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
_Brigg's_ (or _Holmes'_) _Pitch_, of which a photograph will be found in
the Climbers' Book at Wastdale Head, is still nearer to Esk Hause, which
it faces. Mr. Holmes and the Messrs. Brigg, who climbed it on Easter
Monday 1893, describe the difficulty as consisting in a cave formed
quite at the foot of the cliff by a jammed stone, the top of which is
reached by way of the rocks on the north side of it.
=Great Gable= (2,949 ft.) may be ascended with equal ease from Wastdale
or the head of Borrowdale, and is within easy reach of Buttermere. The
simplest way up is by Sty Head, from which half an hour's rough walking
lands one on to the top. The only alternative for Wastdale is 'Moses
Sledgate,' alias _Gavel Neese_, a ridge of rather steep grass, which
offers a very direct way. There is a bit of scrambling on White Napes, a
rocky mass which tops the Neese. Beyond this _Westmorland's Cairn_ is
left on the right hand and the summit cairn comes into sight. People
coming from Buttermere usually go round the head of Ennerdale over
Green Gable, and this is the way generally taken by Borrowdale visitors
for the return journey. The climbing on this mountain is quite
first-class. The _Napes_, _Napes Needle_, and _Kern Knotts_ are
separately described, but in addition to these there are grand crags
overlooking Ennerdale. These are referred to in Col. Barrow's book in
the passage where he defies the Alpine Club to ascend the most difficult
side of certain Lake mountains.
[Illustration: PLAN OF GREAT GABLE
A, _Westmorland's Cairn_; B, _White Napes_; C, E, _Little and Great Hell
Gate_; D, _Great Napes_; F, _Napes Needle_.]
[Illustration: GREAT GABLE FROM THE SOUTH-EAST
A, _Kirkfell_; B, _Beckhead_; C, _White Napes_; D, _Great Napes_;
E, _Westmorland's Cairn_; F, Summit; G, _Tom Blue_; H, _Kern Knotts_.
The path to _Sty Head_ is seen mounting from left to right.]
No one seems even to have looked at these crags till in 1882 Mr. Pope
met his death on this side of the mountain. In that year the writer
found that it was an easy matter to coast along the face of the cliff at
about two-thirds of the height of it, and a year or two later that for
all the ferocious appearance of these rocks there is a natural passage
by which a mountain sheep of ordinary powers might ascend them. Close to
this are the remains of a sort of hut of loose stones, evidently the
refuge of some desperate fugitive of half a century or more ago. Local
tradition speaks of a notorious distiller of illicit whisky, who was
known to have a 'hide' somewhere in this wild neighbourhood. The top of
the easy passage bears by prismatic compass 23° from the highest cairn,
and is marked by a large stone.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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