Three Peaks, Ten Tors - a Guidebook to UK Challenge Walks

A look both serious and humorous at what it takes to do a long-distance or challenge walk – plus notes on planning and undertaking 15 such routes throughout the UK, from the National Three Peaks Challenge to the Dartmoor Ten Tors route.

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CHAPTER 2: THE NATIONAL PEAKS CHALLENGE

THE ROUTE: SNOWDON

Driving from Borrowdale to Pen-y-Pass

Return through Keswick, following signs ‘Carlisle’ as far as the roundabout on the A66. Turn right to regain the M6, and head south. About 1.5hrs later the crossing of the high bridge over the Manchester Ship Canal indicates it’s time to take out the map. At the next junction, take the M56 towards Chester, and at its end the A550 coast road towards Llandudno and Bangor. At tourist times the road past Colwyn Bay gets congested, and it may be better to short-cut on the slower A548 directly to Llanrwst.

At Betwys-y-Coed turn right on A5 to Capel Curig and Pen-y-Pass. The distance has been 230 miles.

Pen-y-Pass and Llanberis

Parking: Pen-y-Pass car park is expensive and sometimes full. Having dropped off walkers, it’s best to descend to the large car parks of Llanberis.

Food and sleep: Gorphwysfa Café is at Pen-y-Pass, opposite the Pen-y-Pass youth hostel. Capel Curig has two pleasant cafés, and Joe Brown’s gear shop. Llanberis has Pete’s Eats, nationally famous for its climber-sized portion control; another branch of Joe Brown; and plenty of places to eat and sleep. In Nant Peris and the Llanberis Pass are three farm-field campsites, inexpensive and atmospheric but low on facilities. (You’ll be asleep – you won’t need facilities.)

Recce of Snowdon

Snowdon is the most straightforward of the three mountains. The Pig Track is clear all the way, though it is possible to get lost under Crib y Ddysgl when coming down it in the dark. The descent to Llanberis is even clearer as it follows the railway.

If you do decide to recce Snowdon, then you may like to try, for the ascent, the spectacular Crib Goch ridge – one of the UK’s classic scrambles, not difficult in dry windless conditions but with big drops under it. Given 30 minutes in hand, good conditions, and a crowd-free mountain, you might even like to cross the pinnacles as the climax of your Three Peaks Attempt day (see Variants below).

Route up Snowdon from Pen-y-Pass

From Pen-y-Pass car park, head to the right behind the café, on a tarred path with waymark ‘PyG Track’. It passes a helipad, then after a wall gap becomes stony underfoot with gravel. Views ahead are down Llanberis Pass, with the path rising to a slight downhill section between boulders. Then it turns more steeply up left, to pass through Bwlch y Moch, the ‘Pig Pass’, to a wonderful view of Snowdon’s central hollow and the lower of its lakes, Llyn Llydaw.

Just beyond the pass, after some fencing, is a waymark post, where those aiming for Crib Goch would turn up right. The main Pig Track contours along the valley side above Llyn Llydaw, and then above the upper lake, Glaslyn – a lovely 2km of mountain walking.
 
Soon the steep Miners’ Path joins from below, and the combined path zigzags up to the right. Serious path restoration here is sometimes overwhelmed by scree kicked down by unhelpful people short-cutting the zigzags. After a steep, tough climb, the path arrives suddenly at the col between Snowdon, on the left, and Carnedd Ugain (Garnedd Ugain, or Crib y Ddysgl – the name varies). A tall stone obelisk (the Pigtop Pillar) marks the col; just ahead and down is the Snowdon Mountain Railway.

Turn up left, with the railway on your right and big drops to Glaslyn on the left. A wide path leads to the summit of Snowdon.

Now all that remains is to jog back down the steep and stony path. Your feet are sore, your legs ache? Jog fast enough, and the pain will be over in only 90 minutes…