The Ascent of Snowdon - The six classic routes up Snowdon (Electronic book text)

Snowdon is the highest peak south of Scotland in the UK. It certainly looks a mountain from all points of the compass. Five rocky ridges radiate from the summit. Between them are five dark cwms, mainly with sunless depths, that give a forbidding aspect to the approaches. For Snowdon has no sylvan graces. Once the valleys are left behind, it is a treeless waste. There is little heather on its slopes and the grey grass on its less stony sides gives scant nourishment to the hardy mountain sheep that roam on its barren sides. But there is a beauty in this wildness, and the many lakes that lie in its cwms and the small streams that run down into them help to relieve the stern landscape. After describing a tour round the mountain, this book gives details of the five well-marked regular paths up the mountain, the Mountain Railway and the famous Horseshoe Walk. It then deals with a few of the lesser used variations from the beaten track and then concludes with a few hints to budding hill walkers.