UKC

walk/scramble down or abseil down?? havent been there before

In reply to The Iceman:

Walk/scramble down the South Ridge is probably the easiest, safest and most sensible.

Abseiling would be a hell of a faff, time consuming and probably quite dangerous...

In reply to shingsowa: thanks for that. ill go invest in a OS map for the area many thankies

In reply to The Iceman: Climbed Second Pinnacle Rib last month with my son.
We shared a rack and climbed with small sacks.From summit descend obvious path down South Ridge . At the col climb large stile in wall on LHS, and wind your way down down the valley (a selection of paths) to arrive at campsite by Little Tryfan. Took us about 1 1/2 hours - enjoy the views back up to the East face as you descend !
We climbed mid week to avoid the queues that are inevitable at weekends. Started approach at 8 AM- were climbing by 9:30- and had breakfast at top of first pitch.
Hope this helps- have a great day !

In reply to The Iceman:

Yup! 1:25,000 OS Map or the Harveys equivalent would be a VERY good idea...

In reply to shingsowa: I'm not sure- On Tryfan the choices are often so much micro nav that i have found the map not very useful. "round the left of the huge rock, or the right?"

In reply to The Iceman:
From the top, walk / scramble just to the west side of the south ridge to the col, over the wall using the stile and down the scree / boulder gully on the east side and turn left on to the path to go back to the road past little tryfan. Take your time on the scree and boulder slope and you'll be fine, I've done it with the mrs and kids (6 and 9) and we were fine.
Like the post above, I reckon a map's not much use on route, an eye for an easy way is much more use.

In reply to The Iceman: If it's particularly poor vis, you won't be able to easily identify the features on the descents - so, try the following for descending the S Ridge to Bwlch Tryfan:-

Stick to the broad crest of the S ridge in descent from the summit of Tryfan passing over the S Summit and then continue descending, turning obstacles easily but always returning to the crest.

The wall mentioned above is an excellent handrail feature but it does not begin until some way down the S Ridge.

The route descends to a low point by this wall where there is a stile and a very obvious eroded path approaching both sides of the wall (Bwlch Tryfan) - a further feature to help identify your position is that if you continue handrailing the wall you'll begin to make sustained progress upwards, this leads to Bristly Ridge.

As above, it is possible to find another stile which crosses the wall at a higher point but the Bwlch Tryfan descents via either Cwm Bochlwydd or Cwm Tryfan are easier to follow with a map if you are unfamiliar with the area. Enjoy!

In reply to The Iceman: Anyone climbed it today, what were the conditions like?

Hoping to do a few routes monday but forecast is looking grim

In reply to ojp: The way i always go down is the sw face ....standing with your back to the pinnacle stones look approx 45degrees right and easy scramble down to a good footpath which takes you back to ogwen cott (45minutes approx)

In reply to colina: It's very easy in poor vis to come unstuck on that face - literally.

In reply to Dee:


disagree there,as long as you dont venture to far right its reasonable ,would have to say though in poor vis its poss to come untuck on any descent on tryfan

In reply to colina: Not sure quite what you mean when you say you disagree about it being easy to come unstuck on that face in poor vis, because you also note that you shouldn't venture too far right - that's pretty difficult when making a descending rightwards traverse and you don't know the descent route - and yes, I've rescued folk who've made that very error on that face in poor vis.

In reply to The Iceman: hahaha i slipped walking down and nearly fell off a ledge (a good few metres drop) my legs went over and my brother grabbed my bag. it was snowy and dangerous so be carefull hahaha

In reply to colina: I go that way. Stick in the gully. If you get on steep ground traverse back, straight forwards, nav issues getting down any way on Tryfan, even the south ridge. I've done that in terrible weather/almost darkness and never had an issue.

The race was won this year in a little over 9 minutes (I think - not sure on the seconds) for the descent down that route, but at the base of the gully turn R and straight to the A5.

In reply to Dee: Hold on there is no rightwards traverse. Off the North ridge at the bwlch after 10-15 yards turn L, down the top slabby sections, into the gully proper, follow it down, hit scree, across that, bit steps follow steps to end of steps cut across to Ogwen.

Alternative way South Ridge > Bochlwyd. or South Ridge > cwm Tryfan.

All 3 are pretty easy and basically if you can't get down them you shouldn't be up there...

In reply to The Iceman: Abseil down the North Ridge is the norm.

In reply to IainRUK:

Hi Iain, you're accurately describing the descent via Western Gully - read the description of the descent from the summit that Colina gives:-
'standing with your back to the pinnacle stones look approx 45degrees right and easy scramble down to a good footpath which takes you back to ogwen cott (45minutes approx)'

Then imagine the mist and bad weather has rolled in and you're not familiar with Tryfan, are you certain - following Colina's description - that you might not cross Western Gully looking for a good footpath without realising it is Western Gully that is being referred to?



I'm probably being pedantic - nothing new there - but allow for this thread to turn up on a google search and I'd want accurate information to be available here.

In reply to Dee:

I came down South Ridge to Llyn Bochlywd. Helped a bloke who got stuck on a scrambley bit. That was the only 'difficulty' if I remember correctly.

In reply to Neil Kazimierz Sheridan:

Think this was the route http://twitpic.com/h4hfw

In reply to Dee: True the good path doesn't start until the base of the gully. Although with the race and increased use of the Paddy Buckley Route the descent down the gully is getting increasingly eroded.

In reply to Neil Kazimierz Sheridan: well i hope your right. your coming down with me!!! lol