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
THE CURTAIN AND ARÊTE.--This forms the left-hand wall of the
Great Chimney, and may be climbed from bottom to top. At the beginning
there is a variation which slants up to the crest of the Curtain
from a point a few feet below the beginning of the fine pitch in the
Great Chimney. A still more interesting method of attack lies up an
unmistakable cleft behind a huge detached obelisk on the south or
left-hand side of the Curtain. Above the cleft a narrow crack affords
a very pleasing exit. Once on the crest of the Curtain the work is
straightforward, the ordinary tracks from the east side being crossed
_en route_. The final stretch of the arête, which lands the climber on
the top of the rock, involves some exhilarating arm-swings on capacious
holds.
THE WEST JORDAN CRACK and the FAR WEST JORDAN CLIMB were
discovered in 1909 by Messrs. H. B. Gibson and W. B. Brunskill. A
poised block, which stands a few feet west of the foot of the old West
Jordan Climb, marks the base of operations. From this the ‘Crack’ route
slants upwards to the left over the top of a steep slab to a diminutive
ledge at the foot of a vertical corner, up which rises a narrow crack.
The ascent of this 20 foot corner is the crux of the climb; above it
the summit cairn is only a few feet away. The Far West Jordan Climb is
somewhat the easier of the two problems. From above the poised block
previously mentioned, the route diverges at once to the left, and,
after crossing a grass-floored depression, it makes for a detached
spike, about 5 feet high, close to the left sky-line. This affords good
anchorage for the second climber whilst the leader tackles the ensuing
somewhat exposed section from the top of the detached spike. This
consists of a passage up a crack to the right of an overhanging block.
Above this a fine arête is gained which leads to the summit.
THE WEST RIDGE OF PISGAH.--The Pisgah problems have never been
considered seriously by climbers, but this longer course up the whole
length of the west side of the prominent little peak is worthy of
passing mention. The route shows to advantage on the line drawing of
the west side of the Pillar Rock. At the point of divergence, about 45
feet above the screes, the left-hand way is the easier of the two; it
regains the direct route by way of a detached rock-pinnacle.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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