Puneet Varma (Editor)

Pen yr Ole Wen

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Location
  
Snowdonia, Wales

Topo map
  
OS Landranger 115

Prominence
  
45 m

Parent peak
  
OS grid
  
SH655619

Elevation
  
978 m

Mountain range
  
Parent range
  
Pen yr Ole Wen httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaenddfPen

Listing
  
Hewitt, Welsh 3000s, Nuttall

Translation
  
Head of the White Slope (Welsh)

Pronunciation
  
Welsh: [ˈpɛn ər ˈɔlɛ ˈwɛn]

Similar
  
Carnedd Dafydd, Y Garn, Carnedd Llewelyn, Glyder Fawr, Tryfan

Pen yr Ole Wen is the seventh highest mountain in Snowdonia and in Wales. It is the most southerly of the Carneddau range.

Map of Pen yr Ole Wen, Bangor, UK

The mountain lies to the north of Idwal Cottage youth hostel on the A5 road, from where it has a pyramidal appearance. It may be climbed from the hostel by a path that leads directly up the south west "corner", climbing 675 m in about 1.5 km (i.e. an average gradient of nearly 1 in 2). A slightly easier ascent involves starting from Tal-y-Llyn Ogwen, about a mile north-east from the hostel, following the stream until nearing the outflow from the mountain lake Ffynnon Lloer and then branching left to take the path up the ridge.

For many years the mountain's name was translated as "Head of the White Light", the interpretation of which was a mystery. However in 2004 Professor Hywel Wyn Owen at the Place-Name Research Centre at Bangor University in Bangor, Gwynedd resolved the matter saying that Ole comes from Goleddf, which means slope or hillside, making the correct English translation: "Head of the White Slope".

Pen yr Ole Wen is often climbed as part of a longer route on the Carneddau range. It is the same height as England's highest peak, Scafell Pike.

The mountain's average temperature hovers around 5 degrees Celsius.

References

Pen yr Ole Wen Wikipedia


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