Rock-climbing in the English Lake District: Third EditionJones, Owen Glynne
General
Rock-climbing in the English Lake District: Third Edition
Jones, Owen Glynne
Lake District (England) -- Description and travel; Mountaineering; Rock climbing -- England -- Lake District
Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,
...
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent,
Till the night is gone.
ENGINEERS’ CHIMNEY, GABLE CRAG.--This new and interesting climb
is situated about midway between the Oblique Chimney and the Central
Gully. The beginning of it lies at nearly the same level as that
of the Oblique Chimney, and can be reached by traversing some easy
ledges from the ‘Sheep Walk,’ or by ascending directly from the foot
of the Crags. Although the chimney was well known to many climbers,
its ascent had, curiously enough, not been seriously attempted until
July 30th, 1899, when Messrs. G. T. Glover and W. N. Ling made the
first ascent. Since then it has been ascended on two other occasions,
and it seems likely to become as popular as any of the Gable Crag
climbs. The scenery is magnificent and the climbing throughout of a
most interesting character, and in the centre of the lower part of the
chimney a loosely wedged stone adds an element of risk and difficulty,
which is absent from the other chimneys on this face. About eight feet
from its commencement the chimney divides into two branches, but the
route lies up the left-hand one. A good resting place for the second
man is to be obtained in the right-hand branch, and he ought to stay
here while the leader is negotiating the very difficult passage over
the chock-stone. In all the ascents so far it has been found advisable
to pass a rope behind and over this stone, to improvise a handhold, and
even then this ten feet or so will be found quite difficult enough for
most people. After this, another twenty-five feet of careful climbing
brings one to a broad, sloping ledge where a rest can be taken. From
here two routes are available. One is to keep to the chimney, which
continues straight upward for about forty feet, and the other is to
traverse out round the left-hand buttress for a few feet and then bear
upwards, joining the ‘Sheep Walk’ near the top of the Crags. The
former of these involves about twenty feet of fairly easy climbing,
until the small cave, roofed over with the stone which dominates the
chimney, is reached. From this cave the easiest method of ascent is to
utilise a thin crack in the left wall into which some small stones are
firmly jammed and which may be reached by wedging across the chimney
and traversing outwards, a slight projecting ledge affording some help
in the process. The ‘take-off’ into the crack is somewhat delicate
and decidedly sensational on account of the scanty foothold, but once
gained ten to twelve feet of further climbing practically finishes the
chimney. The traverse route round the buttress is much easier, but it
entirely evades the most sensational part of the climb.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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