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We're near snowdon this weekend. My 11 Yr old really wants to climb it. For reference, he did scafell pike 18 months ago with no problem at all, in about 4 hours.
What's the best / most interesting / quietest / your favourite route up snowdon?
Rhyd du but research it
I like the Watkin path. One of the toughest routes up though
Yeah Watkin path for me too, much more than just a hike up a mountain 🙂
Watkin is good especially the lower bit with the waterfalls/river but has the highest elevation gain of any of the routes. The car park is only small and fills up quick.
Llanberis route is a long boring slog but has good parking.
Miners and Pyg are the easiest with least elevation gain but Pen-Y-Pass is manic and fills up very early although has park and ride down the road.
My favourite route is the Rangers, nice quiet car park with a toilet (portaloo) and a nice lakeside boardwalk area. The route up has a boring first few mile but then gets into its stride.
For info I walk it in winter with doggo and don't generally go after March as it's too busy especially post covid.
Up South ridge.
Down Rhyd Ddu.
My favourite route is the Rangers, nice quiet car park with a toilet (portaloo) and a nice lakeside boardwalk area. The route up has a boring first few mile but then gets into its stride.
I've only ever done Rangers (widely thought to be the best dog route hence why we chose) and once it gets going it's a good hike with some great views if it's clear, but my that first/last bit is quite tedious.
I think I enjoyed Cadair Idris more. It was quieter and I'd say our route choice was just as challenging as the Ranger path. Sorry that's not what you asked but you know stw policy is to not answer the actual question.
Watkin Path would be my vote, been a good 15 years mind you, the last haul up from Bwlch Ciliau has a nice proper mountain feel to it, id probably also descend via the south ridge to Bwlch-Cwm Llan into Cem Llan to make a loop out of it.
Did the Rangers path today, I normally only do Snowdon in winter as my dog operates hot but I knew there was some recent snow at the summit so he could keep cool.
Chatting to a few guys at the summit with bikes, a nice Stanton Ti and a bikepacker complete with front milk crate!
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it's "Yr Wyddfa" FFS - only the gammons call it "Snowdon" nowadays.
I'll take my hammer and chisel next time and correct that Ranger path plinth ^
No need to deface the plinth..the Snowdon Ranger Path is still called the Snowdon Ranger Path (in English) but the name of the mountain is Yr Wyddfa.
only the gammons call it “Snowdon” nowadays
eh?
I personally would head for many other hills in north Wales - to avoid the ridiculous crowds. 🙁
'Snowdon' as a place name has deep roots, going back at least eight hundred years
The last time i did it was with my then ten-year-old (a while ago now!) and we went up Miners and down Watkin.
We both loved Watkin, and both thought we would have loved to go up that way having gone down it. Getting to the start of it, or getting away from the end of it takes a bit of planning.
Pyg is a nice way down, though sharp underfoot.
Snowdon may well be a name that goes back 800 years, but it's not what it's called today.
Ayers Rock and Mt McKinley are historic names, but they aren't what the mountains are called today.
eh?
For those that missed it, just before Xmas the Snowdonia National Park Authority (as it was called at the time) decided to use Yr Wyddfa as the official name of the mountain in both English and Welsh languages, similarly they decided to use Eryri as the name of the Park itself in English and Welsh, so it is now officially Eryri National Park. There is obviously a transition period where old webpages and materials will still carry the deprecated names, but thats where we are now.
It was 'officially' changed 6months ago - for non Welsh residents like myself it could be forgiven for calling it by its original name. No malice or intent was meant, if your original gammon comment was a bit less **** y and a bit more educational then that might have helped.
Edited to add you beat me by 35seconds.
Why not just post ^ that first?
This audience... primarily a bunch of outdoor enthusiasts should be well aware of the name change by now, so my assumption that use of the deprecated name throught the thread without reference to the name change was deliberately ignorant is not unwarranted.
...so my assumption that use of the deprecated name throught the thread without reference to the name change was deliberately ignorant is not unwarranted.
Wasn't aware, and not deliberately ignorant.
Snowdon may well be a name that goes back 800 years, but it’s not what it’s called today.
Ayers Rock and Mt McKinley are historic names, but they aren’t what the mountains are called today.
Indeed, names of places are cultural relics, overlaying our landscapes with meanings, some rise and some fall over time, there are numerous examples... Snowdon / Yr Wyddfa is one of many.
Mount Everest, known in Nepali as Sagarmatha and Tibetan as Chomolungma, is named after the British (colonial) surveyor George Everest. All three names have currency of course, whatever the 'official' title.
Decisions on what name to use, when and with whom, makes place-names a rich and interesting topic!
Indeed, names of places are cultural relics, overlaying our landscapes with meanings, some rise and some fall over time, there are numerous examples… Snowdon / Yr Wyddfa is one of many.
Mount Everest, known in Nepali as Sagarmatha and Tibetan as Chomolungma, is named after the British (colonial) surveyor George Everest. All three names have currency of course, whatever the ‘official’ title.
Decisions on what name to use, when and with whom, makes place-names a rich and interesting topic!
Aotearoa New Zealand is another example. I suspect we will see moves for "Cymru" to replace "Wales" soon, there are certainly rumours that Wales football team are discussing use of Cymru as the team name with FIFI/UEFA in international tournaments
For those interested here's a nice selection of photos from Eryri National Park on the BBC Wales english language webpages. Note the use of Eryri and Yr Wyddfa as the names - and in places the use of the old names as qualifiers.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-65277475
This is a good example of the way the English language media in Wales are dealing with the name change, and in some news stories you may see the new and old names used interchangeably throughout the article.
Wasn’t aware, and not deliberately ignorant.
No worries and no offence taken, and none meant by my original gammon comment which was meant as tongue in cheek, although I confess I am quite surprised that people on here aren't more aware of the changes.
@mrmonkfinger are you happy with what you started?
Anyway, let us know which route you chose up “The Mountain” and whether your lad enjoyed it!
although I confess I am quite surprised that people on here aren’t more aware of the changes.
To be fair not everyone lives locally or visits the area, nor understands the historical and cultural difficulties around this name.
Therefore unlikely to know such changes had been made.
I'm someone who's climbed every peak in North Wales, who spent 4 years studying nearby, work placements in the area and have revisited a good few times after I left 25 years ago. I know the Welsh names due to a friend on our course who ensured everyone knew the Welsh names, meanings and some of the cultural difficulties.
However, I had no idea of this change as I now live in central Scotland and have not visited for 5 years.
It did make the UK-wide media
https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/uk-ireland/mount-snowdons-name-officially-changed-28510926
https://www.thebmc.co.uk/snowdon-petition-to-use-welsh-name-for-snowdonia-national-park
even the Daily Heil did a piece
https://www.****/news/article-11437459/Welsh-language-activists-change-Mount-Snowdon-Yr-Wyddfa.html
Of those websites, I frequent none of them.
Tbf, Ive been calling it Yr Wyddfa since my first visits to the park following a chat with some mountaineering instructors who were learning Welsh/Cymraeg.
I live here and, frankly, struggle to care.
Call it what you like. It's a big bit of rock that's fun to climb and a hilly area that's nice to be in. Call it Fred and Billybobland tbh. If people get angry at you for it, then they've too much time on their hands.
I like the welsh names. But that's all they are. Names. Changeable names. And the push to change names does have an ugly nationalist undertone, unfortunately. Look at Carnedd Uchaf, for example. There was a campaign to change the official name of the mountain to Carnedd Gwenllian - which happened in 2009.
Gwenllian was the daughter of the last Prince of Wales, imprisoned for live by Edward I in a priory in Linconshire (rather than killed, which would have been the usual form). Other than being imprisoned she did nothing of note - so the name change's only purpose is a monument to show how shit "The English" are - and don't you forget it!
There's way too much of that going on in Wales at the moment. I agree with moves to keep a beautiful language alive and to enhance and preserve a culture. However, there's a stench of horrible Welsh nationalism and I dislike the static "this is what it means to be Welsh and if you don't conform to these arbitary ideals you're not a real welshman" absolutism.
So I call it Snowdon and Snowdonia and I ain't changing. Was born in Wales, live in Wales, am Welsh - and I don't really care what anyone calls anything and there's plenty of Welsh people who feel the same.
But each to their own - if you want to use Yr Wyddfa/Eryri then knock yourself out. But if you want to use Snowdon/Snowdonia you're not really being culturally insensitive. You're just not bowing to a group of angry nationalists.
But to be very clear - I'm not saying everyone who wants people to use Yr Wyddfa/Eryri is an angry nationalist. And I'm not even saying it's a bad thing. But don't be apologising if you call something the thing you've called it all your life out of misplaced guilt. 🙂
You heard it here first. The Brecon Beacons National Park has, today, been officially rebranded as "Bannau Brycheiniog"
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EDIT: just to say I agree wholeheartedly with Chevychase. I am a born and bred resident of my parish and won't be changing the way I refer to the National Park in which I live and work.
Watkin path sounds great. For, reasons, we didn't get over to the mountain formerly known as snowdon. Did a circular route near bala instead.
Planning on a few days closer to said mountain later in the year instead.
Thanks for suggestions all.
Wowzers. Didn't know it was on the cards for the Brecons. Learn something new every day.
I live at the bottom of Yr Mynydd Du, (The Black Mountain cf. Black Mountains, that's where Ffermwr Gymraig, previously known 😉 as Welsh farmer lives) and I am wholly unaware of the move to rename The Brecon Beacons to Bannau Brycheiniog. Blimey
Up Watkin and down South Ridge would probably be my favourite, though up PyG or Miners then across Lliwedd and back down down to Miners is also brilliant.
There is also a brilliant low grade scramble that goes up from the Miners between Llyn Llydaw and Glaslyn to the saddle between Snowdon (oops Yr Wyddfa) and Lliwedd.
I guess it is an anachronism that we are quite happy to use Welsh names for almost all of the peaks and yet still use Snowdon. Old habits die hard and all that. It isn't meant with any malice.
The gammons at the Mountain Railway in Llanberis need to get on and change their branding. How are tourists supposed to call it the right thing if the locals aren't bothering?
I do visit Snowdonia/Eryi at least once a year and will try to use the correct names.
But (sorry)...
Lets' not forget that for non-welsh speakers, pronouncing Yr Wyddfa is... troublesome. I actually started to learn welsh a few years back too. Betws Y Coed anyone?
It's Kinda why we say 'Spain' not 'Espana'. Suomi. Kalaallit Nunaat. Etc.
And on a related theme
https://www.thegazellenews.com/africa-wire/nigerian-explorer-discovers-lake-in-leicester-challenges-colonial-narratives/
Wowzers. Didn’t know it was on the cards for the Brecons. Learn something new every day.
As someone who grew up mile or so outside the park boundary I don't care if people call it the Beacons or the Brecon Beacons or y Bannau or whatever, but there's something about the use expression "the Brecons" that really really grates quite strongly it feels deeply insulting, kind of like deadnaming.ie deliberately calling something the wrong name as an insult.
I know it's military jargon, but keep it on base, along with other military insults towards civpop.
As someone who grew up mile or so outside the park boundary I don’t care if people call it the Peak or the Peak District or y Peke or whatever, but there’s something about the use expression “the Peaks ” that really really grates quite strongly it feels deeply insulting, kind of like deadnaming.ie deliberately calling something the wrong name as an insult.
FTFM
As someone who grew up mile or so outside the park boundary I don’t care if people call it the Peak or the Peak District or y Peke or whatever, but there’s something about the use expression “the Buxtons ” that really really grates quite strongly it feels deeply insulting, kind of like deadnaming.ie deliberately calling something the wrong name as an insult.
Fixed it for you
Yeah but nobody calls it the Buxtons whereas loads of misguided fools witter on about the Peaks
@thegeneralist @gwaelod - "the brecons" is a natural English method for shortening the brecon beacons. That's kinda what people usually do for all sorts of things in the English language.
"The Peaks" is a reasonable shortening of the peak district- unless someone has previously told you that "the peaks" is actually locally known as "The Peak". (And, despite having spent considerable time there, working in Sheff and living not far away for many years of my life I still don't know whether that applies to just the Dark Peak, or the White Peak, or are you able to call the Dark and White Peaks together "The Peaks" because you're talking about things in the plural?)
Unless someone can explain to people why it's "insulting" they're perfectly reasonable for people to use. If you point out to them that you take offence at those names then maybe they'll use different names.
But maybe not. They don't have to care. Almost nobody does. And that's absolutely fine. You don't own them, the hills themselves don't take offence, at best you've an affinity with them. You may dearly love them. But they ain't yours and living local is no excuse to be angry at "outsiders". In fact, it's a bit too Royston Vasey and a sign that you need to get out more.
It's incumbent on people who take offence at such trivial things to learn how to deal with their self-generated anger 🙂
Agreed
Brecon is the place. The Beacons are the hills. So call it the Beacons. There's only one Brecon!
“The Peaks” is a reasonable shortening of the peak district- unless someone has previously told you that “the peaks” is actually locally known as “The Peak”. (And, despite having spent considerable time there, working in Sheff and living not far away for many years of my life I still don’t know whether that applies to just the Dark Peak, or the White Peak, or are you able to call the Dark and White Peaks together “The Peaks” because you’re talking about things in the plural?)
It's like being back on UKClimbing. The argument could last for months on end. 🙂 It's named after a local tribe apparently, nowt to do with hills.