Book Review

Scrambles ln Snowdonia (3rd Edition, 2017)

Review by Dave Brown

ISBN: 978 1 852848903 Published by Cicerone Press. www.cicerone.co

Written by Steve Ashton, updated by Carl McKeating and Rachel Crolla

This, the third edition of the iconic, classic scrambling guide book, has been fully updated and revised for the first time.

ln this new edition, the established favourites have been augmented by the addition of 16 new routes, plenty for the scrambling and mountaineering connoisseurs to get their teeth into if they’ve ticked off the original routes The first edition of this book, published in 1980, pioneered the widespread grading system, a system still employed to the current day, allowing the reader and participant to choose and explore the various corners and levels of adventure of Snowdonia that make it so majestic.

The updating authors made the decision to relocate 5 of the original book’s routes to an update section on Cicerone’s website, freeing up room for some of the 16 new routes, all of which are in keeping with the very heart of the scrambling ethic of seeking adventures on the best lines in less explored areas; some of which will make you wonder why they haven’t been included previously.

The 80 route descriptions are still graded according to difficulty and have the addition of the climbing guidebook star rating system, depicting subjective qualitative assessment. What is very clear, immediately upon picking up and opening the book is that there has been considerable research done to ensure the update is to the highest quality throughout photos throughout, photo topos with very clear depiction of the preferred ascent lines, descent descriptions and easy to interpret map sections, courtesy of the Ordnance Survey.

All 80 routes can be found in appendix A, which is a very useful grade ordered tabular index, allowing easy reference and choosing of route for the grade of adventure being sought. For those seeking something a little extra, a bigger day perhaps, then appendix B suggests a few 'link-ups' to whet the appetite.

Scrambles in Snowdonia provides a timeless volume of information on exploring the National Park with the highest mountain in England and Wales for both the adventurous walker with a head for heights through to the skilled mountaineer looking for inspirational days or challenging routes to train on for even bigger adventures. The scenery of Snowdonia is outstanding and is captured exceedingly well in the pictures and topos of this book.

Each of the scrambles has been grouped into its own mountain region chapter, making it easy to identify a valley base or starting point at which to begin your scrambling adventures.

This scrambling guide allows you to enjoy Snowdonia's spectacular views and renowned summits in varying degrees of difficulty and adventure, a useful planning guide and mountain guidebook.

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