1. This walk starts at the Pen-y-pass car park situated at the top of the Llanberis Pass on the A4086 road at grid reference SH647557. You can park here but with increasing prices and difficulty finding a space unless you get there early a better option may be to park at the larger park and ride car park lower down in Nant Paris at grid reference SH607582. From Nant Paris there is a regular park and ride bus service that will take you up to Pen-y-pass.
2. From the Pen-y-pass car park head west along the sign posted Pyg track. The path ascends a fairly easy gradient for around a kilometre heading in the direction of the pointy Crib Goch now in view. The views to the right are down through the Llanberis Pass to Llyn Peris and Llyn Padarn.
3. The Pyg track is thought to get its name from the Pen y Gwryd Hotel at Pen-y-pass, a hotel steeped in mountaineering history, it was the base for Hillary and Tenzing while training for their ascent of Mount Everest.
4. After a kilometre the path heads up through a much steeper and rocky section before bending left and eventually reaching the wooden stile at Bwlch y Moch.
5. From Bwlch y Moch on a clear day you get your first glimpse down to Llyn Llydaw with the twin peaks of Y Lliwedd towering above on the other side of the horseshoe. The Snowdon Horseshoe is a result of a glacial hollow by the name of Cwm Dyli, one of many glacial hollows around Snowdon, the ridges of which give the massif its unique starfish shape when viewed from above.
6. At Bwlch y Moch do not cross the wooden stile and instead turn right and start your ascent of the east ridge path of Crib Goch. There is a warning sign here intended for those who are not aware of the challenging ahead of them.
7. The path starts fairly easy and zig zags its way up on to Crib Goch's eastern side. After a while the path takes a turn to the right and leads to a chimney where hands on scrambling is required to reach the rock above.
8. The rock above here is one of my favourite ascents. The rock provides a fun and exciting mountain adventure playground. There is now a few hundred metres of steep and knobbly rock which you have to scramble up to reach the narrowing ridge crest before eventually topping out on the airy eastern summit of Crib Goch.
9. The eastern summit is not the highest point on Crib Goch but it is the one place that everyone takes a breather before tackling the knife edge ridge that now leads off to the south west. The views on a good day from here show your entire route ahead and it really is an awesome sight.
10. This incredible knife edge ridge provides an exhilarating experience you will never forget. If you get jelly legs like myself then you can step down slightly to the left and use the top of the ridge as a hand rail. Please be patient of people who are less experienced than yourself if you are confident in your own ability, hell I can think of worse place to be queueing!
11. After around a hundred and fifty metres along the knife edge ridge you will realise you are at the highest point of the ridge and the true summit of Crib Goch at 923 metres above sea level. Actually that is a lie you probably will just cross over it with such immense concentration that you won't even notice it!
12. Another a hundred metres you will come to the end of the knife edge ridge and reach The Pinnacles. There are three rock pinnacles here and you can either be extremely brave and scramble over them or take the easier route down to the left slightly and around them. This may sound easy but does also still involve some steep hands on scrambling down to a gully where you bypass the first two pinnacles.
13. Once you pass the first two pinnacles and cross the gully climb up the other side to round the final pinnacle and eventually reach the flat open col of Bwlch Coch. Looking north over the steep cliffs here you get a great view in to the desolate Cwm Uchaf and the tiny Llyn Glas. The views across to Y Lliwedd's twin peaks and Snowdon's pointy summit are also captivating.
14. Continue in the same direction west along the path and on to the eastern ridge of Garnedd Ugain. There are some fairly hands on scrambles along this ridge too though none as exposed as Crib Goch. Make sure you stick to the top of the ridge and don't start heading to the left. As you get closer to Garnedd Ugain you may hear people ascending a steep path to your right from the Clogwyn y Person scrambling route.
15. Pass the huge buttress of rock to your right and continue your ascent towards Garnedd Ugain. After a while the path starts to get much easier and you find yourself on top of a wide grassy plateau with a white trig pillar marking its highest point on Garnedd Ugain.
16. From Garnedd Ugain's summit trig pillar head south west for around three hundred and fifty metres to join up with the busy Llanberis Path. Head left and after just twenty metres you will find yourself at the Finger Stone on Bwlch Glas which marks the top of the Pyg Track and Miners Track.
17. Continue south ascending the main path with the railway on your right. After just half a kilometre you will reach the summit. The modern Hafod Eryri Summit Shelter is of course the first thing that you will see. The actual summit point is reached by a few steps up to the wide stone cairn behind the building. The summit cairn has a fantastic brass plaque pointing out the surrounding mountains.
18. No matter what your opinion is of this busy mountain there is no denying it has some incredible views on a clear day. From the summit on a really clear day you can see as far as the Isle of Man and even Ireland! The most impressive views are those close by though to the rest of Snowdonia and Snowdon itself with its many ridges and glacial cwms.
19. If you want a real sense of achievement look back across to Crib Goch knowing that you came up the mountain the hard way! Looking south east off the summit you will see the second half of the horseshoe, the impressive ridge and twin peaks of Y Lliwedd.
20. From the summit of Snowdon follow a path that leads in a South West direction away from the summit buildings. This path is a combination at this point of the Rhyd Ddu, South Ridge and Watkin Paths. After around two hundred metres you will reach a standing stone that marks the top of the Watkin Path.
21. Turn left at the standing stone to start the steep scree at the end of the Watkin Path ascent route. Of all the routes up or down Snowdon this steep unstable scree slope is by far the worst. Don't be too surprised if you end up on your backside a few times. Look out for fossils in the rocks here too, I have have seen some fascinating fossils while disturbing these rocks.
22. The Watkin Path gets its name from Sir Edward Watkin a Victorian entrepreneur who retired to a chalet in Snowdonia in the late nineteenth century. He created the path from the quarry below and it became the first dedicated public footpath in Britain.
23. After the long arduous scree slope you will eventually reach the col known as Bwlch y Saethau that lies between Snowdon and Y Lliwedd. The path continues towards Y Lliwedd. The path splits in two before reaching Y Lliwedd, at this point carry on heading towards Y Lliwedd, ignoring the Watkin Path which continues its descent off right towards Cwm Llan.
24. From the foot of Y Lliwedd looking up at the route ahead it does look like quite forboding but the path zig zags its way up the ridge with ease through the boulders and scree and reaches the summit sooner than you would expect.
25. Y Lliwedd actually has two summit peaks, the first you will come to is the West Peak at 898 metres above sea level the highest of the two. From here follow the crest of the ridge to the slightly lower East Peak, at 893 metres above sea level high. Descend the crest of the ridge in a westerly direction to Lliwedd Bach.
26. From Lliwedd Bach head north east for just under half a kilometre to reach a col. Head left on a northerly direction towards Llyn Llydaw. On a clear day there is a great panoramic view of the Crib Goch ridge where you can spot the tiny silhouettes of other walkers tackling the knife edge ridge.
27. The path reaches the shores of Llyn Llydaw before eventually reaching the busy Miners Track. At the Miners Track turn right and an easy two kilometre stroll along the track will take you back to the Pen-y-pass car park at the start of the walk.
28. Pen-y-pass has toilet facilities and a great cafe plus there is of course always the town of Llanberis on your way home where there are many places to eat and drink including the famous Pete's Eats.

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