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Glyderau | VR Tour

The Glyderau (aka the "Glyders" by the English) are one of the finest mountain groups in Snowdonia. Their popularity is very much deserved. Some will come to enjoy the beauty of the lakes in the glacial cwms, others the climbing, hiking, or the scrambling routes on Tryfan (917 m), Glyder Fach (994 m), and Glyder Fawr (1001 m). This will be many peoples introduction, and some may never go further than to the top of the peak that give the range its name.

Relative solitude can be found on the Glyderau too. Rising in the east above Capel Curig, this eastern end of the range, all the way to Llyn Caeg-fraith, is less trodden. Likewise west of Y Garn (947 m), four of the five mountain summits are often ignored, perhaps bypassed in the rush to complete the Welsh 3000s Challenge.

A major long distance path, "The Cambrian Way", passes over the Glyderau. It ascends a faint path from Pen-y-Pass to Glyder Fawr, traverses to Gylder Fach, before descending on the Miner's Track to Bwlch Tryfan. Here it continues down past Llyn Bochlwyd to Ogwen Cottages.

Now its your time to explore.

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List of Peaks:

Peak	Height	Nuttall
Castell y Gwynt	972 m	WN 2.11
Gallt yr Ogof	763 m	WN 2.10
Elidir Fawr	923 m	WN 2. 3
Glyder Fach	994 m	WN 2. 8
Glyder Fawr	1001 m	WN 2. 7
Tryfan	915 m	WN 2. 6
Y Foel Goch	805 m	WN 2. 9
Y Garn	947 m	WN 2. 5

The Glyderau:

The panoramas taken to build the Glyderau tours have been taken on multiple trips and with various equipment.

Most recently in the summer of 2021 I took my brother, niece and nephew up the north ridge of Tryfan. Along with Crib Goch, it one of Snowdonia's rites of passage, a taste of excitement that can leave one forever hungry for more. It was one of the most beautiful days I had in North Wales, the air and sky clear, the colours of the surrounding mountains more vivid than I recall seeing them before, colours that the Insta One X captured well.

Tryfan has a reputation. You'll never take the same route to the top, and you cannot climb it without using your hands. The intermingling network of unmapped paths and worn rock will attest the truth of the first claim. And if you somehow managed to reach the summit without using your hands, you've probably missed the point of this delightful mountain. The climax of an ascent is the leap from Adam to Eve, the two up right stone monoliths that crown the summit. But it's no obligatory.

Previously I had wild camped with my son on an east to west traverse of the Aran ridge, the weather had not been favourable and no tour was made. It was a similar when we made a north south traverse of the Rhinogs a year later, wild camping by Llyn Hywell beneath Rhinog Fach.

The tour of the eastern end of the Glyderau ridge was created during a similar trip, ascending from near Capel Curig, summiting both Gallt Yr Ogof and Y Foel Goch before camping on the shore of Llyn Caseg-fraith before continuing the following morning over Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr then descending the dubious path to Pen-y-Pass. On that occasion panoramic photos where taken with a Ricoh Theta S camera. Expand article