Pen Yr Ole Wens southern flanks, are the steepest continual climb in the whole of Snowdonia, probably Wales as well.
A very steep gradient, for over 2000ft, there's no let up, and its very easy to get yourself into trouble, by venturing onto challenging ground, where scrambling becomes an all out rock climb.
I found this out, many years ago, where i ventured off the poorly defined scree path, and foolishly started to clamber up a steep bit of rock face, which looked easy from below, but became serious half way up.
How i got back down, i still do not know, but i am not ashamed to say i was in tears due to the perilous situation i put myself in.
I’ve only done this path twice.
The first time, I expected the worst, and although it was a very steep pull, I got up, out of breath, but with a tremendous sense of achievement. I then went on and enjoyed what is a beautiful ridge walk in perfect conditions.
The second time, I made the mistake of confusing a clear but windy (50mph) day as being another cake-walk.
The first third was difficult, but once I got to the scree section and above, it was really unpleasant. Not only was there dust being thrown in my face, I also got slightly lost in the scrambly section above the scree. There’s a lot of crumbly, loose rock there. Very difficult terrain. It wouldn’t surprise me if I made a similar mistake. I was not happy.
To make matters worse, once I got past that and it levelled off towards the top, the wind howled at gale force for the next hour or so of walking. Such a beautiful spot, but very wild.
Looking at my map tracks, it’s difficult to tell, but I think it’s better to stay on the east side of the direct line, whilst avoiding the most direct route. I’m not sure I could remember the way, as there’s not really a path after the scree section.