10 treks to spellbinding summits — Soaring Mountains

‘Up the Pyg and down the Miners’ has become one of the classic ways to ascend Wales’ highest peak. It’s an atmospheric route that takes you into the bowels of the massif, right into the midst of the great amphitheatre formed by the famous Snowdon Horseshoe of Crib Goch, Garnedd Ugain, Snowdon and Y Lliwedd. Snowdon is thought to be …read more

Cadair Idris, the ‘Chair of Idris’, is a mountain with its fair share of history and legend. Once thought to be the highest mountain in Britain, albeit based on little but its lofty and intimidating appearance from the north, it is the undoubted monarch of southern Snowdonia. In fact, it has many parallels with Snowdon, its big brother in the …read more

Ingleborough is a headline act. It is to the Yorkshire Dales what Snowdon is to Snowdonia and what Pen y Fan is to the Brecon Beacons. However, unlike Snowdon and Pen y Fan, Ingleborough is not the highest peak in the national park, but it is undeniably the most awesome. Its layers of limestone, sandstone and shale have been sculpted …read more

At 2,907 feet (886 m) above sea level, Pen y Fan is the highest point in Britain south of Cadair Idris and is the undoubted centrepiece of the Brecon Beacons National Park. It is a majestic peak too; its summit is a great wedge of terraced sandstone carpeted in emerald green. It toys with light and shadow, creating fleeting masterpieces …read more

Ben Lomond’s location as the most southerly Munro and, by extension, the closest big mountain to the population centres of Scotland’s Central Belt, makes it a very popular hiking objective. As far as Scotland’s mountains go, perhaps only Ben Nevis sees more visitors to its slopes. However, location alone could not maintain Ben Lomond’s appeal. This is a grand mountain, …read more

Ben Nevis, ‘the Ben’, is the highest point in the British Isles and one of its finest mountains. This status propels 100,000 people to its slopes every year, eager to conquer the highest summit in the land. About three quarters take the most straightforward route to the summit, the only way that doesn’t involve scrambling or climbing: the Pony Track. …read more

England’s highest land is suitably rugged, suitably remote and suitably awe-inspiring. At the centre of a great rocky massif of towering summits, any expedition to ‘the Pike’ is an exciting one. Our route is the shortest — beginning in arguably England’s most scenic valley, Wasalde — and ascends to the summit via the spectacular Mickledore ridge.

From Wasdale Head, the …read more

When your eyes meet ‘Gable’, it doesn’t matter from which direction you are looking at it, you will want to climb it. Alfred Wainwright had it spot on when he wrote: ‘Great Gable is truly a beautiful mountain, but it is never a pretty one.’ It rises in defiant isolation, right at the core of Lakeland’s mountainous heart, instantly recognisable. …read more

Kinder Scout is an emblematic moorland plateau, the highest land in the Peak District National Park, the first (or last) obstacle on the Pennine Way and the site of a pivotal moment in the history of land access. Ironically, considering it’s in the ‘Peak’ District, it is the least peak-like of the mountains in this Collection. However, what it lacks …read more

The Arrochar Alps are a tight clutch of rugged mountains to the west of Loch Lomond that are easily accessible from Scotland’s Central Belt. There are four impressive Munros – prominent Scottish peaks over 3000 feet (914 m) — in the range, yet their thunder is completely stolen by a flamboyant exhibitionist that packs in more character than a Tarantino …read more