Every Picture Tells a Story: Crib Goch in the mist

Approaching the Crib Goch ridge

This was another planned attempt to go to Scotland and do some high mountain routes but once again the weather looked naff up there so we 'set the controls to the heart of North Wales'.

After 3 intense climbing days my mate Jim requested we do something a little less taxing, I didn't have a problem with that as I felt jaded too. The theme for the week was to take advantage of the fantastic dry weather and go for the high mountain routes so he suggested Gambit route high on Clogwyn y Ddysgl.

Guidebooks all raved about it being a mega classic. ' Acres of exposure, superb moves, great rock and a crux at the end. What more could you ask for'

All that was left was to work it into a classic mountain day and of course do it.

One of the big advantages of climbing huts over other hostels is that they are set up for walking/climbing enthusiasts and most have have a library of ALL the local guides and maps so I perused and came up with a itinerary that included 3 summits 4 scrambles. 2 classic rock climbs and 'One of the finest easy mountain routes in the UK.'

The route started out of the back door of the hut and we followed the footpath into the hanging cwm below Cyrn Las where we struggled to find the first scramble so I suggested we have a look at the crag opposite as an alternative.

At the time!!!!!!. We thought this gave a 90m grade 2 scramble on immaculate rock.

From this side of the cwm the line of our original scramble was was now obvious so it was an easy contour round to its base. Graded 3 the hard bit was in the first 20 feet after that it was a steady grade 1 that made an interesting route up to the second hanging cwm under Clogwyn y Ddysgl.

This is hallowed territory many regard the Parsons nose as the finest scramble in Wales but today we ingnored it to do Gambit route.

Which finished on the ridge above Parsons nose and gives an amazing scramble to the summit of Garnedd Ugain 1065m.

All that was left now was to reverse Crib Goch 923m then descend via the North Ridge home after doing 3 summits, 5 scrambles and 'One of the finest easy mountain routes in the UK.'

Back at the hut I checked the guides and found our 1st inpromtu scramble was Conway Climb graded Diff.