Ridge guide
Think this slice of Snowdonia looks like a straighforward climb? Think again.
On first acquaintance, the North Ridge of Tryfan looks like a fairly simple mountaineering challenge. From the road you can see its full length and although it is clearly fairly steep, it would appear to be a straight scramble up its crest. However, like all great mountain challenges all is not as it seems, and to tackle it is not just a case of swarming up it in a direct line. To succeed, you need to apply good route-finding technique and be able to make judgements on balancing commitment to risk with your standard of mountaineering skills. This is the great joy with a route like this: once you’re established on it, it takes on a whole different character and what looked like a clear crest from afar turns out to be a broad ridge with innumerable scrambling options. It’s a bit like playing vertical chess: sometimes, to progress, you have to take sideways moves, or even reverse moves and find alternative approaches. Overall, the North Ridge is given scrambling Grade 1 and, if you're careful, it’s relatively straightforward to stick to that grade. If you select harder lines you can easily get into top end scrambling territory or even rock-climbing ground.