Little & North Gully - Tryfan

First frost at The Cottage this morning! It was looking like a stunning start to the day, but with the forecast predicting clouds on the way. I decided that I should make the most of the conditions as there should be just about enough time to get up Tryfan before that happened. Sometime around 9:30 I was panting hard as I made my way up the edge of the North Ridge and round into the glorious sunshine on Heather Terrace. The morning shadow of Tryfan was outlined on Pen yr ole Wen on the opposite side of the valley.

 

I was travelling light, with a tiny 20L rucsack for speed and was soon counting off features on the east face until I came across my intended route and this little fellow.

 

I've climbed almost all of the gullies on this face, but had recently been made aware of the combination of climbing 'Little and North Gully' thanks to Gary Smith's new(ish) guide to Scrambling in North Wales. (well worth purchasing by the way!). The book makes the bold claim that it's even better than the classic North Ridge expedition?! I thought I'd better go and see for myself.

 

Half way up some great scrambling, I got to throw my first snowball of the season!

 

The climb really is rather good - classic in fact. Continuous scrambling; steep, interesting, with positive holds and never too hard. As I neared the top, I had to increase my speed due to the threat of in coming clouds ruining the summit views!

 

Luckily I made it there just in time to savour my moment of silence on the top.

 

A fantastic bank of cloud was rolling over the Glyders. A time lapse film would have been ace.

 

I bumped into a fellow AMI member who was heading up onto the mist. I needed to get stuff done back home so, bid him farewell and set off down in the other direction. It really is amazing to have all this stuff on our doorstep - and it's good to be reminded of that every now and then. In half an hour I was back down at the A5 and within the hour I was back at The Cottage, showered, shaved and at work on the computer. Alpine speed.

 

Before the light faded, we nipped back out to Menai Bridge, where although it was now cloudy, it was perfect for a quick stroll along the straits...