Vickie & I headed to Great End. Vickie was hoping to solo Central Gully. But as it was full of people (why?) it made sense to avoid it and find a different (quieter line). I’d got my pooches and decided for a walk(!) around to meet Vickie near the summit.
The forecast was not too good (75 mph winds on summits and ridges plus a severe wind chill). So we were prepared. However, the snow was not so good, deep and not consolidated. So it made for difficult conditions.
We missed each other on the west ridge, so I headed down the east side (main path), whilst Vickie headed down the way I came up. It was atrocious on the summit. The dogs were getting cold and at every opportunity bedded down. At the bottom of Great End we met up, had a very welcome coffee whilst we watched the remaining three parties climb Central Gully. It was after 2pm so no doubt they’ll be coming down in the dark.
We wallowed back to the car at Seathwaite and finished lunch. It was a good day considering and one to talk about in the pub when we get old.
Good effort folks – and nice to see some dog photos, it’s too pro-cat ’round here for my liking (spot the bait 👿 )
Still not consolidated yet then? Shame, forecast is for more cold :freeze: so it’s going to take a while to settle down, and this next storm system is going to do wonders for the av hazard – cue callouts…
I take it the road into Seathwaite was okay then – I didn’t fancy it the other day as I wasn’t convinced I’d get back out? Also, (not that I’m hungry for free info you understand…) did you see anyone on anything other than Central, and did they look to be having a reasonable time or an epic?! Cheers 😉
Free advice to follow……
Road in looked a tad interesting this morning, but was ok in 4×4 but when we got to Seathwaite there must have been 20+ 2wd cars there too. As we drove out the track had melted quite a lot (unless it had been gritted!?!) leaving patches of tarmac visible.
The forecast….Looking further ahead – prolonged cold spell. Night time temperatures will start to fall a bit further with some quite low temperatures possible where snow cover persists such as Cumbria. The rest of this week after tomorrow should be dry with some sunshine but with a few rogue snow showers getting over the Pennines –
particularly for those to the east of the M6.
The climbers seemed to be doing ok, there were a few in the gullies to the right but many turned around due to the depth of unconsolidated snow – but one of these was 16 stone and he stood no chance even if there was a bit firmer stuff.
Well done Dave, Vickie, Pippa and Mil. One definitely to be considered in retrospect. :freeze: :freeze: