Snowdon

This article is about the mountain. For Lord Snowdon, see Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon.

Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales. It is higher than any point in England. Its summit is known as Yr Wyddfa (Old Welsh: the grave/tomb). It is located in the Snowdonia National Park (Welsh: Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri) in the county of Gwynedd. The whole park is very popular with tourists, especially for hiking, and Snowdon is understandably one of the greatest attractions.

The Snowdon range has six long ridges: these are steep and rocky to the north and east; shallower and grassy, but wild and remote to the south and west. There are many cwms formed by glaciation in the ice age, some filled with lakes. Subsidiary summits include Garnedd Ugain (1,065 m), the knife-edge summit of Crib Goch (923 m), Y Lliwedd (898 m) and Yr Aran (747 m). Paths follows all the ridges, but the most popular route of ascent starts at Pen-y-Pass, at the top of the Llanberis Pass, follows an old miners' track past Llyn Llydaw to Glaslyn (Welsh: blue lake) and ascends in zig-zags to Bwlch Glas (blue pass). This Llanberis Path is also the path followed during the annual Snowdon Race (Welsh: Râs Yr Wyddfa).

A popular route for the more energetic is the Snowdon Horseshoe which involves starting from Pen-y-Pass and following the ridge over the summit of Crib Goch, on to Snowdon itself and then over the summit of Y Lliwedd before returning to the starting point.

For those who do not wish to walk, or to walk one way only, the Snowdon Mountain Railway (a rack railway) runs from Llanberis to the top. A restaurant and shop can be found at the top station, just below the summit (selling, amongst other things, "I Climbed Snowdon" T-shirts).

The many steep cliffs in the Snowdon range are significant in the history of British rock climbing. The first recorded climb in the area was the 1798 ascent of the Eastern Terrace of Clogwyn Du'r Arddu (the black cliff of the plough) by the Reverends Peter Williams and W. Bingley, botanists looking for alpine plants. The north face of Y Lliwedd was explored in the late 19th century and in 1909 was the subject of the first British climbing guide, The climbs on Lliwedd by J. M. A. Thompson and A. W. Andrews. Also, Edmund Hillary trained for his climb at Mount Everest

View from the summit of Snowdon, looking east over Llyn Llydaw.

Snowdon is one of three British mountains climbed as part of the (National) Three Peaks Challenge.

External links

• Snowdon from Llyn Nantlle (c.1765) by Richard Wilson (painter)
• Webcams at Snowdon Weather Stations Project
• Snowdon Route Walking Guide at Snowdon.com
• Google maps of Snowdon