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WALK SIX

The Glyders by the Bristly Ridge

Cwm Idwal

The ascent of the Bristly Ridge is one of the highlights of hillwalking in Wales. Technically, it ranks as a scrambling route, but one on which only the most timid are likely to find anything to test their nerve. There are no insurmountable difficulties, although in spite of encircling rock walls there are a few route-finding challenges that may invoke a little casting about and less than elegant poses. But the overall sensation is one of invigoration and excitement. And this is only the precursor to a splendid high-level traverse of two massive summits. Strong walkers may consider including the ascent of Tryfan as a prelude to this walk (see Walk 8).

The Route

Herbert Carr in The Mountains of Snowdonia commented that ‘the Glyders are true mountain ground, and the wanderer must not look for smooth paths upon their craggy ridges.’ The Miners’ Track, along which this walk begins, is no exception to this, as it finds a way through such weaknesses as there are between Ogwen and Pen y Gwryd. This ancient highway is a relic of the days when hardy quarrymen crossed these rough and broken slopes every week on the journey from their homes at Bethesda to the mines beneath Snowdon.

At Ogwen, the Miners’ Track is routed around buildings near the youth hostel, but, having crossed a usually turbulent issuing stream, it joins the traditional route to the Cwm Idwal Nature Reserve. After only a few hundred metres, the Cwm Idwal paths swings to the right, and we continue along the Miners’ Track, striking across boggy ground to the falls issuing from unseen Llyn Bochlwyd, and to the right of the shapely Bochlwyd Buttress, identified by its elongated H-shaped crack. A brief steep section leads up to the hollow of Cwm Bochlwyd, and Llyn Bochlwyd resting below imposing cliffs.

Tryfan south ridge, from the Bristly Ridge

ROUTE INFORMATION

Distance	8.5km/5¼ miles
Height gain	845m/2772ft
Time	4–5 hours
Grade	arduous
Start point	Ogwen (SH648604)
Getting there	Car park at Ogwen; fills quickly, but there are more roadside car parks close by
Maps	(Harvey Superwalker) Snowdonia The Glyderau and the Carneddau; (Ordnance Survey) OL17 Snowdon/Yr Wyddfa
After-walk refreshment	Café at Ogwen, and pubs in Capel Curig (to the east) and Bethesda (to the north)

Beyond the lake, a well-marked path climbs steadily towards a low point on the eastern skyline, Bwlch Tryfan. Just below the bwlch, the path forks, the left branch climbing energetically towards Tryfan’s south ridge. The Miners’ Track keeps to the right and weaves an easy way through broken downfall beneath the bwlch.

Bwlch Tryfan, crossed by a wall and two ladder-stiles, is an imposing place, with the vast hollow of Cwm Tryfan ahead, across which the Miners’ Track continues. Tryfan rises to the left and the Bristly Ridge rears steeply on the right. Below the Bristly Ridge, a stretch of broken rockfall has a number of well-worn paths labouring upwards (the obvious scree gully to the left is an alternative for anyone having second thoughts about scrambling). Work a way up to the base of the cliffs of the Bristly Ridge, to enter a narrow gully that is not easy to spot from below, but distinctive enough on reaching it.