Climbing in The British Isles. Vol. 1 - England — John Shaqi
Climbing in The British Isles. Vol. 1 - EnglandHaskett Smith, W. P. (Walter Parry)
History
Climbing in The British Isles. Vol. 1 - England
Haskett Smith, W. P. (Walter Parry)
Mountaineering -- England; Mountains -- England -- Guidebooks
=Great End= (2,984 ft.) has not received justice at the hands of the
Government map-makers, who have scamped their work most shockingly. The
six-inch map would lead the innocent, stranger to imagine that he could
ascend from Sprinkling Tarn by a smooth and gradual slope. The cliffs
are on the right-hand side on the way from Sty Head to Esk Hause, and
are reached from Wastdale or Borrowdale by way of Sty Head, and from
Langdale by Rossett Gill. The best general view is from Sprinkling Tarn.
Col. Barrow, when citing Great End in his book as an instance of a
mountain with one impossible side, no doubt refers to these cliffs,
which, however, long before he wrote, had been climbed in every
direction. He might reasonably object to _Cust's Gully_, invented in
1880, as being quite at the end of the cliff; but from a point some way
below the foot of that gully there is an easy passage, sloping up the
face of the cliff very much like Jack's Rake on _Pavey Ark_, and this
passage was descended by Mr. Cust in the same year that he discovered
the gully. A little later a couple of ardent fox-hunters got into
difficulties in one of the main gullies, and so drew more attention to
these rocks. The whole face was pretty thoroughly explored by the
present writer in the summer of 1882. Two very fine gullies face
Sprinkling Tarn. _Great or Central Gully_, the nearer of the two to
_Cust's_, is also the wider, but not quite so long as the other. It has
a copious scree at the foot, and more than half-way up it divides into
three. The central fork is grassy, that to the right is more abrupt,
while the left-hand way lies for several yards up a wet slide of smooth
and very steep rock. On the slide itself there is hold enough for
comfort; but on getting off it at the head to the left hand there comes
a bit on a disgustingly rotten buttress which even good climbers have
often found very unpleasant. Above this the gully is more open and
very easy, but splendid climbing may be had on either side of it.
[Illustration: GREAT END FROM SPRINKLING TARN
A, Position of _Brigg's climb_ (not seen); B, The east gully; C, The
great central gully; D, _Cust's gully_.]
_The South-East Gully_, as it is usually called, has its mouth only some
20 yards east from that of the last. Being much narrower, it is bridged
by numerous 'choke-stones,' and, while less fine than the other in snow
time, offers in summer a better and rather longer climb. Half-way up or
less there is a fork, the dividing ridge forming quite a sharp _arête_.
Above it the forks coalesce, and as it nears the top the climb can be
varied a good deal.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account