Crib Goch’s reputation goes before it, yet even though undeniably narrow, exposed and vertiginous in places it’s an easy and extremely exhilarating scramble for any experienced and adventurous hillwalker with a good head for heights.
And the fact that you do literally have to climb at times, using both hands and feet (but not a rope) makes it much more of a mountain adventure than the more regular hands-in-pockets slogs up Snowdon.
The ascent starts easily enough from Pen-y-Pass before you come to a stile where the route to the ridge is signposted, starting with a broad rock buttress where there’s no choice but to scramble.
This leads to the ridge proper, which in places is just a few feet wide and drops away almost vertically for several hundred feet on either side. On one side is the Pyg Track where less adventurous souls can be seen slogging up towards Snowdon’s summit; on the other dark, cold crags which hold snow for several months each year; and all around are views unrivalled in Wales.
To the north the bulky outline of the Glyders; to the south the huge ramparts of Snowdon and Y Lliwedd; almost 500 metres below the steel blue gleam of Glaslyn and Llyn Llydaw; and in the far distance the cloud shadowed waters of Cardigan Bay glitter in the south west whilst the foothills of Snowdonia trail away to the east.
Stop midway along Crib Goch and enjoy your lunch, you’ll have earned it and there are few places in Britain where you can eat your butties in such magnificent surroundings.
More thrilling scrambling follows, with views across to the hordes crawling over the summit of Snowdon (because of its relatively forbidding appearance Crib Goch never entertains more than a fraction of the people on Snowdon) and it comes as a disappointment when the ridge begins to fan out onto what are essentially the shoulders of Snowdon.
After the excitement of Crib Goch the final slog up to Snowdon’s summit (c’mon, you might as well do it, you’re almost there once you’ve completed the ridge) offers a chance to glance over your shoulder and consider the drama of what you’ve just done – one of the finest ridge walks in Britain – before taking the easy way down on the Pyg Track.
