The Arans.—This mountain is the highest in Merionethshire, and by many wrongly considered the second highest in Wales. It lies between the Berwyns and Cader Idris.
Like the latter, it is of volcanic trap rock, heavily speckled in parts with quartz, and exposed on the east side, where it has been subjected to much weathering. There is a good deal of old débris from the face, that is now grass-covered.
The road between the Aran and the outlying hills of the Berwyn is over 1,900 ft. high; we have, however, to descend to 860 ft. in passing from the Aran to Cader Idris. The main ridge runs almost exactly north and south for 6 miles, its west side—a large tract of marshy moorland—sloping down gently to the vales of Dyfrdwy (= the goddess's water; sometimes called the Little Dee) and Wnion, and its east side, irregularly escarped, falling for the most part very rapidly for the first thousand feet. Its ridge culminates in two peaks 1½ mile apart, Aran Benllyn (2,902 ft.) and Aran Fawddwy (2,970 ft.) The word Aran means an 'alp,' or a 'high place;' Mawdd is said to mean 'spreading,' and the terminations ach or wy mean 'water.'
Aran Benllyn was one of several of which the height was measured in Pennant's time by 'the ingenious Mr. Meredith Hughes, of Bala,' who made it out to be 30 yards less than Cader Idris.
In April 1881 the Alpine Club had one of their informal meetings at Bala, and chose the east front of the Aran as their route from there to Dolgelly.
The ordinary ascents of the Aran are effected from Llanuwchllyn in 2 hours, from Drws y Nant in 1¼ hour, and from Dinas Mawddwy in about 3 hours.
Rock Climbs.—These are never extensive, though there are many little pieces that require much ingenuity to surmount. Excepting for a few boulder climbs on the ridge itself the crag work is confined to the east face of the mountains, the side overlooking Lliwbran and Craiglyn Dyfi. Climbers are often asked, where can a man start practising rock work? The Arans are first-rate for this. Whatever the difficulty on the mountain a few minutes' traversing will generally take one out of it, if direct ascent or descent be considered undesirable. The mountain face is so broken up that we have no gullies or arêtes separated by impossible walls of rock from the easy parts of the mountain. In short, from the enthusiastic shin-scraper's point of view the architecture of the Aran face is defective.