Back to Afan. Route suggestions please!

Gwaredd

Afternoon.

I'm going back to Afan shortly & am wondering what route to do. Last time I went with a few mates & we did the wall in the morning, had some lunch & did Penhydd in the afternoon.

Whilst it was brilliant, I'd rather not tread over the same ground so soon, & really want to try the Whites level, including the black run, but as I'm only going up for the day, I very much doubt we could do the Skyline & the Whites in one hit. Could we?

W2 is another thought, but again, I doubt that'd take us all day & I want to cram in as much as possible!

Any suggestions? I've heard there are short cuts, so maybe that could help with the time.

stumpyjon

Skyline took my nearly 5 hours and I was too mentally and physically knackered by the end to enjoy the final descent. i really wouldn't recommend trying Skyline and another route in the same day. I'd do either White's (nothing stopping you going round the black loop several times at the top) on it's own or do W2 in the day (another big under taking) or do White's then redo the climb on White's and come back down the final descent on Skyline.

junglist_matty

Whites Level took us quite a long time because that 45minute climb took us more like 1hr 30mins!

I'd recomend doing whites level, at the end of whites level (when it takes you back out onto the track by the mountain bike center) turn right heading down towards afan, cross the road and follow the river round till you get to the big fireroad where there's a T junction, then head up the hill, go straight past the first singletrack entrance and keep heading up the fireroad. You end up joining Nanty Bar (think its around marker point 26), then through picadilly and then down through graveyard and zig zags.

I love The Graveyard and Zig Zags, they are without doubt the most fun descents at Afan!

nferrar

I'd do Whites and July (shortened version of Skyline) in the morning, then have lunch then move to the old centre and do Penhydd

christk

Leave trail centre at Glyncorrwg
Cycle to top of ramp, to forestry edge
Turn right and follow cycle track up to village, and T junction.
Cross road and take the lefthand road past telephone box
Second left and follow lane that takes you behind the houses
Follow this track up into the forestry (Route 47. Keep going straight on this road, a climb of about 4k but it's a lot easier than the single track)
You will then come across the Skyline trail crossing the road in several places
Joyrider, fastfoward and Handy Andy.
I usually join at Fastforward. This will give you the Skyline decent. You have the choice to join the Whites trail part way up the single track climb or do the whole Skyline decent and start Whites from the beginning?
That usually takes me just over an hour. Then if I feel like it I can do Whites or W2 without being too tired, with the bonus that you get to do all the decents. Have fun!!

genspain

I went to Afan not long ago for the first time and did the Wall, Penhydd and Whites level , ran out of time so never got to do the Skyline, as I was only there a day and half.
Whites level is really good and you will love the energy route it took me a total of an 1 and half to complete. I did notice that when you get to the top of Whites level the Skyline joins so you could go on to do the skyline trail from there but it's also at the point where the black run is. So you could do the black run which brings you back to the top of Whites Level and join the skyline!!

What ever you decide you'll have a great time.

Richard2118

We often drive down for the day from Surrey and do Whites level in the morning ( plus black run ) stop for a nice lunch at the centre , then re do the awesome climb and do the black run then skyline in the afternoon. At the first short cut ( known as Skyline July ) we head down and get all of the best parts of the skyline without its full distance.
The final part of this is awesome.
Done this way you get 2 trails that are fairly equal in distance.
If you did the other centre last time this would be a really good option.

I will warn you that it is a harder ride than the wall and penhydd and will take more out of you but is for me a far superior ride .

If your not grinning by the end of the day stop riding !!!!!

Hope this helps

Gwaredd

Cheers all. Sound like Whites & July trail it is then 8) Hope the weather stays this good too!