Snowdon

The highest mountain in Wales, UK - 1,085 m (3,560 ft)

Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales and the highest British mountain south of the Scottish Highlands, is perhaps the busiest mountain in Britain. It is located in Snowdonia National Park (Welsh: Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri). The summit is known as Yr Wyddfa, Welsh for "the tumulus"), and lies at an altitude of 1,085 m (3,560 ft) above sea level. As the highest peak in Wales, Snowdon is one of three mountains climbed as part of the National Three Peaks Challenge. The English name Snowdon comes from the Saxon "Snow Dun", meaning "snow hill", although the amount of snow on Snowdon in winter has been decreasing recently, having dropped by more than 55% since 1994. Snowdon has one of the wettest climates in Great Britain, receiving an annual average of more than 4,500 mm (180 in) of precipitation.

Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryriin) lies in Gwynedd county and Conwy county borough, northern Wales. It has an area of 838 square miles (2,171 square km). It is best known for its mountains, composed largely of volcanic rock and cut by valleys that show the influence of Ice Age glaciers. Snowdon has a rack-and-pinion railway (opened 1896) that runs from Llanberis to the summit. Farther south Cader Idris ("Chair of Idris"), a long mountain ridge, reaches a height of 2,927 feet (892 metres) at Pen-y-Gader.

The first recorded ascent of Snowdon was by the botanist Thomas Johnson in 1639. However, the 18th-century Welsh historian Thomas Pennant mentions a "triumphal fair upon this our chief of mountains" following Edward I's conquest of Wales in 1284, which, if true, indicates the possibility of earlier ascents.

The many steep cliffs in the Snowdon range are significant in the history of British rock climbing. The first recorded climb in the area was the 1798 ascent of the Eastern Terrace of Clogwyn Du'r Arddu (Welsh: the black cliff of the dark(ness)) by the Reverends Peter Williams and W. Bingley, botanists looking for alpine plants. The north face of Y Lliwedd was explored in the late 19th century and in 1909 was the subject of the first British climbing guide, The climbs on Lliwedd by J. M. A. Thompson and A. W. Andrews. Also, Edmund Hillary trained here for his climb up Mount Everest.