Borrowdale - Shepherds Crag, 10-stars

Climbed this evening with Kendal Mountaineering Club at Shepherds
No photos as I forgot my camera but climber but climbed

Fisher's Folly VS 4c 3*

Creeping Jesus HVS 5a 2*

but not The Grasp E1 5b 2*

Adam VS 4c, 5a 3*

Failed on The Grasp, with a fall and the top gear pinging out. Fortunatelly tyhat part of the route is steep so I didn't touch rock on the fall.

Helvellyn by Striding Edge

Striding Edge on Helvellyn is a 3-star Grade 1 scramble which concludes near this popular summit. A good combination is to link it with a descent of Swirral Edge.

The weather was good, and England was playing today in theWorld Cup (don't mention the result!) so today it was nice and quiet , there was even enough space to sit in the shelter to eat sandwiches.

               The awkward step (see the man on the Right for a good decent)                      Walking along the ridge

Scafell Pike

Wow! Thousands of people on Scafell today - being one of the longer days in the year the 3-Peak challenge (Ben Nevis, Scafell, Snowdon) groups were out in force, the roads were packed with minibuses, and a long line of peole was heading up and down the paths.

Central Buttress 122m E1  4b,5b,4c,5a 3*

Botterill's Slab 87m VS 4b, 4c 3*

 

Black Crag, Rhino's

Went to Black Crag this evening.

This single pitch crag dries fast and is easily accessed from the 3-Shires Stones area where there's parking for a handful of cars.
Good is; access, reduced "midge" (due to breezes), high friction rock, and cool when the weather's too hot.
Avoid it when it's windy, when clouds are low, and when it's cold. Great for a summer's evening.

Evening Climbing on Gimmer (12 * stars)

Dashed around to Old Dungeon Ghyl and Gimmer this evening to climb 4 three-star routes. ;

Whit's End Direct E1 5B

We walked up to Raven Crag to scramble up our first route to get us high before traversing around to Gimmer.

Middlefell Buttress 75m Diff 3*

Bracket & Slab (direct start) 97m 4b (1st pitch) 3*

Whit's End Direct 43m E1 5b 3*

"F" Route 40m VS 4c 3*

Abseiling down to Ash Tree Ledge                                                                        Days end

More swift climbing

It's been a fantastic weekend of looking at moving efficiently on rock.

The total for our weekend of climbing Diff to VS routes

25 pitches              5 crags

23 "stars"               8 routes

4 abseils

not bad for leasurely starts and being back in the pub before 5pm!

We climbed on Scout Crags; Gimmer; White Ghyll; Pavey Ark and Raven Crag

The list reads like a navigation through the Langdale routes of Classic Rock Climbing in Langdale

The Slabs, Route 1 - 3-stars                     Stoat's Crack - 2-stars

Route 1 (Scout Crag) - 3-star                    Middlefell Buttress - 3-star

"D" Route - 3-star                                Ash Tree Slabs- 3-star

North West Arete- 3-star                           Bracket & Slab- 3-star

So I'm off for an early night and back on the rock on Tuesday - the weather looks excellent for the Lakes this week.

Swift Climbing - Langdale

Today I was out with Nick & Jon, and Chris Ensoll in Langdale where we practiced climbing swiftly and efficiently.

Our first route was a 2-pitch climb, we arrived at the crag to gear up and 50 minutes later were siting at the top with the ropes packed, munching sandwiches.

We then walked to White Ghyll where Jon led Nick & I on a 4-pitch route, completed very efficiently.... we were moving well.

After a leisurely start, leaving the car park around 10am, we'd been to 2 different crags, climbed 2 routes (total 6-pitches) as a  rope of 3, and it was nearly time for lunch before heading off to Pavey Ark

Stoat's Crack is a nice 5 pitche route and it was my turn to lead - Great! Warm rough rock, and soon our rope of 3 was at the top , so we headed up to Pavey's summit, down Jack's Rake and had another lunch sandwich before decending to the pub for an afternoon drink.

Summary - a late morning start and afternoon finish, 11 pitches, 3 crags, a rope of 3, and lots of breaks to chat and eat.

What a fantastic way to enjoy a sunny day!

Lakes Scrambles

Four linked scrambles today, checking them out for future adventures.

I started with a wonderful exploration of a deep ghyl at Grade 1;

then onto the open fell and an outstanding Grade 3 on rough rock, finishing near a sumit before walking across and down a scree shute - where I was very surprised to find a very square cave, fantastic place for a lunch break on a damp day. Then I followes a sheep track to what i thought would be a remote and hard to find scramble. As i stepped over teh final heather to the start of the rocky ridge I almost stepped on a sleeping scrambler - the first I'd seen on rock today, and the most remote place too!

He suggested another route in the same area so after summiytting I was off for the 4th scramble of the day. A wonderfull link-up of routes

Grade 1 - ghyl

Grade 2/3 - open rock face to summit

Grade 3+ to another summit

Grade 3

Then down for a pint!

On the way I saw loads of our carniverous plants - shown are Sundew and Liverwort - plants that "catch" and digest insects.