Grasmoor, Coledale Hause, Sand Hill, Hopegill Head, Cumbria. Wed 07 Feb 2007

My proposed route had changed over the previous day. My first choice was to climb Grasmoor by the imposing west face. Last night the temperature plummeted to -6deg C so I thought the easier route up Lad Hows would be safer. However, when I arrived the face was clear of snow or any obvious ice so I thought I’d go ahead with my original plan. I had crampons with me if things got too icy. As I left the car the sun was illuminating Mellbreak across Crummock Water.

Treelined shore of Crummock Water.

A walker and dog set off just before me and I half hoped he would show me the way up the face; no such luck, he continued straight on and up Whiteside. Only the first part of the climb can be seen from the road and after the top of the scree the route vanishes into a rocky gully. I set off in chilly shade up the loose scree. The going was steady and eventually a meandering path wound up through the loose rocks. Some sections were between thick heather and this gave the path a degree of safety. At the end of the loose stuff the route climbs up a rock gully and emerges onto a nice flat shelf.

This is mentioned in Wainwright’s book ‘North Western Fells’ and his route continues up via ‘Fat Man’s Agony’. I climbed straight up an easy rock slope so I don’t know where his anatomical description comes from. The gradient continued steep but the narrow path was good, though exposed. I suppose if your hat blew off you’d have a long descent to retrieve it. I was lucky, there was hardly a breath of wind and even though the temperature was -3deg C it didn’t feel cold at all. Some of the rocks were coated with frost so I put on my Grivel Spider mini crampons for added security. At the end of the steep ridge a delightful grassy plateau is reached with a small cairn, followed by a larger one. But this is still not the top, a gently path continues up to the summit stone shelter. I’d now reached the sun and the whole area was covered in frost. As I got to the top I had a wonderful 360deg view. The summit area is flat for quite a large area so I wandered over towards the northern slopes to look down into Gasgale Gill.

Ice sculpures on Grasmoor

Low light on Dove Crags, Grasmoor.

A couple of walkers approached from the Crag Hill end. As I descended the steep path towards the saddle I met a lone walker coming up. We stopped to exchange a few words. He had an interesting question that he’d asked other solo walkers he’d come across. Would I take advantage of a system to log my route with someone before setting out on the fells? I said I would and we discussed a few theories about how a system could run. I followed the path down to Coledale Hause and then straight across to start the easy climb up to Sand Hill and Hopegill Head.

It was still cold and I was glad of the climb to keep me warm. As I approached the summit another walker was already there and had stopped to eat his sandwiches. It was so much different to last week when I couldn’t see anything through the mist and rain and had to shelter down the gulley to get out of the wind. Now I was in sunshine with excellent views. I set off towards Whiteside along the magnificent ridge which I could now see in its entirety. Quite a few people approached from the opposite direction, unlike last week when I saw nobody. The descent of Whiteside back down to Gasgale Gill was interesting because of the views of Crummock Water below.

Afternoon light on Crummock Water.