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 usual thing in a fog is to find oneself down in Eskdale. I remember
a photographic friend once leaving his camera at the foot of Deep Ghyll
while he went for an hour’s round of Lord’s Rake, Scawfell Cairn, and
the Broad Stand. The dense mountain mists gathered about him at the
top, and rendered useless his efforts to steer the true course. That
night he discovered himself at Boot, and three days elapsed before he
found his camera, suffering from the effects of over-exposure as much
as himself.
THE NORTH CLIMB.--This starts at Petty’s Rift, already
referred to on page 31, about twelve yards from Mickledore along the
Rake’s Progress. From a distance it looks as though the climb would
necessarily include the funnel-shaped gully below the Progress, and
the whole aspect of the work is somewhat forbidding. Nevertheless the
difficulties are concentrated in the first six feet. When once the
climber can get a foot on to the floor of the little square recess, his
safety is assured. In the photograph facing page 40 the positions of
the three members of the party indicate sufficiently well the course
usually taken. The last man is taking off with his left foot, and has
his right hand at the edge of the recess on to which he intends to
climb. The face is very exposed in wintry weather, and several stories
are told of parties who have suffered here from frostbite. It is not a
safe place to descend when ice is about the rocks.
The following account of the North or Penrith Climb is taken from Mr.
C. N. Williamson’s article in ‘All the Year Round.’ Introducing, as it
does, Mr. Seatree’s original description, I make no apology for quoting
it in full: ‘There is yet another and a more direct way of climbing the
Scawfell cliffs from Mickledore, which, for want of a better name, we
may christen the “North Climb.” The route is known to very few. It was
discovered for himself in 1874 by Mr. George Seatree.... Major Cundill
had already climbed it in 1869.
‘From the ridge we traversed a ledge of grass-covered rock (the Rake’s
Progress) to the right until we reached a detached boulder, stepping
upon which we were enabled to get handhold of a crevice six or seven
feet from where we stood. To draw ourselves up so as to get our feet
upon this was the difficulty. There is only one small foothold in that
distance, and to have slipped here would have precipitated the climber
many feet below. Having succeeded in gaining this foothold, we found
ourselves in a small rectangular recess with barely room to turn round.
From here it was necessary to draw ourselves carefully over two other
ledges into a small rift in the rocks, and then traverse on our hands
and knees another narrow ledge of almost eight feet to the left, which
brought us nearly in a line with the Mickledore ridge. From here all
was comparatively smooth sailing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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