The Llanberis Pass (; alternative English name, Pass of Llanberis) in

Snowdonia Snowdonia, or Eryri (), is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in North Wales. It contains all 15 mountains in Wales Welsh 3000s, over 3000 feet high, including the country's highest, Snowdon (), which i ...

carries the main road (A4086) from the south-east to

Llanberis Llanberis () is a village, community (Wales), community and electoral ward in Gwynedd, northwest Wales, on the southern bank of the lake and at the foot of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. It is a centre for outdoor activity, outdoor ac ...

, over

Pen-y-Pass Pen-y-Pass is a mountain pass in Snowdonia, Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is a popular location from which to walk up Snowdon, as three of the popular routes (the Miners Track, the Pyg Track and the ascent via Crib Goch) can be started here. ...

, between the mountain ranges of the

Glyderau The Glyderau (a Welsh plural form, also known in English as the Glyders) are a mountain group in Snowdonia, North Wales. The name derives from the highest peaks in the range, Glyder Fawr and Glyder Fach. According to Sir Ifor Williams, the w ...

and the

Snowdon Snowdon (), or (), is a mountain in Snowdonia in North Wales. It has an elevation of above sea level, which makes it both the highest mountain in Wales and the highest in the British Isles south of the Scottish Highlands. Snowdon i ...

massif. At the bottom of the pass is the small village of Nant Peris.

Geography

The Llanberis Pass lies between the mountain massifs of

and the

in the county of

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

, in northwestern Wales. The summit of the pass is above sea level, and is the site of the Pen-y-Pass Hotel, now a

Youth Hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory sleeping 4–20 people, with shared use of a lounge and usually a kitchen. Rooms can be private or shared - mixe ...

. The Nant Peris valley lies to the northwest descending to the town of

, the Llyn Peris and

Llyn Padarn Llyn Padarn is a glacially formed lake in Snowdonia, Gwynedd, north Wales, and is an example of a moraine dammed lake. The lake is approximately long (about ) and at its deepest point is deep, and is one of the largest natural lakes in Wales. ...

lakes and continues on as the

Afon Rhythallt The River Rhythallt (Welsh language, Welsh: Afon Rhythallt) is a river in Gwynedd, North Wales whose source is Llyn Padarn. It flows in a northwesterly direction past the village of Brynrefail, Gwynedd and changes its name to Afon Seiont downstre ...

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a List of place names with royal patronage in the United Kingdom, royal town, Community (Wales), community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. It has a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the easter ...

and the

Menai Strait The Menai Strait () is a strait which separates the island of Anglesey from Gwynedd, on the mainland of Wales. It is situated between Caernarfon Bay in the south-west and Conwy Bay in the north-east, which are both inlets of the Irish Sea. The s ...

. The valley is narrow, straight and steep-sided, with rocky crags and boulders on either side of the road. About one mile to the east of Pen-y-Pass is the

Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel Pen-y-Gwryd is a mountain pass, pass at the head of Nantygwryd and Nant Cynnyd rivers close to the foot of Snowdon in Gwynedd, Wales. The area is located at the junction of the A4086 road, A4086 from Capel Curig to Llanberis and Caernarfon and t ...

. To the east of this are the headwaters of the

Dyffryn Mymbyr Dyffryn Mymbyr is a valley in Snowdonia, in north-west Wales, approximately in length, and leading up from Capel Curig to the Pen-y-Gwryd hotel. The river Nantygwryd, originally called Y Mymbyr in Llywelyn the Great's charter of 1198, starts ...

, a tributary of the

River Llugwy River Llugwy () is a tributary of the River Conwy, and has its source at Ffynnon Llugwy, a lake in the Carneddau range of mountains in Snowdonia in north-west Wales. Location and catchment area The average annual rainfall in the catchment ...

which it joins at

Capel Curig Capel Curig (; meaning " Curig's Chapel") is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. Historically in Caernarfonshire, it lies in the heart of Snowdonia, on the River Llugwy, and has a population of 226, reducing slightly to 206 ...

. To the south of Pen-y-gwryd are the headwaters of the

Afon Glaslyn is a river in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. While not of great significance in terms of its length (about ), it is one of Gwynedd's primary rivers, and has greatly influenced the landscape in which it flows. It has its source in Glaslyn, a ci ...

which flows southwestwards towards

Beddgelert Beddgelert () is a village and community (Wales), community in the Snowdonia area of Gwynedd, Wales. The population of the community taken at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census was 460 (rounded to the nearest 10). This includes Nan ...

Rock climbing

Many fine crags are easily accessible from the road, and the area is very popular with

rock climber Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in guidebooks, and ...

s. On the north side, the principal crags are: Dinas y Gromlech (bearing the famous line of ''Cenotaph Corner''), Carreg Wastad (flat rock), Clogwyn y Grochan (these are together called the Three Cliffs); and further down the valley, Craig Ddu (black rock). On the south side, the principal 'roadside' cliff is Dinas Mot. The Cromlech Boulders are used for

bouldering Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or Climbing wall, artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or Climbing harness, harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers ...

. These roadside boulders were saved from destruction in a 1973 road widening scheme by a six-year protest by local people, climbers, historians, conservationists, and geologists. Climbers particularly associated with the area include

John Menlove Edwards John Menlove Edwards was born at Ainsdale, near Liverpool, England, on 18 June 1910, the son of a politically radical vicar, George Zachery Edwards, and his wife Helen. His father's cousin was Hewlett Johnson, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral. John M ...

(in the 1930s and 1940s), Joe Brown (in the 1950s and 1960s),

Ron Fawcett Ron Fawcett (born 6 May 1955) is a British rock climber and rock climbing author who is credited with pushing the technical standards of British rock climbing in traditional, sport, bouldering and free soloing disciplines, in the decade from the ...

and

Peter Livesey Pete Livesey (12 December 1943 to 26 February 1998), was an English rock climber who raised the standard of technical difficulty in traditional climbing in Britain during the early to mid-1970s. Livesey was renowned for the intensity and competi ...

(in the 1970s), and

Johnny Dawes Johnny Dawes (born 9 May 1964) is a British rock climber and author, known for his dynamic climbing style and bold traditional climbing routes. This included the first ascent of '' Indian Face'', the first-ever route at the E9-grade. His influe ...

Jerry Moffatt Jerry Moffatt (born 18 March 1963), is a British rock climber and climbing author who is widely considered as being the best British rock climber from the early-1980s to the early-1990s, and was arguably the best rock climber in the world in the ...

and

John Redhead ''Indian Face'' is a traditional climbing route on the rhyolite "Great Wall" of the East Buttress of Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, in Wales. When English climber Johnny Dawes completed the first free ascent of the route on 4 October 1986, it was graded ...

(in the 1980s). The British 1953 Mount Everest expedition also trained in the area, and were based at the

Pen-y-Gwryd Pen-y-Gwryd is a mountain pass, pass at the head of Nantygwryd and Nant Cynnyd rivers close to the foot of Snowdon in Gwynedd, Wales. The area is located at the junction of the A4086 road, A4086 from Capel Curig to Llanberis and Caernarfon and t ...

Hotel at the eastern end of the pass.

Access

At Pen-y-Pass there is a car park and a cafe, and three different footpaths set off up Snowdon, as well as two others to the east leading to the summits of

Glyder Fawr Glyder Fawr is a mountain in Snowdonia, Wales, the highest peak in the Glyderau range at just over 1,000 metres. It is the fifth-highest mountain in Wales and has several walking and scrambling routes leading to its summit. According to Sir I ...

and

Glyder Fach Glyder Fach is a mountain in Snowdonia, north-west Wales, and is the second highest of the Glyderau and the sixth highest in Wales. Routes to the summit lead from Tryfan and Bristly Ridge to the north, via Glyder Fawr from Pen-y-Pass to the ...

. the car park is usually full and a shuttle bus service from Llanberis, with a

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail transport, r ...

runs from near the Vaynol Arms. The Snowdonia Sherpa bus service network run by

Express Motors Express Motors was a bus and coach hire company based in Penygroes, Gwynedd. The company operated public bus services in the Caernarfon, Porthmadog, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Bangor and Llandudno areas, as well as long-distance TrawsCambria servi ...

and

GHA Coaches GHA Coaches was a bus and coach operator serving North East Wales, Cheshire, and Shropshire. It also operated bus services extending into Telford & Wrekin, Staffordshire, Gwynedd, and Merseyside. The operator ceased trading after entering adm ...

operates frequent services between

Betws-y-Coed Betws-y-Coed () is a village and community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The village is located near the confluence of the River Conwy and the River Llugwy and is on the eastern edge of Snowdonia. The population of the co ...

, Pen-y-Gwryd and Pen-y-Pass and also between Pen-y-Pass, Nant Peris (where there are park and ride facilities) and Llanberis.

References

External links

A Walk down the Llanberis Pass
{{coord, 53.0903, -4.0517, type:pass_region:GB, display=title Beddgelert Llanberis Mountain passes of Gwynedd Roads in Gwynedd Tourism in Gwynedd Mountain passes of Snowdonia Roads in Snowdonia Tourism in Snowdonia

Geography

Rock climbing

Access

See also

References

External links