At a smidge over 914m (3,000ft), Tryfan may only be the 15th highest mountain in Wales but it's à a peak that has achieved cult status. Aside from its associations with legendary climbers George Mallory and Edmund Hillary, much of the attraction lies in the fact that you can't simply walk up it. Once you get near the top, you're going to have to scramble.
With a summit that can be seen from the A5 as it wiggles through Eryri (Snowdonia), many a day-tripper has been tempted into underestimating Tryfan. But even experienced walkers can come a-cropper here, so I decide to go up with local mountain enthusiast Hero Douglas. I am in good hands. A native Welsh speaker and professional harpist, Hero combines studying for a PhD with mountain guiding and membership of the Sefydliad Achub Mynydd Dyffryn Ogwen (Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation).
Weather forecast duly checked, we choose the most popular route up, starting at the National Trust ranger base at Ogwen Cottage. It's far easier to climb Tryfan in summer when there's no danger of snow.
Our hike begins gently enough, crossing over a footbridge in the warm sunshine, before following a wellmaintained stone path.
"It's a great adrenaline rush," Hero says when I ask her why she likes to climb mountains. "They're where I go to think, to reconnect with some primal need within me. And I've always really enjoyed that sense of pushing myself physically to go up, and then the glorious air at the top and the view."
Having grown up in the nearby village of Capel Curig, Tryfan (pronounced TRUH-van) is an old friend. However, she treats the mountain with a good deal of respect. "The most common call-outs are for people getting lost or twisting their ankle. But in two-and-a-half years on the mountain rescue team, I've also been called out to seven fatalities, five of them in the Tryfan area."
Denne historien er fra August 2024-utgaven av BBC Countryfile Magazine.
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Denne historien er fra August 2024-utgaven av BBC Countryfile Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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We Are an Island Nation - So Let's Protect Our Seas - Living in the UK makes us islanders and personally I'm proud of that definition - not in any political or jingoistic sense, but simply because I love the sea and in this country we are totally surrounded by it.
Living in the UK makes us islanders and personally I'm proud of that definition - not in any political or jingoistic sense, but simply because I love the sea and in this country we are totally surrounded by it. We live inside thousands of miles of coastline, in a nation whose borders were created by nature and made us what we are.
Discover Jurassic Coast - With its towering cliffs, sweeping beaches and pretty seaside towns, the shoreline of Dorset and east Devon is spectacular.
With its towering cliffs, sweeping beaches and pretty seaside towns, the shoreline of Dorset and east Devon is spectacular. Jo Caird fossicks for fossils and dramatic rock formations. It's an auspicious start to my journey along the Jurassic Coast. This 95-mile stretch of shore mostly in Dorset, but nudging just into east Devon - is blessed with awe-inspiring geological formations and fossil deposits that have garnered it recognition as England's only natural UNESCO World Heritage Site. Snaking east from Orcombe Point near Exmouth to Old Harry Rocks near Swanage, it's studded with monumental rock arches, seemingly endless shingle beaches and fossil beds from which treasures were prised that altered our understanding of prehistory.
Viking shores
We picture Vikings marauding coastal settlements, looting and raiding. But what was life really like in the Viking Age? Historian Eleanor Barraclough reveals what the ancient artefacts found on Britain's shores tell us about our formidable forebears
Sea horses
On Cornwall's coastal clifftops, Melanie O'Shea meets the hardy grazing ponies that are helping to restore the land, so nature can flourish once more
A wing and a prayer
From their desks at Boulmer, 1,000 RAF personnel watch the skies for airborne threats to the country. Yet beyond the concrete of the base, vulnerable birdlife flourishes - thanks to the hard work of a small team
Cast in bone
Cuttlefish bones washed up on our shores have been used to make jewellery since ancient times. Jo Caird meets a craftswoman who's keeping the art alive on the Kent coast
EDIBLE SEAWEEDS
An ancient food harvested by humans for millennia, seaweeds bring an intense and rich flavour of the sea to a wide range of dishes, as well as essential mind-and-body-boosting nutrients
Spines and sulky faces
Watch where you put your feet at the beach - a weever fish could be lurking
Sea stars
The playful performances of Britain's bottlenose dolphins attract avid fans - but they deserve personal space
Harris's wildly beautiful beach
Cornwall may pull in the crowds, but one Hebridean strand stuns visitors
