North Wales Trip 2010

[philip lowers]

Fairy Glen ?? follow me, it's fine in normal conditions

[Randy Fandango]

Actually in my youth I always fancied doing Crib Goch so I'd love to walk Snowdon with you one day Andy. I'm ashamed to admit it but the highest I've ever gone on Snowdon is high enough up the Watkin path to be able to kayak back down the Cwn Llan waterfalls....
I've done Striding Edge countless times -- mid summer in the crowds, mid-winter in thick ice and snow alone -- and I've done Sharp Edge on Blencathra -- mid summer in thick mist and drizzle as I recall.
How does Crib Goch compare to them?
I've always greatly enjoyed mountain walking (have walked in Alps and Himalayas as well as lots in the UK) but am not by ANY means a climber....
I think the closest I've come is probably Jake's Rake on Pavey Ark (??) in the Langdales.
Giles

[Strad]

Giles, I don't see a huge difference between Crib Goch and Striding Edge, if you've done the Edge then Crib Goch won't seem too unfamiliar. To pick up on Andy's post both are lots of fun when the weather gets pushy...

[philip lowers]

Are we all talking about the same thing here ??

Taken from various climbing websites ....

"No doubt about it Harder...more exposed than striding edge, longer hairier"

The group that baby sat us accross Crib Goch also said it allot harder than Striding Edge !!

Some more quotes....

"Yup Crib Goch much more full on. Wouldnt want to be on either in bad weather, but Striding edge feels escapable along most of its length. Crib Goch you have little option except go forward or back the way you came....."

"Furthermore you are up and onto the scrambling much faster on Crib Goch, theres a much longer walk up to Striding Edge, which may or may not be your cup of tea."


"Crib Goch is considerably more exposed and needs some scrambling skills but unlike Striding Edge there is no easy escape route, it's possible to go down various steep and loose South Facing gullies but there's no real easy off until Bwlch Coch"

I'll let you all decide ....

[Brian]

I have done both striding edge and crib goch, i aint no chris bonnington but i can assure you all that crib goch is is "MUCH" harder than striding edge,maybe i am just getting soft in my old age

On a serious note if the club does have another trip to wales and the water levels are low,i would reccomend that crib goch should be avoided unless you have a good head for height with some experience of "scrabbling" .or have one of the meridian mountaineers hold your hand.

[Strad]

Well I can only talk from my own trips, done both a fair number of times, and to me Crib Goch never felt a great deal worse. That said last trip up Crib Goch was just over fifteen years ago so I may feel different now that I'm older and wiser??

[Brian]

I dont think it would be wrong to say that if I wanted to compare the difference between the two walks with my boating experience the upper and lower dart would not be far off.
in so far as, if a fairly new paddler told me they were going to do the loop i would wish them luck and wish them well,if the same person were to tell me they were going to do the upper i would ( with what little influence i have ) "strongly" recommend that they did not attempt it. We all need to look after each other when we out and about . Having said all that, phil and myself had a great experience which may have been denied us if the more "wise ones" had warned us against it ,So i have no hard feelings.
This is just a personal opinion.
brian

[philip lowers]

I might add it was wet/slippery and zero vis.

It reminded me of driving in the fog and having no real baring, constantly on edge waiting for the terrain to change ...

I would like to do it again, maybe in the summer when we could see what we were doing ...

I think it was just a big step up for us...i remember saying " i didn't sign up for this, i thought we were going on a nice walk"

I think i'll stick to the paddling in the future

[Strad]

I guess I was coming from the angle of having climbed a fair amount and I'd done snowdon via pyg track / miners track /rail track several times and in many differing weather conditions so was pretty confident before I ever took the Cribb Goch route.

And to think on Brian's comment my first time up Cribb Goch there were a bunch of teens in trainers, shorts t-shirt with no kit at all (except for a bottle of merrydown), and we recommended they chose a different route, so maybe I'm being a bit hypocritical.