• Laetitia digging out the snow ploughed roadside to allow access further up Kentmere

  • Laetitia couldn't be bothered to take her skis off to cross the style!

  • Pete skinning up Kentmere Pike

  • The weather threw everything at us: cold, sunshine, snow, rain, mega winds, and even a period of white out!

  • Our tracks skiing down towards Kentmere Reservoir

  • Pete gets a nice turn in on the higher level powder snow.

  • A reward - tea and hoome-made chocolate eclairs! :yum:

Kentmere Ski Touring

On Friday it snowed all day and well in to the night. We checked the forecast for the Saturday, and although the temperatures were rising and rain was on its way, it looked like the snow might stick around for long enough for us to have some fun in Kentmere.

We got up reasonably early, but not too early. Despite the advantage of a 4×4, we knew it would be a difficult drive up Kentmere and we hoped that if we left it long enough the farmers would have come to the aid of the locals. Thankfully they had, but there was still a lot of snow on the road, but we only had to stop once to shovel snow.

Laetitia digging out the snow ploughed roadside to allow access further up Kentmere
Laetitia digging out the snow ploughed roadside to allow access further up Kentmere

We parked close to Hallow Bank so we could start our ski tour along the Garburn Pass. This made a nice and easy start with only a gentle ascent. Soon enough we left the easy pass and made our way up steeper and trickier ground heading towards Kentmere Pike. There was plenty of snow, but long grass was poking through. As we got higher the grass got shorter, or the snow got deeper. How useful, I thought, as we approached a style. With the snow drift I didn’t have to bother to take my skis off.

Laetitia couldn't be bothered to take her skis off to cross the style!
Laetitia couldn’t be bothered to take her skis off to cross the style!

We continued up, and the wind started picking up, ominous clouds rushed across the sky occasionally causing a white-out, and it got very cold.

Pete skinning up Kentmere Pike
Pete skinning up Kentmere Pike
The weather threw everything at us: cold, sunshine, snow, rain, mega winds, and even a period of white out!
The weather threw everything at us: cold, sunshine, snow, rain, mega winds, and even a period of white out!

After a fair few hours of ascent we eventually got to the point where we thought we could descend down to Kentmere Reservoir without crashing in to rocks. We took off our skins, tightened our boots and enjoyed the virgin powder – which got a bit heavy and not very powdery at all by the the time we got to the bottom. It was just brilliant, but over so quickly.

Pete gets a nice turn in on the higher level powder snow.
Pete gets a nice turn in on the higher level powder snow.
Our tracks skiing down towards Kentmere Reservoir
Our tracks skiing down towards Kentmere Reservoir

Just before we got to the reservoir we started traversing down the valley. It all got a bit difficult with the ups and downs so we decided to take the skis off and walk the rest of the way. It wasn’t too far and we got back to the car just in time. As we were taking off our boots the forecasted rain started.

Luckily, with the warmer temperatures the road was a little easier to get down than this morning. Just as well, because all I had on my mind was the yummy chocolate eclairs I’d made yesterday.

A reward - tea and hoome-made chocolate eclairs!  :yum:
A reward – tea and home-made chocolate eclairs! :yum:

5 thoughts on “Kentmere Ski Touring”

  1. Looks brilliant. I was wishing we’d taken our skis down to South Wales on Friday, but after all the scratches I had to fill last time I tried that, maybe it was best I didn’t.

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