Snowdonia Mountaineering

East Gully Arête, Glyder Fach

We climbed slowly up the gentle, lower slopes, eyes on the broken rocks above. From here they look vertical, too steep to climb. Experience tells us that as we get closer, the route up, over and between the sheer blocks will reveal itself. Our route is a 'Difficult'; it may have been a hard route in the pioneering days of mountaineering but today it is classed as an easy rock climb.

Looking back down on our route, just right of centre in the picture

We put on our harnesses, unravel the rope and Andy places all sorts of climbing gear on his harness, used to attach him to the rock at various points. He sets off, soon out of sight. I let the rope out, worrying when I have to pay it out slowly. Is he struggling with a difficult move or desperately looking for somewhere to place some gear to protect him from falling? Then the rope moves quickly again. I am relieved as the going is probably easy now. Soon enough he shouts 'safe'. He is tied to the rock and it will soon be my turn to follow.

A tricky & bold move for Andy

As I climb I am relieved that I am safely tied in to the rope, held by Andy and that he is securely attached to the rock face. Some moves are still a little tricky, others exposed but on a 'difficult' climb there is always a great handhold or foot placement even if you can't find it at first.

Looking down towards 'Australia Lake'

We continue up like this, repeating the process a number of times until all that is left is an easy scramble to the top. It may have taken us hours to reach the summit of Glyder Fach but to climb a mountain is so rewarding. All that is left is an easy scramble descent back to the youth hostel.

Easy scrambling to the summit