Snowdon: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

This article is about the mountain. For Lord Snowdon, see Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon.

Snowdon
Country:	Wales
Area:	Snowdonia
Translation:	Yr Wyddfa = The Tomb
Elevation:	1,085 m (3560 ft)
OS Grid Reference:	SH609544
OS Map(s):	115
Listing:	Marilyn, Hewitt

Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales, located in the Snowdonia National Park (Welsh: Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri) in the county of Gwynedd. Its summit rises to 1,085 m (3,560 feet) and is known as Yr Wyddfa (old Welsh: "the grave/tomb"). The whole park is very popular with tourists, especially for hiking, and Snowdon is understandably the greatest attraction.

The Snowdon range has six long ridges: these are steep and rocky to the north and east; shallower and grassy, but wild and remote to the south and west. There are many cwms formed by glaciation in the ice age, some filled with lakes. Subsidiary summits include Garnedd Ugain (1,065 m), the knife-edge summit of Crib Goch (923 m), Y Lliwedd (898 m) and Yr Aran (747 m). Paths follows all the ridges, but the most popular route of ascent starts at Pen y Pass, the top of the Llanberis Pass, follows an old miner's track to Glaslyn (Welsh: "blue lake") and ascends zig-zags to Bwlch Glas ("blue pass").

For those who do not wish to walk, or to walk one way only, the Snowdon Mountain Railway (a rack railway) runs from Llanberis to the top. A restaurant and shop can be found attached to the station, just below the summit, offering those who have made their ascent by train the chance to purchase "I Climbed Snowdon" T-shirts.

The many steep cliffs in the Snowdon range are significant in the history of British rock climbing. The first recorded climb in the area was the 1798 ascent of the Eastern Terrace of Clogwyn Du'r Arddu ("the black cliff") by the Reverends Peter Williams and W. Bingley, botanists looking for alpine plants. The north face of Y Lliwedd was explored in the late 19th century and in 1909 was the subject of the first British climbing guide, The climbs on Lliwedd by J. M. A. Thompson and A. W. Andrews.

Snowdon is one of three British mountains climbed as part of the (National) Three Peaks Challenge.