The mighty Tryfan

With it's steep jagged outline, Tryfan is one of the most recognisable peaks in the British Isles and one of the very few mountains in Britain that requires vigourous scrambling in order to ascend this monolithic monster. At 918meters above sea level it is the fifteenth highest mountain in Wales.

For well over a year now, Tryfan has been the mountain I have wanted to climb. Last March I got about 45% of the way up, but with conditions becoming increasingly icy higher up, I was forced to turn back.

This Good Friday provided absolutely perfect conditions for summiting, clear skies, mild temperatures, and absolutely no wind. Amy and I set off from Anglesey early in the morning, eager to begin our adventure. After two hours steady scrambling we finally made the summit.

Tryfan is famous for having two pillars of rock atop its lofty summit: Adam and Eve sit astride the mountain, each about 160cm high. According to tradition, those who do summit Tryfan have the opportunity to attempt a leap between these two clifftop rocks in order to gain The freedom of Tryfan. Seeing as this is a mountain that has eluded me for well over a year, this seemed an appropriate challenge to attempt.

Therefore I clambered upon one of the pillars, and jumped across the gap. After climbing down from Adam, I still refrained from looking at the drop on the other side of the leap, I imagine it is absolutely huge .


This is the West face of Tryfan , taken on my way down the mountain. Because I didn't have an ND filter, but wanted to do a long exposure, I used 30 x 1/8" @ f22 to try to create an extended effect. It has sort of worked... :)