Yesterday we went for a bumble up to Stickle Tarn to see what the winter conditions were like. It was very windy. But there were plenty of people out, including a team on Jack’s Rake. We weren’t wearing winter boots, and didn’t have axes or crampons with us, so we stuck to the trails.
Today, Sunday, we initially wondered if the sunny skies meant we might be able to go rock climbing on some south facing sheltered rock somewhere. So we waited to till about 10am to allow the rock to warm up in the sunshine. However, we soon realised that it was far too cold to enjoy any rock climbing. So encouraged by the conditions we saw yesterday we decided to head out for a fun solo ascent of Nethermost Gully, a 200m classic grade I/II snow gully that ends almost at the summit of Helvellyn. We parked in Patterdale, but it’s a fairly short walk from there in to Grisedale. There were a couple of easy sections of névé/ice in the gully to add a little technical interest.
Of course having only set off from the car at 11.30am we were now short on daylight – we finished at 6.30pm in the dark. A good day out!
Hi, great pictures on Nethermost! Were conditions reasonable in the gully? I’m hoping to head over Friday and take my fiance out for her first winter climb up there. I don’t want her to be put off with an epic! Did the snowpack seem stable and was the snow in good condition for the steep section below the cornice? Understand it was a few days ago but I get the impression conditions haven’t changed a lot.
Thanks!
Ben
Conditions in the Lakes are pretty amazing at the moment; we were out today on Inaccessible Gully, Dove Crag, which is a route that takes a fair while to form! Cool. Forgive the pun. :freeze:
Great pix, particularly of Striding Edge make me quite proud I’ve done it (in the Summer, of course)!
I read this week that Stickle Tarn, along with several other National Park locations is up for sale! Does that mean they’ll become inaccessible? I do hope not!
I think all of the public access will be protected, so that’s good. Do you fancy buying it then Paul? The price is not so bad really – £20k – if you see yourself owning your own little piece of the Lake District… 😉 Maybe you could start a fishing club? They think the fish stock came from fish that were dropped in to the tarn by birds! 😯
1) Well, that’s a relief. 2) Tempting! 3) I didn’t know there were fish in it! I can’t help feeling a bunch of anoraks (apologies to serious fisherpersons) would spoil the view, though.