Tryfan

About Tryfan

Rising like a jagged stone fin above the Ogwen Valley, this mountain offers Britain’s most celebrated scrambling. Its distinctive silhouette hides a rugged world of steep crags and technical ridges. Whether tackling the classic North Ridge or the Heather Terrace, it remains a serious, hands-on day for any hillwalker.

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Did You Know?

• •The name likely derives from the Welsh words 'tri' (three) and 'ban' (peak or crest), referring to the mountain's distinctive three-headed summit profile when viewed from the west.
• •The summit is famous for 'Adam and Eve', two monolithic upright stones standing about three metres apart. It is a traditional rite of passage for scramblers to leap between them, though with a 900-metre drop on one side, it is a move best left to those with steady nerves.
• •Tryfan is unique among the high peaks of Wales as it is impossible to reach the summit without using your hands. Even the 'easiest' routes involve some degree of scrambling, making it a Hewitt and Nuttall that must be earned with grip as well as fitness.
• •For decades, the official height was recorded as 915 metres (3,002 ft). A GPS resurvey in 2010 confirmed the actual height is 917.5 metres, a finding that ensured its permanent place in the 'Welsh 3000s' list and corrected surveys dating back to the 19th century.
• •From the summit, the view south is dominated by the shattered rhyolite plateau of Glyder Fach and the famous Cantilever Stone, while to the north, the steep slopes of Pen yr Ole Wen rise sharply above the deep blue of Llyn Ogwen.
• •Local folklore identifies the mountain as the final resting place of Sir Bedivere (Bedwyr), the knight of King Arthur who returned the sword Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake.
• •Tryfan is perhaps the only mountain in Snowdonia where the 'main path' is a purely subjective concept involving a great deal of guesswork and a surprising amount of upper-body strength.