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The all-time classic British
mountaineeing hotel
Built in 1810 as a remote mountain farmhouse, extended and used as a coaching inn and later as the training headquarters of the first successful Everest climbing expedition in 1953, and now run as a haven safe from the relentless grind of modernity, there are few hotels that can boast such a unique history and location as the Pen-y-Gwryd. Stay here and you have the genuine chance to engage with beauty, tradition and history. We’ll look after you too, with wholesome food, drink and good company.
Tales from the Smoke Room - new book launched at the PyG
When Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first stood on the top of Mount Everest, only a handful of people knew the debt of gratitude they owed not only to the mountains of North Wales but also to a little hotel in the lee of Snowdon.
It was at the Pen y Gwryd Hotel (or 'PyG') that members of the 1953 Everest Expedition stayed during their training for that historic adventure, and it subsequently became - and remains - a place of pilgrimage for mountaineers the world over.
With an introduction by Jan Morris, the Times reporter who accompanied that first successful expedition and broke the story to the world, The Pen y Gwryd Hotel: Tales from the Smoke Room tells the story of 'one of the great climbing inns of Europe' through series of anecdotes, reminiscences and tributes, including contributions by a veritable who's who of walkers, climbers and writers.
Available for sale at the Pen y Gwryd Hotel.
Read Jan Morris’ article about Everest and the PYG 60 years later »
Main picture: Enter a world of traditional hospitality where guests swap stories and a gong announces meal-times. Above: Hillary and Tenzing during the 1953 first ascent of Everest. The expedition used the Pen-Y-Gwryd as their training base. Left: Mountaineers and outdoor enthusiasts continue to use the hotel. Below: The hotel's reliquary of items used by the Everest team.
