Most participants find the ascent of Snowdon to be the easiest of the three peaks. Often, we feel revived after grabbing some sleep on the way south from Scafell Pike, and the new day seems to bring renewed energy.
Our route on Snowdon is the Pyg Track, and this has the least amount of height gain of the three peaks. At the start of the PYG track in the car park at Pen-y-Pass there is a café and toilet, and a Youth Hostel directly across the road.
The Pyg Track starts off gradually on short rocky steps with a few sections requiring gentle scrambling. The peak that dominates the view ahead isn’t Snowdon, but Crib Goch (which translates as the Red Ridge). This is a knife edged arête with sheer drops on either side and is regarded as one of the classic scrambles in the country. The Pyg Track skirts below this ridge. As on the other peaks, the route is mostly manmade and quite rocky, with large stones placed together to make up the path.
The Pyg Track contours along the hillside below Crib Goch and above Llyn Llydaw and is a good path all the way, ust take care in the wet as the rock is well polished in places. Once the Miner’s Track joins the Pyg Track the going becomes rockier and in places the path becomes indistinct. Keeping right at all times is advisable as the routes to the left tend to find scree.
Ascending slowly, the Pyg Track / Miner’s Track eventually reaches the sheer cliffs below Garnedd Ugain, before the a welcome wall marks the point where the path turns right up the infamous zig-zags. In fact, it’s just a zig and a zag and you’re on the crest of the ridge marked by a finger post, Bwlch Glas.
Take the path to your left, as the Pyg Track now joins both the Llanberis and Snowdon Ranger paths to the summit. While the summit of Snowdon is close now, but still another 100m climb. There are steps either side of Snowdon summit and at the top a brass plate on the trig point can be used to identify all the nearby summits.
While Snowdon typically has the best of the three peaks, the weather of the summit can often bear no relation to the weather lower down. It’s therefore essential that you carry your spare warm clothes and waterproofs.
We recommend you carry some money (case/card) as it’s nice to pop into the café when you get down if waiting for others.