Clogwyn Du'R Arddu

Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, on the north flank of Snowdon, is considered by many to be one of the best climbing cliffs in Britain. It is north-facing and comparatively remote (700m above sea level). The name is Welsh and probably means "cliff of the black bear" or "Arthur's cliff", Arddu being the Welsh name for Arthur, itself deriving from the Welsh words arth, (bear) and du (black). It lends its name to Clogwyn station on the Snowdon Mountain Railway which overlooks it. Climbers who have contributed to the many high-quality routes on the cliff included John Streetly Jack Longland, Ron James, Colin Kirkus, Joe Brown, Don Whillans, and Johnny Dawes. First recorded ascentThe first recorded climb on the cliff was the 1798 ascent of the Eastern Terrace by Peter Bailey Williams and William Bingley, botanists looking for alpine plants. The latter wrote: General historyThe north facing cliff is regarded as the premier high-grade traditional mountaineering crag in the United Kingdom. Clogwyn Du'r Arddu combines the steepness, size, seriousness and quality of rock which it shares with the likes of Carn Dearg on Ben Nevis, but unlike the Scottish cliff maintained a continuous record of having the most difficult climbs from the 1930s to the 2000s.

Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, on the north flank of Snowdon, is considered by many to be one of the best climbing cliffs in Britain. It is north-facing and comparatively remote (700m above sea level). The name is Welsh and probably means "cliff of the black bear" or "Arthur's cliff", Arddu being the Welsh name for Arthur, itself deriving from the Welsh words arth, (bear) and du (black). It lends its name to Clogwyn station on the Snowdon Mountain Railway which overlooks it. Climbers who have contributed to the many high-quality routes on the cliff included John Streetly Jack Longland, Ron James, Colin Kirkus, Joe Brown, Don Whillans, and Johnny Dawes. First recorded ascentThe first recorded climb on the cliff was the 1798 ascent of the Eastern Terrace by Peter Bailey Williams and William Bingley, botanists looking for alpine plants. The latter wrote: General historyThe north facing cliff is regarded as the premier high-grade traditional mountaineering crag in the United Kingdom. Clogwyn Du'r Arddu combines the steepness, size, seriousness and quality of rock which it shares with the likes of Carn Dearg on Ben Nevis, but unlike the Scottish cliff maintained a continuous record of having the most difficult climbs from the 1930s to the 2000s.