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Tryfan

Scenic Place • Conwy • LL57 3LH
Tryfan

Tryfan is widely regarded as one of the finest mountains in Wales and arguably in Britain, a dramatic peak of Ordovician volcanic rock rising to 917 metres above the Ogwen Valley in Snowdonia National Park with a character and personality quite unlike any other Welsh mountain. Unlike most of Snowdonia's major peaks, which can be ascended on straightforward paths by walkers of moderate experience, Tryfan demands genuine scrambling on all of its main ridges, and the final approach to the summit involves hands-on rock scrambling that gives it a mountaineering quality unusual for a mountain of this height. The mountain's profile from the A5 road below is immediately compelling: a jagged, pointed ridge of grey and orange rhyolite rising steeply above the boggy floor of the Nant Ffrancon valley with none of the rounded, heathery summits characteristic of many Welsh hills. The rock architecture of the three buttresses that divide the east face into a series of steep, terraced faces provides some of the finest ridge scrambling in Wales on the North Ridge, which follows the crest of the mountain from the valley floor to the summit with continuous interest and occasional exposure. The summit of Tryfan is marked by two upright stone columns known as Adam and Eve, approximately two metres high, positioned close enough together that an athletic leap from one to the other is technically possible. This jump, which grants the jumper the Freedom of Tryfan according to local tradition, requires sufficient space to land, secure rock underfoot and a very good head for heights, as the drop from the summit rocks is considerable in every direction. Most visitors find that admiring Adam and Eve from a respectful distance is entirely satisfying. The Glyderau ridge connecting Tryfan to Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr provides one of the finest mountain days in Wales, combining the Tryfan ascent with the extraordinary summit plateau of the Glyder range, strewn with angular rocks and dominated by the famous Cantilever stone.

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