Approaching Cautley Spout
For those who've not visited before, Cautley Spout forms a delighful grade 3 ice route, not often in condition, and only a short walk from the main A-road running north from Sedbergh...
Smears of ice visible
We finally set off, dodging the spray that was raining down on us, the ice was sticky, in places complete and utter rubbish, slushy, unstable and certainly not protectable..
The best line if futher right....honest!
The second short pitch was not much better, brittle ice and streams of water, again which could be outflanked on the left. From here things improved slightly, at the least the ice seemed solid, even take the off half decent screw on the final pitch.
Better ice on the upper pitches
Traverse of the Helvellyn range on ski
On Saturday we completed a rare North-South traverse of the Helvellyn massif on ski.
The alarm sounded at 5:30am. It was dark, very dark and cold. This seemed like such a good idea last night, now it just felt very early for a saturday morning.
It was 6:30am by the time we left the house, there was still no sign of daylight in the eastern skies, and what little moon there was, shone clearly as we made our way through the central fells en-route to Threlkeld, the small village to the east of Keswick that would be our starting point.
As we arrived in Threlkeld the first signs of daylight were rapidly filling the eastern skyline, it was another 40 minutes before sun-rise. Ski's out, skins on and we were off....
The first rays of sun were already gracing the summits of Blencathra as we headed upwards, the snow underski dry and powdry....
After a brief stop for lunch (the four of us huddled into our lightweight mountain shelter) we headed towards Helvellyn Lower Man. Dropping down to the col that skirts the western edge of Brown Cove and for the first and only time, it was time to ditch the ski's and climb the broad rocky ridge that would lead to the 925m summit of Helvellyn Lower Man.
With ski's strapped to our packs and the wind accelerating across the ridge, it was an unsteady battle upwards, the ski's acting like sails to pull you side-ways. It was a battle to keep hands warm in the biting wind, finger tips were becoming numb and climbing in ski mountaineering boots with the lack of ankle flex made everything feel a little unsteady.
But the ridge was shortlived, as were the twisting and ferocious winds. As we pulled onto the summit and the main Helvellyn plateau, it felt like a serene region of the arctic.
From there it was short walk upto the summit of Helvellyn itself. From here it would be largely downhill, a gradual descent across the scoured plateau towards Nethermost Pike.
An unforgettable day.
