The Tryfan challenge

For all nature loving adrenaline junkies and thrill seekers out there consider a trip to Snowdonia. Or more specifically, a trip up the explosion of rocks that are Tryfan and the adjacent Glyders. These mountains are often overlooked in favour of neighbouring Snowdon but are a very rewarding alternative to the famous peak, offering climbs up rock faces and scrambles up steep scree slopes amid some of the most challenging terrain in Britain. And if that’s not enough, tradition dictates that the hardiest of souls take a death-defying leap across two column-like rocks that adorn the tiny summit of Tryfan.

Bob and I spent last weekend in the Welsh mountains, fuelled by a desire to detox and have 48 hours in the countryside with only the most essential items. It takes about 4 1/2 hours from London and it’s not until you get onto the A5 past Shrewsbury that the route becomes interesting. From Llangollen it begins to wind through rolling forest, past low lying hills and picturesque Welsh villages to Betws-y-coed, famous for its old iron bridge and ‘ugly house’, and gateway to the mountains.

On the Sunday, under cloudless skies and tingling with a mix of adventure and fantasy of Tolkienian proportions, we parked up at the foot of Tryfan at the east end of lake Llyn Ogwen that lines the valley floor (according to legend the final resting place of King Arthur’s Excalibur) between the Glyders and the Carneddau range. There is no gentle introduction to Tryfan. From the lay-by it’s a thigh burning two hour climb to the peak. The start is steep but with a defined route; after a while this changes to a mix of scree, sheer rock and thicket tufts with no obvious path. There are many ways to the top and all of them will have nerve jangling moments involving thin ledges, scrambling and rock climbing.

The summit is a small expanse of craggy rock that’s only big enough for a few groups of walkers at a time. Its main attractions are ‘Adam and Eve’, two boulders that stand three metres high and about a metre apart, visible from the valley floor where they look like human figures. It’s common to see brave souls jump from one to the other to gain the ‘freedom of Tryfan’, although I never mustered the courage to get that honour.

Tryfan sticks into the sky like a jagged dome. From the A5 past Llyn Ogwen it stood noble and sublime in the perfect weather we had that day, separated from the ‘bristling ridge’ at the start of the Glyders by the Bwlch Tryfan pass. But the mountain has been labelled one of the most challenging walks in mainland Britain and has claimed several lives over the last few years, most recently in April this year. Although this is a great and thrilling climb, walkers beware: treat Tryfan with caution and the utmost respect.

Join the campaign for a political debate

This week, as the party conference season gets under way, the choice that we, the electorate, face is becoming ever more apparent and even more immediate.

In just under eight months, the UK will get the chance to choose its next leader in a General Election. This time, there’s no opportunity for the Prime Minister to change his mind about calling a ballot or dilly-dally over the timescale because, the fact is, he is required to do so. So, this final conference season before the next election is crucial for all the parties in contention.

The party conference is a particularly good opportunity for the Liberal Democrats whose leader, Nick Clegg, is all but anonymous in the public consciousness. Since his election as party leader two years ago, Clegg has failed to register with the electorate in any significant way and his party has remained stagnant. The coverage of the LibDem conference will provide Clegg with a timely chance to raise his profile, if not his poll ratings, and give him a head start in what will undoubtedly be an upward struggle in the run-up to next May.

For the Conservatives, who will descend on Manchester the week after next, the issue is not to increase their visibility but to build upon it. Cameron is clearly regarded as the prime minister in waiting by the media. No one seriously doubts that the Conservatives will win the election come next spring. The Tory task is to further enhance and reinforce their standing with the electorate and showcase concrete policies that will enable voters to visualise them as a party of power rather than a party that’s been in opposition for the last 12 years.

As for Labour, well, there’s an air of predictability about the party’s Brighton conference because even the Labour faithful know that they have little chance, short of a miracle, of reversing the poll trends, though there’s doubt that their defeat will be as big as has been predicted. So, we’ll wait and see what Mandy and co. can pull out of the box in this pre-election platform.

Incidentally, Sky News is running a campaign to get the three main party leaders to take part in the first ever televised debate of prime ministerial contenders. This format, which is new in the UK campaigning arsenal, is the norm in American and German politics where the aspiring heads of government go head-to-head live on TV before huge viewing audiences. So far, Cameron and Clegg have said yes to Sky’s invitation and their eagerness to face-off with each other and, more importantly, Gordon Brown is hardly surprising. Both have everything to gain from the encounter. The debate will undoubtedly attract record numbers of viewers, if nothing else because of natural curiosity because it’s a first, and both leaders will get the chance to reach voters their party machines couldn’t possibly reach by themselves. And Cameron would have to perform disastrously to lose the sizeable poll lead and translate this to electoral defeat.


In contrast, Brown’s reluctance to agree to take part in the debate is understandable and even laudable. He has more to lose than his opponents, although some would argue not much more considering how low his poll ratings are. Perhaps things can only get better for Brown since they can’t get any worse? Nevertheless, Brown is not a natural performer and politics is as much about presentation as it is about policy.

So, what will this election be fought on? Hopefully, the issues since the personalities are virtually non-existent: public spending cuts, the economy, the environment, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan… the list goes on.

A televised debate is unlike the traditional Party Political Broadcast in that the aspiring PMs won’t be talking at the electorate but talking to them, guided by the debate chair whose task it will be, not only to ask the questions but to demand the answers that the public want to hear. It provides a unique opportunity to hear and see just what the candidates can do for you as an individual and the country at large.

You can sign Sky News’s online petition for a television debate by going to www.sky.com/leadersdebate.