As there’s been much ado on the news, most of it pretty hysterical, about some snow taking bits of the UK by surprise and giving the people who manage our education system an excuse to order a National Holiday. I thought I’d travel Northern England’s roads for, say, a 160 mile round trip and play in some snow with my crampons at the same time.
The results in some ways were a bit disappointing. The A66 was promising with ploughed-up snow walls on either side of the road just a tad over the roof height of the knipemobile. By Warcop, though, the landscape was green and in the Lake District there was just a light covering of fresh snow and some fairly big patches of old frozen snow. At low levels, it was green.
I met my brother at the little car park up the hill just outside Braithwaite and we marched off manfully, ice axes swinging in the light breeze to tiptoe up the Ledge route – a way named by that bloke Alf as a more interesting way to get up Eel Crag. Alf also mentioned an "easy" scramble just next door called Tower Ridge.
The route went fairly well for a while and we soon found ourselves floundering up thin snow with frozen plantlife underneath. There were times when the struggle became desperate and just a bit dangerous, so we strapped on our crampons and continued.
Somewhere quite close to the top, we bottled it at an exposed steep snow slope and retreated with some difficulty down steep frozen snow for a lunch by an old sheepfold.
Plan B was hatched. This involved a diversionary raid on the summit of Grisedale Pike via some lovely stretches of neve and quite a few bare patches.
On the way we met Ann and Alvar, my 2008 TGO Challenge vetters on their way down after traversing the hill we were struggling up. Nice to have a little unexpected encounter like this. We had a TGO challenge chat.
Grisedale Pike was hard work but uneventful and the path descends to the car park which avoid plodding back up the road out of Braithwaite.
The roads home were quiet and fast although I did get gritted three times altogether.
We’ll be having another crack at our abandoned route later in the year. Just didn’t feel right at the time. You have to follow your instincts sometimes. Due to the series of warm winters we’re badly out of practise with the crampon and axe thingy and just remembering how to strap the things on was difficult. But, if the winter continues in it’s current vein, we should be quite expert by April.
Incidentally, a few years ago my old dog Jenny chased a meadow pipit over the crag on Eel Crag. I had to carry her back to the car afterwards. She “fell” about 600 feet altogether and then climbed back up again. Remarkable. Cost me loads of money at the vet’s and I did learn the doggy word for B****X. Is it a plane? Is it a meteor? Is it a black and tan mongrel?
The results in some ways were a bit disappointing. The A66 was promising with ploughed-up snow walls on either side of the road just a tad over the roof height of the knipemobile. By Warcop, though, the landscape was green and in the Lake District there was just a light covering of fresh snow and some fairly big patches of old frozen snow. At low levels, it was green.
I met my brother at the little car park up the hill just outside Braithwaite and we marched off manfully, ice axes swinging in the light breeze to tiptoe up the Ledge route – a way named by that bloke Alf as a more interesting way to get up Eel Crag. Alf also mentioned an "easy" scramble just next door called Tower Ridge.
The route went fairly well for a while and we soon found ourselves floundering up thin snow with frozen plantlife underneath. There were times when the struggle became desperate and just a bit dangerous, so we strapped on our crampons and continued.
Somewhere quite close to the top, we bottled it at an exposed steep snow slope and retreated with some difficulty down steep frozen snow for a lunch by an old sheepfold.
Plan B was hatched. This involved a diversionary raid on the summit of Grisedale Pike via some lovely stretches of neve and quite a few bare patches.
On the way we met Ann and Alvar, my 2008 TGO Challenge vetters on their way down after traversing the hill we were struggling up. Nice to have a little unexpected encounter like this. We had a TGO challenge chat.
Grisedale Pike was hard work but uneventful and the path descends to the car park which avoid plodding back up the road out of Braithwaite.
The roads home were quiet and fast although I did get gritted three times altogether.
We’ll be having another crack at our abandoned route later in the year. Just didn’t feel right at the time. You have to follow your instincts sometimes. Due to the series of warm winters we’re badly out of practise with the crampon and axe thingy and just remembering how to strap the things on was difficult. But, if the winter continues in it’s current vein, we should be quite expert by April.
Incidentally, a few years ago my old dog Jenny chased a meadow pipit over the crag on Eel Crag. I had to carry her back to the car afterwards. She “fell” about 600 feet altogether and then climbed back up again. Remarkable. Cost me loads of money at the vet’s and I did learn the doggy word for B****X. Is it a plane? Is it a meteor? Is it a black and tan mongrel?
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