The Snowdon Horseshoe (Crib Goch)

The Snowdon Horseshoe links Crib Goch, Crib y Ddysgl, the summit of Yr Wyddfa and Y Lliwedd in one circuit from Pen-y-Pass, and it is graded as a scramble rather than a walk. The outward leg follows the lower section of the Pyg Track before turning off onto Crib Goch’s ridge, a narrow arête with steep ground falling away on both sides for a sustained stretch. Hands are needed as well as feet. Beyond the ridge the route continues over the rocky top of Crib y Ddysgl, also known as Garnedd Ugain, to the summit of Yr Wyddfa itself, then drops south-east to cross Y Lliwedd’s twin tops before descending, usually via the Miners’ Track, back to Pen-y-Pass.

Technically Crib Goch is only a Grade 1 scramble, the easiest grade there is, but the exposure is real and sustained rather than a single awkward step, and there is little opportunity to retreat once committed to the ridge. Eryri National Park Authority’s own guidance describes the route as extremely dangerous for anyone without scrambling experience, and notes that mountain rescue callouts and fatalities on this ridge are not rare. Dogs should not be taken on it under any circumstances.

Allow a full day. A published route card puts the full horseshoe at around 11.4 kilometres, 963 metres of ascent and six hours, though parties moving cautiously over the ridge often take longer. This is not a route for a first mountain day, for anyone uneasy with heights, or for a group with mixed scrambling experience.