Bristly Ridge

The first golden rays of morning sunlight hitting the south ridge of Tryfan, with Pen yr Ole Wen behind. It was a beautiful cold and clear morning, the start of what proved to be an exception day in the mountains. This was taken near the beginning of the climb up to Glyder Fach. Tryfan is a spectacular shark's fin of a mountain, rearing up over the Ogwen valley. A completely different character to the rest of the mountains in this area it lacks bulk and instead it is all ridges and buttresses with so many climbing and scrambling opportunities. It is an absolute gem! Don't be fooled by the gentle sweep of the beautifully built dry stone wall, at the other end of the mountain there is a wall right at the bottom but after a few yards it runs into the climbers playground that is the Milestone Buttress. If they tried to build a wall up that it would very quickly turn into a dry stone pillar....

Here's another from my return to the mountains. This is the view from part way up Bristly Ridge looking back towards Tryfan, with the Carneddau beyond. From this angle Tryfan looks very much like a young child's picture of a mountain - triangular, steep sided and pointy. It is a truly unique mountain, and one that has given me so many memorable days out over the years.