Snowdonia Hike & Fly & Paralpinism
Over the last few years the weight of paragliding kit has reduced significantly, opening up new opportunities to combine it with walking, scrambling, climbing and skiing. A lightweight setup designed for descents rather than thermalling need not add more than a couple of kilos to a rucksack and can easily be packed in a 28 litre sack.
I started flying in 2018 and since then I have been exploring my home mountains of Snowdonia with fresh eyes. It is exciting to be combining routes that I know well on foot with free flight – seeking out take offs and landing sites that allow me to work with the wind in making an aesthetic outing. The idea of this page is to record my routes, partly for my own posterity and partly in the hope that it is useful to others wanting to do the same – when I started there was very little information available. I am not a paragliding instructor and don’t pretend to be an expert pilot – I am a climber who simply enjoys floating back down.
In April 2024 I flew off Crib Goch, taking off from Bwlch Goch which was as close to the summit as I think I can safely fly from. That was the last of the Welsh 3000ft mountains so I have now flown off them all.
This film documents my project: https://youtu.be/RMNDF9SRFhM?si=-GwwuI6LB5lOrR5K
Weather
On all of these routes I look for wind speeds of less than 10mph at take off and landing, I always try to take off and land into wind and I always want good visibility. Good weather resources are The Met Office and Windy.
A quick note on access
I generally try and use take off and landing sites that have existing access arrangements through the local club, Snowdonia Sky Sports. Inclusion on this page though does not mean that access for paragliding is allowed and I leave that to your discretion. The CROW Act which provides a “right to roam” in England & Wales does not allow access to open access land for the purposes of hang-gliding or paragliding. Certain areas are extremely sensitive. This map shows these areas and we would ask that they are avoided so that difficulties with landowners and potential site losses are avoided.
A quick note on risk
Paragliding, climbing and mountaineering are activities with a danger of personal injury or death. Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions.
Scramble Descriptions
I am not going into detail on the descriptions of the scrambles here. If you are not local and don’t know them already then my favourite guidebook is this one. Most scrambles mentioned are in this guidebook with good descriptions and photos.
I am slowly adding to this page as I explore more. If you spot any errors then please let me know and if you come up with cool trips yourself it would be great to hear about them. rob@expeditionguide.com
Contents
Walking Routes
Foel Lus
Moel Wnion & Elidir Fawr
Foel Lwyd
Foel Fras
Yr Elen
Carnedd Gwenllian
Foel Grach
Pen Yr Ole Wen
NE Ridge of Y Garn
Rhydd Ddu Path on Yr Wydffa (Snowdon)
Scrambling Routes in Snowdonia
Crib Lem Spur
North Ridge of Tryfan
Bristly Ridge
The Gribin
Dolmen Ridge
Penmaenbach Arete
Crib Goch & Crib y Ddysgl
Clogwyn Y Person Arete
Cneifion Arete
the routes
I have listed the routes roughly in terms of the walk/scramble difficulty, with the easiest routes at the top. Where take offs or landings are tight/tricky I make a mention of that in the text. Assume nothing though in terms of the flying elements – the wind on the day you visit will almost certainly be different to the day that I did!
Foel Lus – North Coast
Details
Wind: NW-N-NE
Ascent: Walking
Top to Bottom: 360m
Car to Car: 1 hour
One of my favourite quick routes for a summers evening. I park at the beach in Penmaenmawr and then walk up to the summit of Foel Lus via Mountain Lane. The take off is fine with any Northern element to the wind, from NW through to NE and I generally land on the beach. There are some definite no-go landing fields so check the site guide here.
Check the tides to land on the beach – you need to be 3 hours either side of high tide to have enough sand to land on.
Map
I have copied the map from the Snowdonia SkySports page as it shows the restricted areas where we should not land. (There have been issues in the past with the Police involved) The map shows parking at the top of Mountain Lane which can be used but you then have to walk back up unless you have a mate to share with.
Moel Wnion & Elidir Fawr
Both of these hills give hike and fly options. I am not going to go into much detail here as they are simple walks with top to bottom flights and all of the details are on the Snowdonia SkySports site here.
Moel Wnion is the most straightforward of the two as it has several large take off and landing options. It also has restrictions through the summer months so be sure to read the site guide.
Elidir Fawr gives a longer flight but timing is important to avoid the thermals generated by the quarries and the landing field is enclosed so this can feel more intimidating. Here is my Fatmap route for a nice walk up through the quarries to a grassy take off just below the summit.
Foel Lwyd – Northern Carneddau
Details
Wind: NW-N
Ascent: Walking
Top to Bottom: 225m
Car to Car: 2 hours
This was one of the first hills that I discovered for a gentle introduction to hike and fly. There are no formal access arrangements for flying so I avoid it if there are sheep that can be disturbed or if the farmers are gathering in the area. For me this is a walk from home but you can walk from anywhere in Llanfairfechan, aiming for the footpath that follows the Afon Ddu. This is a beautiful walk with views back out across the sea. There is a small grassy platform just below the summit that works for take off in N-NW winds and you can land anywhere at the bottom to walk back out the same way.
Map
The red line shows the walk up.
The orange wing shows the take off on the 550m index contour.
You can land anywhere near the blue square.
Foel fras – Carneddau
Details
Wind: NW-N-NE
Ascent: Bike & Hike
Car to Car: 3.5 hrs
My quest to fly off each of the Welsh 3000 summits took me up onto Foel Fras – which is actually the closest summit to home for me – but the flight itself was tiny – I only flew about 1km max but it was a good giggle. It is made easier by using a bike on the the approach as a good LandRover track runs all the way up Drum.
I left my bike there, walked up Foel Fras and flew back to my bike. I was loathe to go further because of the power cables that run the length of the Roman Road below Drum but I think on an Easterly you could get more of a flight if you flew down into the Conwy Valley. I will do it at some point and update this page – if you do it, let me know!
Yr Elen- Northern Carneddau
Details
Wind: NW-N
Ascent: Walking
Top to Bottom: 400-500m
Car to Car: 3.5 hours
Yr Elen is one of the quieter hills in the Snowdonia National Park. It probably gets most of its visitors as an outlier on the Welsh 3000 challenge, but even then not everyone bothers. It is nonetheless a beautiful hill and is very visible when looking across the Northern Carneddau from Anglesey. It is a pronounced dome with a steep top section and therefore makes a great paraglider launch. It is all hillwalking and has a nice flat top to lay out wings. We landed on the shoulder below the NW ridge at about 520m but Bryn was on a speedwing – I think with two mountain wings we could have got a fair bit lower.
Carnedd Gwenllian – Northern Carneddau
I doubt I would have gone for a walk up Carnedd Gwenllian if it were not for my project to try and fly off each of the Welsh 3000 summits. It actually made for a lovely day out though, a really nice circular hike and fly and it was a good reminder of the value of having a list 🙂
I parked in Bethesda and walked up over Gyrn Wigau and Dorsal, arriving at the summit of Gwenllian in thick cloud and rain – not what I had ordered. I dropped down the South West flanks, had a spot of lunch and then burned some calories trying to keep warn whilst I waited for the clouds to clear and the wind to drop. After about an hour and a half I got lucky and managed to dive out in a gap in the clouds. On a nicer day you could fly from close to the summit but be aware that the farmers in the landing valley are not super keen on paragliders if they get anywhere near their sheep.
Foel Grach- Northern Carneddau
Details
Wind: E
Ascent: Walking
Top to Bottom: 400-500m
Car to Car: 4 hours
Foel Grach is one of the 3000ft summits that sits hidden away in the Northern Carneddau. It is overshadowed by Carnedd Llewellyn really but it gives a nice walk in its own right if approached from the East. There is no scrambling route to the top and as a hike and fly option it makes very little sense but it was a lovely day out and why do we have to make sense 🙂 I did the route in December 2023 and there was snow on the tops and some wonderful reflections in Melynllyn – the last time I had been up there was on a search for a missing woman earlier in the year and so it was lovely to go back and leave some positive memories in the landscape.
Pen yr ole wen
Details
Wind: S-SE
Ascent: Walking
Top to Bottom: 550m
Car to Car: 3-4 hours
There are two main walking routes up Pen Yr Ole Wen from the Ogwen Valley. The nicest way is to head up the East Ridge, parking at the Eastern end of Llyn Ogwen. The other route heads up from the YHA at Idwal and is a complete slog with seemingly endless false summits!
My preference is to fly anything in the Ogwen Valley at the weekend as low flying jets regularly charge down it mid-week. It is also worth noting that the terrain funnels the wind so that with anything other than very light winds it is easy to be surprised by the strength in the valley. I flew off the summit of Pen Yr Ole Wen with a view to landing in Cwm Idwal. I had a light SE on the summit of Pen Yr Ole Wen but was getting thrown around in the Ogwen Valley to the point where I decided to land on the valley floor instead of flying into Cwm Idwal. I must go back on a smoother day and enjoy it!
The experience was enough to prompt me to do an SIV course later that year. I caught the train to Annecy and had a great couple of days with Flyeo pushing my wing far beyond anything that I have ever encountered in normal flight and giving my confidence a great boost.
Carnedd Llewellyn
I have flown this twice at the time of writing in May 2024 as after my first flight I wrote “This is one of the summits that I would like to go back and do again. On the day that I flew it the weather wasn’t great, I was on the summit in cloud and snow and I couldn’t fly from the very top. I walked up from the Ogwen Valley via Ffynnon Llugwy and was able to land pretty much back at the car. I would like to go back on a nice day and climb Amphitheatre Buttress and then fly down – that will give a much nicer route up. Watch this space :-)”
I have now been back and done exactly that – up Amphitheatre Buttress and then fly down from the summit of Llewellyn. I was on my Niviuk Code P whilst Bryn was on his speeding and we raced our friends Huw & Tom who ran the route. I filmed it and the adventure will be a segment in a film I am putting together of the Welsh 3000 project.
NE Ridge of Y Garn
Details
Wind: E
Ascent: Walking or there is a grade 2 scramble on the East Ridge
Top to Bottom: 550m
Car to Car: 2-3 hours
Y Garn gives a choice of routes to the summit to suit your appetite on the day. The NE Ridge is a pleasant hill walk whilst the East Ridge offers a grade 2 scramble.
Take off is just to the North of the summit where the NE ridge path joins the summit plateau. An updraft makes the take off less stressful as it is a reasonably committing forward launch. I have also taken off from the shoulder around the 800m contour when it was too windy to fly from the summit.
The landing is next to the lake in Cwm Idwal. Neither of these are formal flying sites.
Rhydd Ddu Path on Yr Wydffa (Snowdon)
To fly off the summit of Yr Wyddfa I decided to walk up the Rhdd Ddu path as this works well with a Westerly wind on the summit, allowing me to fly pretty much back to the car from the summit itself. I walked up on a February morning with light winds forecast, shifting from Northerly to Westerly as the morning went on. There was a dusting of fresh snow but nothing that required any winter kit so I was able to keep the rucksack nice and light 🙂
I found a nice grassy shoulder just below the summit cafe which allowed me to launch into Cwm Clogwyn. A slight breeze made take off simple and it had a nice run out. There was a choice of big landing areas back near the car park – hit the link on the left to my Fatmap route to see where I chose.
Crib Lem Spur, Carnedd Dafydd
Details
Wind: NW
Ascent: Grade 1 scramble.
Top to Bottom: 600m
Car to Car: 4 hours
The Crib Lem Spur gives a lovely grade 1 scramble in a beautifully wild setting and tops out on the summit of Carnedd Dafydd. With a light wind it is possible to take off near the summit itself, there are some patches of grass amongst the boulders to the North West. I have never fancied a forward launch over the boulders so on a nil wind day I walk down to the 750m index contour and take off from the grassy slope.
Landing is anywhere on the big flat grassy area shown on the map.
North Ridge of Tryfan
Details
Wind: NW
Ascent: The North Ridge of Tryfan is a grade 1 scramble but the mountain has a whole host of climbs and scrambles at all grades.
Top to Bottom: 500m
Car to Car: 2 hours
I headed up Tryfan with my wing 3 times before actually flying off it on the fourth attempt. The video link above shows the North Ridge scramble but not the flight as it was one of my abortive attempts! I seemed to get unlucky with the wind and the cloud each time I carried the wing up but I finally flew on the 7th Feb 2024 and I have included a link to my Fatmap route in the details on the left.
I have chatted with a local pilot who has flown from just below the summit and I remember seeing a YouTube video of someone flying from the summit over the East Face on a speed-wing. I decided that these were a bit too exciting for me and flew from the bottom of West Gully. This gives a really nice grassy slope for take off that faces into the valley winds with any sort of North to NW wind. I then chose to fly down into the Nant Ffrancon valley to extend the flight down which made for a stunning ride across Llyn Idwal but I was on constant lookout for planes and helicopters as this is a busy valley for military traffic. There are some large grassy fields in the valley bottom, perfect for landing a paraglider 🙂
Bristly Ridge, The Gribin & Dolmen Ridge, Glyder Fach
Details
Wind: S
Ascent: Bristly Ridge & The Gribin Ridges are both Grade 1 scrambles.
Dolmen Ridge is grade 3 with some rock climbing.
Top to Bottom: 520m
Car to Car: 3 hours
The same take off and landing can be combined with any of the scrambles on the Main Cliff on Glyder Fach. I have included the video of Dolmen Ridge as an example.
Bristly Ridge is a wonderful grade 1 scramble that finishes on the summit plateau of Glyder Fach. To tie this in with a paragliding descent I normally park next to the Pen Yr Gwryd Hotel (free parking in the lay-by that sits just over the border of the county of Conwy) and walk up via the Miners Track to Llyn Caseg Fraith. From there I cut down to the foot of Bristly Ridge.
Having enjoyed the scramble I traverse across Castell Y Gwynt and use the grassy col before Glyder Fawr as my take off.
The landing is on the grass next to the lay-by you parked in and you can land either side of the road. Mind the lake and don’t climb the fences.
The Gribin Ridge is an easier grade 1 scramble but doesn’t link so easily with the Miners Track so I tend to park in the Ogwen Valley and then hitch back from the Pen Yr Gwryd.
Penmaenbach Arete
Details
Wind: NW
Ascent: Grade 2 Scramble.
Top to Bottom: 225m
Car to Car: 1-2 hours
This is a handy little roadside scramble for a quick hit before or after work or when it is too windy up high. The scramble itself is nice when dry but I avoid it when it is damp as it is pretty slippy.
Penmaenbach is in the Snowdonia Skysports site guide here. (The sites guide offers alternative take offs for a NE wind and either take off is soarable with enough wind.)
Take off is in the heather and landing is on the beach. (If you can’t make the beach or the tide is in then the field at the bottom of the route has been used if there are no sheep).
crib goch & Garnedd Ugain – flying into the snowdon bowl
Details
Wind: SE
Ascent: Grade 1 Scramble.
Top to Bottom: 600m
Car to Car: 3-4 hours
Crib Goch is justifiably famous and I am sure needs no introduction here. I had long wanted to traverse it for sunrise and then fly back to the car and this was the day – although I wasn’t brave enough to land right at the car at Pen Y Pass car park.
Parking is at Pen Y Pass and during the summer months this has to be pre-booked. From November to March (ish) you can just turn up. Check out the National Park website for details.
The route is wonderful and then take off is from just below the summit of Garnedd Ugain on the SSE slopes. There is a nice grassy slope and you are in superb surroundings. You can also take off from Bwlch y Moch if you want to make a shorter day of it or perhaps tie in a route on Lliwedd.
We chose to land next to the pump house at Llyn Lydaw as Bryn was on a speedwing. He made the landing with height to spare. This option gives a nice short walk back to the car to savour the moment. I am told that if Crib Goch is soarable, and you pass over the Eastern end of the ridge above it, you can reach Llanberis on glide – I haven’t done this though.
Update: On the 20th April 2024 I flew from Bwlch Goch, launching in a light Northerly wind into the Llanberis Pass. I landed in Nant Peris which was as far as I could get on glide on my Nova Doubleskin. This was the last of the Welsh 3000 summits for me to fly from so felt like a cool thing to do. Bwlch Goch is as close to the summit of Crib Goch that I could happily take off from – if anyone gets closer then they are a lot braver than me 🙂 Here is my Fatmap Route.
The Clogwyn Y Person Arete, Garnedd Ugain – flying down to llanberis
Details
Wind: NW
Ascent: Grade 3 Scramble with rock climbing option.
Top to Bottom: Upto 1000m
Car to Car: 3-4 hours
The Clogwyn Y Person Arete is one of my favourite grade 3 scrambles and this is a wonderful outing for a sunrise start or a summers evening. If you prefer an easier scramble then the North Ridge of Crib Goch would give a similar outing but at grade 1.
I start in the Llanberis Pass and if you are doing an evening flight the best plan is to park in Llanberis and get the bus up the Pass. You can then finish easily at your car.
The take off is straightforward on a spacious grassy slope just below the summit of Garnedd Ugain. Each time I have then landed to the right (East) of the Llanberis Path but I am told that if you have the height to clear the Llechog/Tryfan ridge then you can make the playing fields landing in Llanberis. I haven’t done this yet! If landing next to the Llanberis Path be aware of access issues in the fields to the left – the farmer does not want paragliders on this land. I have shown the map from the Snowdonia Sky Sports site that sets this out clearly.
The Cneifion Arête, Glyder FAWR
Details
Wind: NW
Ascent: Grade 3 Scramble.
Top to Bottom: 320m
Car to Car: 1-2 hours
Another stunning grade 3 scramble but one that has claimed its fair share of experienced climbers over the years so treat it with respect. (If you are moving on from grade 1 scrambles go with a partner and use a rope. If you are a climber then you know the score). I normally combine the route with one of the scrambles by the Idwal Slabs to make more of the outing.
I know people who have taken off from the top of the route but my preference is to walk down a bit to the flat section on the ridge at 680m. This gives a less committing take off where it would be possible to abort if you needed to, as the grassy slopes have a run off. The take off from the top of the route is on much steeper ground so would need the right wind on it.
The landing is a boggy area of ground next to the footpath that you walked in on. It is also possible to land next to Llyn Idwal. Neither are recognised landing sites so be respectful as ever.
I have also flown from the summit plateau of Glyder Fawr in a light Northerly wind – flying around Cwm Cneifion and Cwm Idwal before landing below Clogwyn y Tarw.
Key
