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39-691: Pen-y-Gwryd is a pass at the head of Nantygwryd and Nant Cynnyd rivers close to the foot of Snowdon in Gwynedd , Wales. The area is located at the junction of the A4086 from Capel Curig to Llanberis and Caernarfon and the A498 from Beddgelert and Nant Gwynant about a mile from the head of the Llanberis Pass . It is close to the boundary with Conwy county borough in northern Snowdonia . The famous mountaineering hostelry, Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel ,

78-531: A nearby mountainside, as with the Eisenhower Tunnel bypassing Loveland Pass in the Rockies, to allow faster traffic flow throughout the year. The top of a pass is frequently the only flat ground in the area, and may be a high vantage point. In some cases this makes it a preferred site for buildings. If a national border follows the ridge of a mountain range, a pass over the mountains is typically on

117-450: A population of 226, reducing slightly to 206 at the 2011 census. It lies at the junction of the A5 road from Bangor and Bethesda to Betws-y-Coed with the A4086 road from Caernarfon , Llanberis , Pen-y-Pass and Pen-y-Gwryd . It is surrounded by hills and mountains, including Moel Siabod and Pen Llithrig y Wrach . Capel Curig takes its name from the little St Julitta's Church in

156-483: A roughly square Roman fort of approximately 4 acres (1.6 ha). Stone buildings were uncovered and traced. The rectangular walled area is on flat land close to the River Llugwy. From the pottery and finds in 1923 and subsequently, it appears to have only been garrisoned for 20–30 years. The village is a popular centre for walking , climbing , mountaineering , mountain biking and other outdoor pursuits and

195-786: A style of street racing which may take place on these roads. There are thousands of named passes around the world, some of which are well-known, such as the Khyber Pass close to the present-day Afghanistan-Pakistan border on the ancient Silk Road , the Great St. Bernard Pass at 2,473 metres (8,114 ft) in the Alps , the Chang La at 5,360 metres (17,590 ft), the Khardung La at 5,359 metres (17,582 ft) in Ladakh , India and

234-415: A temperature of 17.5 °C (63.5 °F). This was beaten again the next day, with 18.8 °C (65.8 °F). Capel Curig was home to the botanist Evan Roberts (1909–1991). Roberts lived at Gelli, from where he explored all of Snowdonia, and compiled an unparalleled knowledge of the plant life of North Wales. Although he spent the first 40 years of his life as a quarry worker, he went on to become

273-674: Is adapted day to day according to the prevailing weather conditions and to the abilities and needs of individuals and groups. Also located in Capel Curig is the UK National Mountain Centre at Plas y Brenin , which offers the highest quality mountaineering, climbing, canoeing facilities and training. One mile east of the village on the A5 is Tŷ Hyll, home of the Snowdonia Society Capel Curig

312-888: Is also used, particularly in Europe. In the highest mountain range in the world, the Himalayas, passes are denoted by the suffix "La" in Tibetan, Ladhakhi, and several other regional languages. Examples are the Taglang La at 5,328 m (17,480 ft) on the Leh-Manali highway , and the Sia La at 5,589 m (18,337 ft) in the Eastern Karakoram range. Scotland has the Gaelic term bealach (anglicised "balloch"), while Wales has

351-413: Is analogous to the mathematical concept of a saddle surface , with a saddle point marking the minimum high point between two valleys and the lowest point along a ridge. On a topographic map , passes can be identified by contour lines with an hourglass shape, which indicates a low spot between two higher points. In the high mountains, a difference of 2,000 meters (6,600 ft) between the summit and

390-467: Is located in the pass. It is also a mountain rescue post with links to the other rescue posts at Ogwen Cottage and Plas y Brenin . The Old Miners' Track from the Snowdon copper mines are now part of the modern A4086 road between Pen-y-Gwryd and Pen-y-Pass . It continues northwards beyond Pen-y-Gwryd skirting Glyder Fach to Bwlch Tryfan and Dyffryn Ogwen . From Pen-y-Pass is the "PYG track", one of

429-495: Is mentioned in the song Bottleneck at Capel Curig by cult UK band Half Man Half Biscuit on their album Trouble Over Bridgwater . Capel Curig is the setting for the climax of the 1956 thriller The Hidden Face by Victor Canning . According to the 2011 Census, 57.1% of the community's population aged 3 years or over could speak Welsh, with 82.5% of the Welsh-born population aged 3+ being able to speak Welsh. 54.3% of

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468-464: Is served by the Sherpa bus network. It is also home to an Army training camp, a camp site , several cafes and hotels and outdoor activity gear shops, and, formerly, a youth hostel . Wolverhampton City Council have since 1961 operated 'The Towers' outdoors activity centre just outside Capel Curig. The centre facilitates walking, climbing, a variety of watersports and field studies on a schedule that

507-771: Is the Brenner pass in the Alps . Some mountain passes above the tree line have problems with snow drift in the winter. This might be alleviated by building the road a few meters above the ground, which will make snow blow off the road. There are many words for pass in the English-speaking world. In the United States, pass is very common in the West , the word gap is common in the southern Appalachians , notch in parts of New England , and saddle in northern Idaho . The term col , derived from Old French,

546-666: Is the name of a 4th-century child martyr whose mother was Julitta. They are usually named together as Saints Quiricus and Julietta . The names Capel Kiryg and Capel Kerig were recorded in 1536 and 1578 respectively. Approximately one kilometre from Pont Cyfyng, on the farm of Bryn Gefeiliau, there are the remains of a Roman fort ( c .90–100 AD) and named Caer Llugwy by its excavators. ( 53°05′50″N 3°52′27″W  /  53.0972°N 3.8743°W  / 53.0972; -3.8743  ( Bryn-y-Gefeiliau Roman Site ) , OS Grid Reference SH746572). In 1920 excavations undertaken by J.P. Hall and Captain G.H. Hodgson revealed

585-418: Is to the first successful Everest expedition in 1953 and the first successful Kangchenjunga expedition in 1955 , when training and testing of oxygen equipment for those expeditions took place at Helyg, near Capel Curig. On the right, at the hotel entrance, there is a Tyrolean-style Stüberl (dining room) with the signatures, written on the ceiling, of the teams that did the first ascent of Everest in 1953 and of

624-594: The Palakkad Gap at 140 metres (460 ft) in Palakkad , Kerala , India . The roads at Mana Pass at 5,610 metres (18,410 ft) and Marsimik La at 5,582 metres (18,314 ft), on and near the China–India border respectively, appear to be world's two highest motorable passes. Khunjerab Pass between Pakistan and China at 4,693 metres (15,397 ft) is also a high-altitude motorable mountain pass. One of

663-540: The Inn in 1843. In 1847 Henry Owen acquired the Inn. He was born in Beddgelert , Caernarvonshire on 2 April 1822, the son of a farmer, Owen Owen. He married Ann Pritchard from the parish of Llanbeblig near Caernarvon. Initially Henry combined his hostelry work with a position of Agent at the nearby Snowdonian copper mine and later with farming. But by 1858, the inn business was sufficiently successful to allow him to purchase

702-488: The ancient graveyard by the river bridge on the Llanberis road. This, confusingly, has been known for over 100 years as St Julitta's Church, and is currently being restored by the "Friends of Saint Julitta". Tradition claims this chapel to be the 6th-century foundation of St Curig , a Celtic bishop. Centuries later, probably when the present ancient church was built, the name appears to have been Latinised as Cyricus, which

741-643: The book, The Pen y Gwryd Hotel: Tales from the Smoke Room was published by Gomer Press. (With photography by Nicola Maysmor.) The work features a notable introduction by Jan Morris as well as contributions by: (amongst others) Chris Bonnnington, Peter Hillary, Rebecca Stephens, Jim, Perrin, Joe Brown, Anna Lawford, Ed Webster, Caradoc 'Crag' Jones, Doug Scott, John Disley, H.P.S Ahluwalia, Norbu Tenzing Norgay, Margaret Clennett, Hugh Brasher and Julian Freeman-Attwood as well as William 'Bill' Roache of Coronation Street fame. The hotel's most notable mountaineering link

780-458: The border, and there may be a border control or customs station, and possibly a military post. For instance, Argentina and Chile share the world's third-longest international border , 5,300 kilometres (3,300 mi) long, which runs north–south along the Andes mountains and includes 42 mountain passes. On a road over a pass, it is customary to have a small roadside sign giving the name of

819-507: The community's population could speak Welsh in 2001. 49.5% of the community's population aged 3 years or over could speak, read and write Welsh in 2011. As with much of the rest of the British Isles, Capel Curig experiences a temperate maritime climate ( Cfb ), with warm summers and cold winters, little extremes of temperature and high humidity year round. The driest month is May, with around 130 mm (5.1 in) of rain, while

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858-693: The current location of the Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel. The camp was probably first built during the Roman General Gnaeus Julius Agricola 's conquest of the Ordovices in the late AD 70's. As it is unusual for temporary camps to survive, its existence suggests it was periodically reoccupied. Although the camp had no permanent garrison or buildings, it may have been a waypoint for Roman units travelling between Deva Victrix ( Chester ) and Segontium ( Caernarfon ). The site

897-701: The famous but non-motorable mountain passes is Thorong La at 5,416 metres (17,769 ft) in Annapurna Conservation Area , Nepal. Capel Curig Capel Curig ( Welsh pronunciation: [ˈkɑːpɛl ˈkɨːrɪɡ] ; meaning " Curig 's Chapel") is a village and community in Conwy County Borough , Wales . Historically in Caernarfonshire , it lies in the heart of Snowdonia , on the River Llugwy , and has

936-436: The first ascent of Kangchenjunga in 1955 – these include Sir Edmund Hillary , Tenzing Norgay , Sir John Hunt , Charles Evans , George Band , Joe Brown , John Angelo Jackson , Wilfred Noyce , Tony Streather , Tom Mackinnon, Norman Hardie , Neil Mather, John Clegg and others, including Noel Odell from Mallory's 1924 expedition and Chris Bonington of later successes. There are many photographs and exhibits provided by

975-462: The freehold. During the Owens' tenure running the inn, it became renowned for its status for comfort and hospitality. The original building was considerably extended transforming it from a farmhouse Inn to a well-known and popular hotel. Ann's excellent cookery was apparently to play no small part in the hotel's success. Eventually it became an integral part of the blossoming mountaineering industry that

1014-492: The hotel. During the Second World War the hotel was taken over by Lake House School from Bexhill-on-Sea . The subsequent owners have improved the hotel and enhanced its mountaineering links by becoming a Mountain rescue post (the plaque is still attached to the main entrance), whilst maintaining the hotel's history. Guest bedrooms are named after each of Snowdonia's 13 peaks over 3,000 ft (910 m). In 2016,

1053-420: The management until her death in 1896. After the owner of The Royal Hotel , Capel Curig took over, the business saw an indifferent ten years. However, this changed when William Hampton, along with Arthur and Florence Lockwood, took ownership. The hotel and its mountaineering traditions soon picked up again and the building was redeveloped. In the 1920s they created Llyn Lockwood – the small trout lake opposite

1092-596: The many routes leading to the summit of Snowdon, its name is believed be derived from the initials ("P-y-G"). However, older maps show it as the "Pig track", a name derived from Bwlch y Moch (the Pigs' Gap). During Roman Britain , the Roman Army built a marching camp at the head of Dyffryn Mymbyr at the strategic intersection of three major routes through the Snowdonian mountains. This type of fortified cantonment

1131-434: The mountain is defined as a mountain pass. Passes are often found just above the source of a river , constituting a drainage divide . A pass may be very short, consisting of steep slopes to the top of the pass, or a valley many kilometers long, whose highest point might only be identifiable by surveying . Roads and railways have long been built through passes. Some high and rugged passes may have tunnels bored underneath

1170-582: The original team members in the main bar and guest lounge. In the past each year, now every five years, Pen-y-Gwryd hosts the Everest and Kangchenjunga reunions. Caradog Jones , the first Welshman to conquer Everest, has stated that it was this Welsh connection with the mountain which inspired him. Other notable visitors include: Charles Kingsley and Henry Kingsley , William Ewart Gladstone (Gladstones), Augustine Birrell , Walter Parry Haskett Smith , Thomas Huxley , Lord Coleridge – past and present (at

1209-479: The pass and its elevation above mean sea level . Apart from offering relatively easy travel between valleys, passes also provide a route between two mountain tops with a minimum of descent. As a result, it is common for tracks to meet at a pass; this often makes them convenient routes even when travelling between a summit and the valley floor. Passes traditionally were places for trade routes, communications, cultural exchange, military expeditions etc. A typical example

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1248-696: The similar bwlch (both being insular Celtic languages). In the Lake District of north-west England, the term hause is often used, although the term pass is also common—one distinction is that a pass can refer to a route, as well as the highest part thereof, while a hause is simply that highest part, often flattened somewhat into a high-level plateau. In Japan they are known as tōge , which means "pass" in Japanese. The word can also refer to narrow, winding roads that can be found in and around mountains and geographically similar areas, or specifically to

1287-509: The time of writing), John Henry Cliffe who wrote Notes and Recollections of an Angler (1860), Andrew Ramsay , George Mallory in 1914, and actor Jack Hawkins during the filming of The Long Arm on location in Snowdonia. 53°04′57″N 4°00′07″W  /  53.08256°N 4.00203°W  / 53.08256; -4.00203 Mountain pass Mountain passes make use of a gap , saddle , col or notch . A topographic saddle

1326-565: The wettest is December, with more than 300 mm (12 in) of rain. The warmest recorded temperature was 30.6 °C (87.1 °F) on 19 July 2006 and the coldest −17.5 °C (0.5 °F) on 20 December 2010. Capel Curig is one of the wettest places in the UK and the wettest in Wales. Record high temperatures during February 2019 were higher than in the average summer: on 25 February 2019, Capel Curig recorded its warmest February day on record, with

1365-515: Was developing in North Wales. In May 1898 The Climbers Club originated at Pen-y-Gwryd, as it is recorded in its first journal "....its natural birth at Pen-y-Gwryd" and "...its congenial atmosphere...... ( The Climbers Club ) first struck its roots". The Climbers Club is now based at Helyg on the A5 between Capel Curig and Ogwen Cottage . In 1870 the Society of Welsh Rabbits (c.1865)

1404-527: Was first occupied prior to the construction of Caer Llugwy , a c.  90CE Roman auxiliary fort about 5.5 mi (8.9 km) to the east in the Afon Llugwy valley. The site is difficult to observe due to erosion and local land usage as nothing remains except grass and bramble-covered mounds. It was first excavated in 1960 by early surveying courses from Plas-y-Brenin under the auspices of Dr Josephine Flood (née Scarr). The Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel

1443-434: Was founded with the objective of exploring Snowdonia in winter (and as close to Christmas as possible). Ann Owen said in 1895 that the society had written an article "praising Pen-y-Gwryd as an excellent resort at Christmas". She noted " ....we rarely, if ever, had a guest at Christmas and since then we have hardly been without guests during the period". Henry continued to run the hotel until his death in 1891. Ann then took over

1482-470: Was originally a farmhouse dating from 1811. It was converted to wayside inn by a John Roberts from Llanberis , who eventually sold the Inn in 1840 before emigrating to America . A Mrs Hughes, who was the widow of the first landlord (a Joseph Griffith) of the Capel Curig Inn (which became The Royal Hotel, now Plas-y-Brenin ), and later the widow of Reverend Robert Hughes of Capel Curig , took over

1521-478: Was the kind built each evening by Roman legionaries when out in the field or on campaign. The camp, which has a rhomboid shape, covers about 4 ha (9.9 acres) providing accommodation for up to 2000 soldiers and their baggage trains. Its defences included a ditch approximately 5 ft (1.5 m) wide and 2 ft (0.61 m) deep below the turf-line and an earthwork rampart 8 ft (2.4 m) to 9 ft (2.7 m) wide. The northern rampart runs through

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