I can't understand why they don't let you take the shortcut over Crib Goch instead of using the PYG track . After all, they take you along Gribin (rather than the Devil's Kitchen path) to go up Glyder Fawr.

Regarding the crowds on Snowdon: I have only ever been up Snowdon three times. The first two were in the Snowdon race, when I was fairly oblivious to the crowds (presumably because the Llanberis path is wide enough that they weren't getting in my way). The third time was last Summer, when I walked up via Crib Goch. I had been completely alone since the Crib Goch pinnacles, where I had overtaken a group who stopped for a rest. The first break in this solitude was as I approached the summit of Garnedd Ugain, and heard the sounds of a steam train coming through the clag, rather surreal in that environment. But then, as I dropped down to the col before the climb to Snowdon, I saw that the Llanberis path was like Oxford Street on a Saturday before Christmas. I walked to the summit and then left as quickly as possible.