Tryfan - Grooved Arete

The Grooved Arete climb on Tryfan is one of the most popular multi-pitch climbs in the UK. Graded HVD or Hard Very Difficult, it’s got some serious british 4a moves, sometimes made harder by the increasingly polished rock. This site tends to avoid the grade HVD, opting to downgrade to VDiff or up to Severe. In this instance Severe is the better grade. Grooved Arete is a lovely outing and is described in The Long Routes book, as one of the best of Snowdonia's classic mountaineering rock climbs. Certainly it’s a quality route, but less popular locations like Lliwedd, offer routes just as good without the crowds. Polish aside, the Grooved Arete climb on Tryfan has an interesting mix of climbing, with enough gear options to feel comfortable. The hike in and hike / scramble out are reasonably lengthy and steep. Typically taking more than an hour. The Knights slab was the traditional crux when done in hobnailed boots, but with rock shoes pitches 1, 6 and 8 all offer comparably tricky moves.

The Route Topography

This is the route Grooved Arete on Tryfan in Conwy, Wales. It represents 240m of Rhyolite rock climbing, usually over 9 pitches, of a max grade of HVD 4a. Clicking the image will load the full screen high resolution Grooved Arete climb topo.

Original Image: The Bald Scrambler

Approach & Descent Information

Approach: Finding the start of the route, or the path beneath the route called the heather terrace, is not the easiest. From the roadside parking (53.1252100,-3.99056583) before Lynn Ogwen (Lake Ogwen) when traveling from the east / Capel Curig, take a path that leads past the base of Little Tryfan (flat Pyramid crag ~50m heigh). The path then cuts right, but is often overgrown, hard to find, or hard to distinguish from sheep paths or water runoff. There is a notch in a gully with the heather terrace behind and left of this (see photo). The Grooved Arete is reasonably far along the heather terrace. Guidebooks suggest a 45min approach in total. Many parties may find it takes more than an hour. GA is scratched in large letters in a prominent and highly polished corner. If you are unsure, you are in the wrong place. See photo.

Descent: There are multiple options for descent. None straightforward if you haven’t been to the mountain before. One option from the top of pitch 9, is to scramble with care on the right (facing in / west) back down to the end of pitch 8. From here a rightward (facing in) path leads via scrambling back down the south ridge to either the heather terrace or other paths that can take climbers back towards the path to the road.

See Tryfan on the climb map Open climb location in Google Maps

Pitch By Pitch Information

Grooved Arete sees hundreds of sends a year with around half of these on the weekend (30% Sat, 19% Sun). If you prefer a quieter time, start very early or climb in the week, with Wednesday (8%) being the quietest based on logbook data.
Pitch 1 –35m 4a: Climb the polished corner, trending left at the top of corner, then move up the main rib on easier ground and belay before the next rib, on the left, just below a large pillar.
Pitch 2 –30m 4a: Move slightly left into the grove and climb up this using the right hand arete / edge. At a small edge about half way, step left and make a long reach (cruxy - especially so if shorter) upwards from polished footholds. Then carry on to belay below a small overhang.
Pitch 3 –20m : Pass the overhang on the right and continue easily up to make a stance at the start of the terraces and ledges.
Pitch 4 & 5 –50m 3c: Walk right to another rib looking for ‘GA’ scratched in the rock again. Move up a short slab with an optional belay at the base of the grove or continue up pitch 5 via the groove, or rib on the right, to an uncomfortably small stance (especially when climbing in a 3).
Pitch 6 –25m 4a: Another contener for the crux, climb up the groove making tricky moves on polished footholds to exit it leftwards. Continue trending leftwards and upwards to the large (not that flat) ledge called the Haven. A belay can be made at the block at the top of this.
Pitch 7 –20m 4a: The Kinghts slab pitch moves up a crack then rightwards across the slab the around the corner to a little niche where a belay can be made.
Pitch 8 –20m 4a: Quite a burley and steep pitch on juggy holds. Move up and right into a steep corner. Climb this to a ledge with some large blocks. It’s possible to scramble off from here.
Pitch 9 –20m 4a: Another pitch with a good mix of different moves needed to ascend. Starting on the Quartz topped block, climb up to the top.

References & additional links

The following links will take you to external websites specifically related to this climb: Grooved Arete on Tryfan.
Note: They contained relevant information at the time of publishing.

Climb Info: ⭐ Incredible topo of the Tryfan East Face ⭐

Climb Info: UKC Page