by a bear:

You can make it even better if you come down Y Gribin then detour off the path at the Football Pitch and down-scramble the False Gribin to extend the scrambling even further.

In reply to Mike Peacock:


Agreed. Or even better by downclimbing Cneifon Arete (not recommended unless you are both experienced climbers) and then scramble down under the side of the Idwal slabs, or back up by Senior's Ridge and over to Y Garn and down that.

In reply to Cheese Monkey:

That's really a climbers perspective. Most newbies would be more impressed with the scale of Tyrfan and the pointy summit. You can chose your difficulty and take harder variants if they scramble too well.

In reply to An Triubhas: bristly ridge is much better than tryfan but done together It's a brilliant trip, combined with y gribin is an awesome day for the average scrambler.

In reply to Offwidth:

Disagree - I did both before I really started climbing and found that Bristly Ridge was a much more exciting experience - there's a lot more "mountaineering" feeling, in that you're trying to pick the easiest line up the ridge rather than trying to find bits of rock to play on in between the walking.

Otherwise I'd agree with what a lot of other people have said - Bristly Ridge is more serious and potentially scary, but if someone takes the North Ridge of Tryfan in their stride with no major wobbles then they ought to survive Bristly Ridge as well.

In reply to An Triubhas:

North Ridge has a lot of variants and IIRCC there is a steep exposed wall just below the howitzer and on the east side of the ridge, which can become frightningly serious to an inexperienced scrambler straying onto it. A friend, who is a surgeon, has sworn life time gratitude to me for "saving his life" when he became cragbound there.....

There is a bit right at the top of Bristly Ridge gully which has loose rock which is going to come away one day, probably with tragic consequences, so take care here because it's exposed and it's difficult to avoid pulling on them.

In reply to An Triubhas:

Several times I've done the N Ridge of Tryfan, followed by the Bristly Ridge, then down the spur opposite the east face of Tryfan. Makes a nice, natural feeling circuit. Can't remember there being much difference in standard between the two.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

To my mind the difference between the two is the Great Pinnacle Gap on Bristly ridge. I have seen a few people bordering on cragfast at this point due to the exposure even though it is relatively straight forward in terms of technical difficulty. This is the only point I might think about deploying a confidence rope for a novice but it shouldn't pose too much difficulty for anyone with a head for heights.

In reply to Pursued by a bear:

I did exactly that when I was new to scrambling and climbing and not actually very fit. Was a great day out.

In reply to hokkyokusei: ... and here's a UKH Route card that describes it: http://www.ukhillwalking.com/logbook/r/?i=76

In reply to Trangia:
It's always difficult to recommend scrambles to people, precisely because people start from such vastly different places. Some people are used to exposed walking routes or climb trees at the slightest provocation or whatever, others get nervous if they have to put hand to rock or if there's steep ground within a hundred yards. (I was probably closer to the latter than the former when I started out, before anyone accuses me of snobbery!) So what's terrifying for one beginner can be boring for another.

That said, the north ridge of Tryfan is normally a fair bet for a moderately fit and confident beginner. It's reasonably back-offable with the difficulties in short sections and (IIRC) not over massive drops.

In reply to An Triubhas:

I agree with most thats been said do both....and choose your way down depending on how the team feels....great mountain day out

In reply to An Triubhas:

A couple of years ago I woke up with a hangover and didn't get out of the Glan Dena hut across the road until 10.30 AM on a mid February Saturday. Did the North ridge, over the top of Tryfan, down the other end to the saddle, then across to Bristly ridge, up that to the top of Glyder Fach, got a photo of the cantilever stone and summit pile and then went back down via Caseg Fraith. Back in the hut at 5 pm. I'm a 15 a day smoker, get out in the hills about 3 or 4 times a year, had a hangover, but do climb indoors and have a head for heights. If your mate is fit and comfortable soloing with a little bit of exposure and has you as a guide, they should cruise it and have a cracking day out.

In reply to An Triubhas: a lot of this has been said before:

Bristly Ridge is a little bit harder than North Ridge. But in my opinion ( which contradicts some of the earlier posters ) the most difficult and scary section is at the start of the route, rather than at great pinnacle gap.

You get onto the ridge via one of two gullies (sinister on the left or main gully on the right iirc), and despite the name I think sinister is the easier one ( maybe named after latin for left? ).

I found this the hardest part of bristly ridge, so if your partner can manage the gully, the rest should pose no problem. Hope this helps.

Descending Y Gribin is a formality, really nothing to worry about there.

Enjoy

In reply to An Triubhas:
I was once a member of a university Fell Club group who did Tryfan + Bristly. Five members of the group had absolutely zero walking or climbing experience of any kind beyond walking into UEA campus from their student digs. Everyone was fine and had a great time - and this was in November with frost and verglas on the rocks.

In reply to An Triubhas:
just done them both again last weekend before routing down to do Cneifron Arete. Tryfan and the Bristles are superb and if you go off route a little then you can find more adventurous climbing/scrambling. Certainly the link up gully is sweet to do. I did remember one ''stand alone'' bristle that if you climb it then it looks like an abseil off the top or very tricky precarious down climb some 8m thereabouts.Enjoy