Big Routes 13^th-14^th June 2026

Attendees – Harry Potts, Will Fitzmaurice, Mateusz Wasilewski, Luke Cullum, Mich Harrison, Lynne Williams, Phil Mitchell, Aaron Polley

With Harry, Will and Mat looking ahead to their upcoming Cervinia trip they had used the car journey to plan a scramble link-up around Ogwen and Luke was persuaded to join to make 2 ropes of 2 when needed. If the Big Routes challenge wasn’t enough, the ante was upped with tales of a previous day out by Mich and Andy Stratford including 10 scrambles – could this be bettered?

An early start meant the routes were quiet up until descending Bristly Ridge against the tide in the early afternoon, however everyone was friendly and seemed to be having a good day. Route taken was

Idwal Cottage > Ordinary Route (Idwal Slabs) > Idwal Continuation Scramble > Cneifon Arete > False Gribin > Dolmen Ridge > Glyder Fach Summit > Bristly Ridge > South Buttress (Tryfan)

Here the teams split with Harry and Luke tempted by food and beer taking South Ridge (Tryfan) > Tryfan Summit > Idwal Cottage but not before finding the ‘tricky’ final wall of South Ridge to be considerably more than that and have some extremely difficult moves for a Grade 3 scramble. Will and Mat looking to utilise all of the daylight and eyeing up the 10 route target went for another lap of Tryfan East Face via Nor Nor Buttress Variant > Tryfan Summit > South Ridge > Idwal Cottage arriving back at the hut just after 10pm. Mich and Andy were relieved on hearing they hadn’t been outdone, but the day inspired some ideas for the future...

Mich and Lynne went on a Sea (Tremadog) to Summit (Pant Ifan Upper Tier) trip ticking 5 routes including the VSs Quatre Fois Direct, Madog and Gwynedd. Company at the crag was a group of friendly teenagers experiencing abseiling with a less than friendly instructor

Phil went on a long ride along the testing roads of Snowdonia all the way down to the Moelwyns and enjoyed the traffic free climb up to Llyn Stwlan above Tanygrisiau

Aaron needed to get a ‘training’ run in so did a 33km/2,600m route from the hut all the way along the Glyderau to Tryfan, where he threw in some scrambling for good measure, before returning via Ogwen and over Elidir Fawr

Feeling as though the day held more activity for them Phil and Aaron, for his first taste of slate, spent the late afternoon sport climbing at Bus Stop

On Sunday there were some sore bodies from the day before and recent injuries, but that didn’t stop everyone getting out and climbing something

Will and Aaron went to Twll Mawr to climb The Desolation of Smaug (6c), which at 6 pitches is the 3^rd longest sport route in the UK, and managed the first 2 long pitches with the remainder on the cards for another day. Harry, Mat and Luke went to climb The Big Easy (4a) in Bus Stop due to the thematic name, although Harry didn’t think it delivered on either promise. Lynne and Mich went to the Moelwyns and climbed Kirkus’s Climb Direct (S 4a) at Clogwyn yr Oen which is well worth a visit and proves there is quality across the whole of Snowdonia

Big Routes

Whilst the name might sound like it's just for the hardcore few (and there is a traditional challenge) it's for any level of ambition and creative interpretation of the theme will also be rewarded. The meet will be held at Ty Powder so it would be great to see plenty of you supporting the hut and making the most of the long days (Sunrise is 04:45 and Sunset is 21:59 on Saturday) and great weather* with whatever your chosen activity is

The Classic Challenge

• Climbers - 1000ft of roped climbing spread across at least two crags, plus at least one 3000ft summit (or the less aesthetically pleasing 304.8m of climbing and one 914.4m summit). You’ll need your multi-pitch heads on and an early start might be a good idea, but the options are manyfold so worth getting the guidebooks out and lining yourself up with a partner

• Scramblers - 2000ft (609.6m) of scrambling, plus at least two 3000ft (914.4m) summits

• Walkers - At least four 3000ft (914.4m) summits spread across at least two of the Snowdon, Glyder or Carneddu ranges

The prize is bragging rights, the admiration of the meet leader and top billing in the meet report

Some Alternative Ideas

⁃ The Spring has been dry*, you’ve been getting out lots so now is the time to to climb that big N Wales route you’ve been dreaming of. First trad lead? First multi pitch route? First sea cliff? Will you finally get on Cenotaph Corner having looked up at it longingly for years?

⁃ Welsh 3000s. Walk in 24 hours? Walk over 2 days? Run in whatever time possible (trying to forget that the current record is an astonishing 4:10.48...)

- Swimmers, how many different bodies of water can you link up in a day? Can you make a circular route from the hut taking in the length of Llyn Padarn?

*The meet leader cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of either of these statements, however they’re hoping to break the curse of including them in the meet promo!