The Snowdonia 3000 footers

This is the classic long distance mountain round of North Wales traversing the 15 principal summits of Snowdon, the Glyders and Carneddau. I have done it myself in a day and with clients over 2 days and both are fairly logical. On a traverse with a Plas-y-Brenin group the weather on the first day was terrible and the clients made a seriously spirited attempt to get over the Snowdon group, Elidir Fawr and Y Garn. The approaching dusk and continuous rain had taken its toll however and descending the Devils staircase to Idwal Cottage proved too tempting for all of us! Next day we had windy but clear and atmospheric lighting for the traverse of the Carneddau out to Aber Falls and were all fairly satisfied despite missing Glyders Fach, Fawr and Tryfan on day 1.

This is an elegant round, logical in line and with some great terrain (including the best bits of the route below) but at 37 miles and with several thousand metres of ascent it is not for the faint hearted or weak legged. Whether it’s done over 2 days or in a tough, single continuous push it will provide a mountain challenge to remember.

Snowdon Horseshoe

At just 6.6 miles and with only 910m of ascent this is by far the shortest day described here. It is included however in recognition of it’s superb mountaineering feel and views across the rest of Snowdonia. It is arguably the best classic mountain day south of the Scottish border and if you haven’t done it consider it a must whatever the season, although it is generally worth waiting for a calm, dry day. In scrambling terms the difficulties are not great although the route does involve some impressively exposed narrow ridge walking and those of a nervous disposition should arrange a day with Highland Guides on similar but less exposed terrain prior to attempting the Horseshoe (for example combine the Snowdon and Bochlwyd Horseshoes for a brilliant weekend of easy mountain scrambling). For those who want to spice the traverse up a little we can provide more difficult direct starts and finishes creating a superbly sustained day on the rock – see our summer mountaineering section or contact us for more details.

The 3 Glyderau 3 Star V.Diffs

Flying Buttress on Dinas Cromlech, Grooved Arête on the E. Face of Tryfan and Hope on the Idwal Slabs, Ogwen. All brilliant multi-pitch V.Diffs spread across the faces and cwms of the Glyderau….so why not do them all in a day? Nearly 500m of classic rock with several miles of rocky and heathery walking in between – great alpine preparation or just a highly memorable day on the hills and crags of Snowdonia.