Twunts

A Twunt, if you didn't know, is apparently a small bird that only inhabits parts of Snowdonia...Iolo told us on the telly. And with this word in mind, myself and 8 fellow 'Twunt Spotters' set off for a couple of days clambering over the rocky crags of the Glyders and Moel Siabod in late March.

I booked wall to wall sunshine for the weekend (only £9..99 at http://www.michaelfish.co.uk/) and it made for great walking weather. We arrived at the Ogwen Valley around 10am on Sat March 24th. Tryfan was our first stop and it was inevitably busy. See if you can spot all 87 people on this photo at the base of the north ridge.

But, I've no problem with crowds, and to be honest, the North Ridge of Tryfan is pretty vast and until you reach the narrower section higher up, you can lose most of the crowds. Some of the lads struggled a bit, even though the pace was slow. But they were there having a go and didn't give up.

It probably took two hours to reach the summit after many breaks. The Summit WAS busy. But Adam and 'Steve', the two famous boulders at the very highest point, were not attracting many 'jumpers'. So, Ian, myself and Beggy all took the plunge and did the jump between the two for the freedom of Tryfan. This now means we can go to Tryfan and climb it anytime we want. Of course, so can anybody else.

Without wanting to name any of the others who bottl..., I mean, didnt fancy doing the jump, I'll just say that it was Chopper, Nicholls, Gapper, Klampitt and Manley. Cowardly Twunts.

Down into the bwlch and then to Bristly Ridge, a first time scramble for all of us. Sinister Gully looked awesome from the bottom! After 10 metres or so Klampitt decided it wasn't for him and he was going to turn back and amble down past Llyn Bochlwyd. Gapper decided to join him, so the rest of us pushed on.

I have to say that Bristly Ridge is a fantastic scramble. Slightly more technical than Tryfan's North Ridge, but still within many people's capabilities. the gully is the hardest bit, get through that and it's easier towards the top.

We stopped at the top of Glyder Fach and did the touristy photos on the cantilever and we also did our first 'For Luca' shot near the summit. More on this later if you are confused.

A quick descent of Y Gribin (without spotting a single Twunt) and we were back at the car and ready to head into Betws-Y-Coed for grub and beer. We stayed at the Vagabond Bunkhouse which is reasonably priced, clean, and recommended. As is the wonderful Bochlwyd Horseshoe.

Day two to follow.