An Introduction to Scrambling in the UK

Scrambling has marked my own personal journey through the mountains, both as a climber and as a photographer. My very first climbing pictures were taken on the super-classic Pinnacle Ridge in the Ogwen valley on a school trip; my first winter scrambling was with the same club on Y Cribin in the snow; and with international travel on hold during the pandemic, scrambling in Snowdonia has once again been an important means of exploration and escape in my local area, and has become a focus of my time and photography recently.

Far more than hillwalking, scrambling requires you to focus and engage with the terrain of the mountains at a fundamental level. It forces you to live ‘in the now’ whilst also making you aware of the consequences of any mistakes. Starting off in UK mountain scrambling, you need nothing but your usual mountain walking equipment and a good pair of boots or approach shoes, with the latter often being far superior in dry conditions as they are much lighter. As you progress, you’ll begin to learn to focus on your balance on steeper and more exposed ground. You’ll learn to read the terrain and the quality of the rock as you move along ridges and around notches, down gullies and across ledges, constantly engaging with the changing terrain and responding to its challenges.

By its very nature, scrambling takes you away from the crowds. It places you far above the well-trodden paths, and affords vantage points from where walkers below will become distant dots, and the circling ravens and peregrine falcons are your nearest companions. (Unless, that is, you’re on Crib Goch on a bank holiday weekend. During busy times, related issues around crowds on popular scrambles raise themselves – the greatest danger on a busy scramble is often from other people rather than from the terrain itself, so be careful.)

Scrambling is a wonderfully hybrid kind of activity. You can scramble as a runner, a rock climber, a hillwalker, or a full-blown mountaineer. You can slip on your trainers and shorts and do a fast round of grade one terrain on a sunlit evening, or you could go on a claggy day with big boots and waterproofs for some ‘full value’ mountain time, or it could be just yourself, a pair of approach shoes and a camera. Alternatively, you could wait for the snow and bring out the crampons and axes for the ideal introduction to alpine mountaineering: scrambling in the British mountains in the icy winter months.

The mountains of the UK may be relatively modest, at least in stature, compared to the Alps or the Greater Ranges. But crossing Crib Goch for the first time – surrounded by the shining summits of Snowdonia with the lakes glittering in the cwms below – can only be described as a true mountaineering experience. For some, it maybe a pinnacle of a hillwalking career on otherwise non-technical peaks. For others, it might be the beginning of a road to more adventurous trips to the Alps and beyond. Whatever your specific interest in scrambling, the unique sensation of moving effectively through pathless, rocky, and sometimes exposed terrain in the British mountains is of huge value in itself, and the multitude of other experiences and challenges it can lead to gives it a special place within the echelon of the established mountain sports.