Slopes of Glyder Fawr, Afon Nant Peris far below - geograph

is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

Snowdonia Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951. Name and extent It was a commonly held belief that the na ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, the highest peak in 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 word ...

range at just over 1,000 metres, having had its height recalculated in 2010 using

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

. It is the fifth-highest mountain in Wales and has several walking and scrambling routes leading to its summit. According to Sir

Ifor Williams Sir Ifor Williams, (16 April 1881 – 4 November 1965) was a Welsh scholar who laid the foundations for the academic study of Old Welsh, particularly early Welsh poetry. Early life and education Ifor Williams was born at Pendinas, Tregarth near ...

, the word "" derives from the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

word "", meaning a heap of stones.

Geography

Glyder Fawr is part of the

mountain range which lies to the northeast of the

Snowdon massif The Snowdon Massif or Yr Wyddfa massif is one of the three mountain groups in Snowdonia (), north Wales, to include mountains over 3,000 feet (914 m) high. It occupies the area between Beddgelert, Pen-y-Pass and Llanberis. It is surroun ...

, separated from that mountain by the Llanberis Pass and the Nant Peris Valley. Going from west to east, the Glyderau range consists of

Elidir Fawr Elidir Fawr is a mountain in Snowdonia, north Wales, the northernmost peak in the Glyderau. Its name means 'Big Elidir', named after a legendary warrior king of the 6th century also known as Eliffer Gosgorddfawr (Elidir of the Great Army). To ...

(), Y Garn (), Glyder Fawr (),

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 ...

() and

Tryfan Tryfan ) is a mountain in the Ogwen Valley, Snowdonia, Wales. It forms part of the Glyderau group, and is one of the most recognisable peaks in Britain, having a classic pointed shape with rugged crags. At above sea level, it is the fifteenth ...

(). To the north of the range lie the

Carneddau The (lit. 'the cairns'; is a Welsh plural form, and is sometimes anglicised to ''Carnedds'') are a group of mountains in Snowdonia, Wales. They include the largest contiguous areas of high ground (over or high) in Wales and England (although l ...

, separated from the Glyderau by the

Ogwen Valley Dyffryn Ogwen, or Ogwen Valley, is a valley mostly located in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. The upper section of the valley, east of Llyn Ogwen, lies in the county of Conwy. Geography The valley lies to the south of Bangor. It is bordered on ...

and the Nant Ffrancon Valley. The Glyderau are separated from the surrounding mountain ranges making them stand out clearly from afar and giving them commanding views of the surrounding peaks and valleys. Until late 2010, most maps showed the height of Glyder Fawr to be ; however, the mountain was resurveyed with accurate

equipment and its height was found to be . A spokesman from the

Snowdonia National Park Authority Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951. Name and extent It was a commonly held belief that the nam ...

was pleased by the new height, and suggested that now the mountain exceeded 1,000 m, it was sure to attract more walkers to the area. The Glyderau range was formed about five hundred million years ago, when two land masses collided, causing the Snowdonia

massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

to rise up. Since then, wind, water and frost, and the advance and retreat of

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...

s during the

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

s have gradually worn down the mountains to their present proportions. The underlying rock is a mixture of volcanic and sedimentary material. The ice sheet of the most recent ice age retreated about ten thousand years ago leaving

Cwm Idwal Cwm Idwal is a cirque (or corrie) in the Glyderau range of mountains in northern Snowdonia, the national park in the mountainous region of North Wales. Its main interest is to hill walkers and rock climbers, but it is also of interest to geologist ...

as an example of a cirque. The ice scarred the surrounding cliffs, hollowed out the bed of

Llyn Idwal Llyn Idwal is a small lake (approximately 800 m by 300 m, or 28 acres) that lies within Cwm Idwal in the Glyderau mountains of Snowdonia. It is named after Prince Idwal Foel, a grandson of Rhodri Mawr, one of the ancient Kings of Wale ...

and dumped rocks and other material that formed

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice shee ...

s at its foot. Massive boulders and shattered rocks crashed down from above to form the boulder fields and

scree Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. Talus deposits typically ...

s visible today.

Routes to the summit

The summit can be accessed from several directions: one route starts at Ogwen Cottage on the shores of

and approaches the mountain from the north; another starts at Pen-y-Pass and approaches it from the south; another possibility is to approach it from the east along the ridge from Glyder Fach. Although there is much shattered stone near the summit of Glyder Fach, the ridge between the two summits is fairly level and easy going. A scrambling, circuit route encompasses the three summits of Tryfan, Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr and takes six or seven hours. One of the most popular routes from Ogwen Cottage follows the shore of Llyn Idwal to the base of the famous Rhiwiau Caws (Idwal Slabs) rock climbing crag, it then makes its way out of the cwm via the steep Twll Du path, arriving at a small lake called Llyn Y Cŵn. From here a steep scree path ascends the western shoulder to the summit of Glyder Fawr.

Management

The

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

took over the management of the Glyderau and the

in 1951 in lieu of

death duties An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died. International tax law distinguishes between an es ...

on the Penrhyn Estate. The total area is about 7,000 hectares, half of which is

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect Wood fuel, wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

with registered grazing rights for 45,000 sheep and 741 ponies. There are eight tenanted farms on the estate, and the National Trust is responsible for the maintenance of footpaths and drystone walls, some of which date back many hundreds of years. The two mountain ranges form part of the

Snowdonia National Park Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951. Name and extent It was a commonly held belief that the nam ...

References

External links

* Computer generated summit panorama
NorthSouth
* Walking Route up Glyder Fawr via Tryfa
Walk Eryri

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Glyder Fawr
{{British hills Hewitts of Wales Marilyns of Wales Nuttalls Mountains and hills of Snowdonia Tourism in Gwynedd Mountains and hills of Conwy County Borough Landmarks in Wales Furths Mountains and hills of Gwynedd Capel Curig Llanberis Llandygai One-thousanders of the British Isles