Snowdon
| Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) | ||
|---|---|---|
 Snowdon from Llyn Llydaw |
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| height | 1085 m ASL | |
| location | Gwynedd , Wales | |
| Mountains | Snowdonia | |
| Coordinates | 53 ° 4 '8 " N , 4 ° 4' 32" W | |
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| particularities | highest mountain in Wales | |
The Snowdon [ snəʊdən ] is the highest mountain in Wales . The name is composed of snow for snow and don (Anglo-Saxon) for mountain. It is located in Snowdonia National Park in County Gwynedd in north Wales. The summit is 1085 meters above sea level and is called Yr Wyddfa [ əɾ 'wɪðva ] in Welsh , which means "the grave" or "the tomb".
geography
The Snowdon massif is one of three mountain massifs in Snowdonia. It consists of six long ridges and roughly covers the area between Beddgelert , Pen-y-Pass and Llanberis . The Glyderau joins in the northeast , the Moel Siabod in the east, the Moelwynion in the south, Moel Hebog , the Nantlle Ridge and Mynydd Mawr in the west and the flat area extends to Caernarfon to the Menai Strait in the north-west. The slopes of the Snowdon Massif are steep and rocky in the north and east, covered with grass in the south and west, but wild and isolated. The mountain range was formed by volcanic activity in the Ordovician and then modeled by the glaciers of the Ice Age . The glaciers created many deeply cut trough valleys , some of which have lakes. The mountain range is completed by the Crib Goch (923 m), the Lliwedd (898 m) and the Aran (747 m).
The Snowdon massif opens to the east and forms a semicircle, the Snowdon Horseshoe . The summits Y Lliwedd , Snowdon, Garnedd Ugain and Crib Goch face the valley Dyffryn Mymbyr with the village Capel Curig .
- summit
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- Snowdon , ( Yr Wyddfa ): 1085 m
- Garnedd Ugain , ( Crib y Ddysgl ): 1065 m
- Crib Goch : 923 m
- Y Lliwedd : 898 m
- Yr Aran : 747 m
- Moel Eilio : 726 m
- Moel Cynghorion : 674 m
- Foel Gron : 629 m
Tourist development
Hiking trails lead over all mountain ridges to the summit, but the most popular route starts at the Llanberis Pass ; it follows an old mine path between Llyn Llydaw and Glaslyn ("blue lake") and then zigzags up to the Bwlch Glas ("blue pass"). As early as 1854, the English travel writer George Borrow (1803–1881) wrote of hikers “as far as the eye can see”.
Those who don't want to hike up to the summit can use the Snowdon Mountain Railway . This is a cog railway that goes from Llanberis to the summit. In the mountain station just below the summit there is a restaurant and a souvenir shop.
Climbing routes
The numerous rock faces of the Snowdon mountain range play an important role in the history of British mountaineering . The eastern cliff, called Clogwyn Du'r Arddu ("the black cliff") was first climbed in 1798 by Peter Williams and W. Bingley, two botanists who were looking for alpine plants. The north face of Y Lliwedd was first climbed in the late 19th century and was the subject of the first British book of descriptions of climbing routes in 1909 ( The Climb on Lliwedd , written by JMA Thompson and AW Andrews). Sir Edmund Hillary trained on Mount Snowdon for his ascent of Mount Everest .
The Snowdon is one of three mountains that are climbed in the National Three Peaks Challenge . This is a race where you have to climb the highest mountains in Wales, Scotland ( Ben Nevis ) and England ( Scafell Pike ) within 24 hours .
Footnotes
- ^ Peter Sager : Wales. Literature and politics, industry and landscape . DuMont, Cologne, 6th edition 1997. ISBN 3-7701-1407-8 . P. 354.
