GET HIGH ON A MOUNTAIN RIDGE

The Brecon Beacons

Ridges are a true mountain-head’s favourite way to the top for a reason. The feeling of being the highest thing around, the thrill of the exposure with nothing but air either side is like nothing else, and it’s intoxicating. And Wales is crammed full of the things. Snowdonia’s gnarly dragon’s backs of Crib Goch, Tryfan and Bristly are all unashamed show-stoppers, but further south in the Brecon Beacons you’ll find a less arrogant proposition of edges.

The hills of south Wales aren’t friends with their northern rivals. While the likes of Snowdon bully their way into the limelight, aggressively touting for attention, snarling at anything that dares to step foot on its rock, the Beacons are quite content to save their magic for those willing to look a bit harder for it. They have nothing in common, their characters and attitudes are opposites, but if you’re looking for a friendlier way to do some ridgeline walking, a trip to the Brecon

Beacons is like reuniting with a longlost best mate. That’s not to say that they’re a walk in the park, or that these aren’t proper mountains. Far from it, the ridges of Pen y Fan are known for presenting the toughest challenge faced by SAS recruits in training.

But for those not carrying an 18kg Bergen and racing to finish, the emerald-green, serrated escarpments and cwms of the Brecon Beacon greats that gouge out a myriad of angled ways to the top reward those who look further than the obvious, with an experience that is guaranteed to satisfy any hillwalker.

Choose a ridge approach to Pen y Fan or combine two of them to make a horseshoe on p112 of this issue.