Blog Archives - Mountain Journeys - Guided Walks

Pillar rock - One of the Nuttalls

31/8/2017

#Pillar #high_level_traverse

Looking over to Pillar High Man from Robinsons Cairn

Yesterday was another big day out in the Lakeland fells for us. This time I was working for our friends at Highpoint Mountain Guides, guiding Andy & Sarah to the summit of Pillar High Man.

They were working through the Nuttalls and were almost finished. Like many, they had saved High Man until near the end of the journey. Thankfully we had amazing weather for it. Calm, clear, dry, and at times even warm!

Walking in from Wasdale, we motored up to Black Sail Pass and onto the High Level Traverse route. Naturally we slowed a little here as the terrain becomes more serious. Due to the outstandingly good views we had to make lots of stops to soak it all up, and why not.

From Robinsons Cairn we were afforded wonderful views of our route onto High Man, the deep cleft of Jordan Gap taking centre stage.

We roped up at the base of Slab & Notch route (Moderate) and climbed this in 4 short pitches, taking time to enjoy the views from each belay ledge.

Summit views were magnificent and well worth the effort. A few walkers looked down on us from the summit of Pillar, for us they gave good perspective to our position, and i'm sure we did the same.

A short abseil into Jordan Gap and the continuation scramble onto Pisgah brought us back to our bags and an awaiting lunch.

We also took in the summit of Pillar before descending back into the Wasdale valley as the sun fell in the sky to create beautiful shadows over the valleys and mountains.

Thanks to Joe and Highpoint and to Andy & Sarah. A brilliant day out.

Mark

#Pillar_high_man #rock_climbing #Lake_district #this_girl_can

Sarah enjoying the magnificent positions on Pillar High Man

#Pillar_high_man #Nuttalls #rock_climbing

High Man in the sun

Pinnacle Ridge, St. Sunday Crag

29/8/2017

#pinnacle_ridge #lake_district

Moving over the pinnacles of Pinnacle Ridge

Today has been a step out of the norm for me, and quite a special day. We are really pleased to introduce many youngsters to the great outdoors and have been doing so for about 10 years now. But today was a bit different, not so much introducing a youngster to the outdoors, but helping her progress into the world of mountaineering.

Pinnacle Ridge, St. Sunday crag is hardly a theatre to be associated with 6 year olds, but this one took it all in her stride and smiled almost constantly.

I've climbed with Jane (Hannah's mum) for some years now, so when she suggested this route for Hannah I knew all factors would have been carefully weighed up, with Hannah's enjoyment and safety at the top of the list. The arduous approach walk can be testing for fit adults, so a 6 year old was going to need some coaxing (and maybe a little bit of chocolate)! The final slog up the steep scree slope, the section that slows most of us, was the time Hannah moved the quickest, clearly enjoying the challenge of steep, loose terrain, and coping with it extremely well.

After a breather and re-fuel at the base of the route, we sorted the ropes and gear before setting off up this impressive ridge. We moved rapidly, Hannah having no difficult on the initial sections and not much noticing the exposure or positions she was now in (but did occasionally stop to look at the view).
The crux corner just needed a few helpful words of advice from mum who was always close behind, and a snug rope from me, and soon that was behind us. The pinnacles lay in wait, Hannah seemingly more interested in the rock formations up there than noticing the rather dramatic exposure / position she was now in (thank goodness for the rope hey)! About another 50m and we were at the top of the route, one of the quickest roped ascents i've ever done.

We stayed roped up until the main footpath coming down from St.Sunday crag. Not because we needed to, but because a cold wind was blowing and we wanted to find shelter from it to warm our hands.

All the way down Hannah chatted and laughed, having fun in these wonderful mountains. Hopefully very pleased with her achievement today.

I feel privileged to have been a part of this day and am very proud of Hannah, such a big achievement.
Thanks Jane & Hannah

Mark

#pinnacle_ridge #scrambling_and_climbing_with_kids #lake_district

Hannah taking the crux corner in her stride

#Ullswater #St.Sunday_crag #lake_district

Descending to Patterdale with Ullswater in the distance

Church Beck - Ghyll Scrambling, Lake District

27/8/2017

#churchbeck #ghyllscrambling #lakedistrict

Getting into the flow

Another great trip into Church Beck, Coniston. This time with Amy and her pals who were visiting the Lake District for a 'girlie weekend'.
We enjoyed having the place to ourselves, which is quite unusual for this Ghyll. There were waterfall climbs, pool jumps, swims, rock wall traverses, slides, and more jumps to keep us all entertained.

As an added bonus, the sun came out to join us, almost drying us out by the time we'd walked back into Coniston :-)

We're back in the gorges again today and have availability for next week and throughout September. This is a perfect time of year to enjoy Ghyll Scrambling, so why not give us a call and let's make it happen.

Mark

#gorgewalking #churchbeck #lakedistrict

Taking the high jump!

#gorgescrambling #lakedistrict

Swims, jumps, slides, and pools :-)

The Gorge scrambling and Canyoning triple - Lake District

14/8/2017

#church beck canyoning

Enjoying Church beck

Recent days have been filled with many activities with so many lovely people. We thank you all for choosing Mountain Journeys to take care of your Lake District activities and adventures.

There's been rock climbing, Adventure days for families, Abseiling, but mostly there's been the wonderful watery activities of Gorge Scrambling and Canyoning.

And this has been in a variety of beautiful venues, with Stickle Ghyll still a firm favourite. We've also ventured back into Church Beck, Coniston. We haven't been in the lower section of Church Beck for quite some time, so this made for a nice change, i'd forgotten how much fun it is.

Today we ventured into yet more beautiful canyons, this time Stoneycroft Ghyll in the Northern Fells of the Newlands Valley. This venue had been on my list of 'to-do's' for ages and it was quite a stroke of luck that today I was to be working for Mountain Circles and had the expert team of Paddy Cave and Rob Blackmore to show me some tips & tricks for this ghyll, thanks both.

All these Ghylls are great fun and can be enjoyed by a wide range of people, anyone looking for fun and adventure that doesn't mind getting wet (oh yes, there's swimming involved and your hair will get wet)!

We're back out in the Gorges again tomorrow and are really excited about it. Why not give it a try too, such fun.

Get in touch anytime for more information and to make a booking for any of these Ghylls and more.

Thanks

Mark

#gorge scrambling near Keswick

Jumping into the pools of Stoneycroft Ghyll

#Stoneycroft gorge scramble

Waterslide fun in Stoneycroft

#church beck lake district

Anyone for a shower? Church Beck style

Pinnacle Ridge - Advanced rock scrambling skills day

8/8/2017

#pinnacle ridge #advanced scrambling course #lake district

The Pinnacles of Pinnacle Ridge

Another visit to the magnificent Pinnacle Ridge on St. Sunday Crag for us today. Jo & David were keen to progress their scrambling skills and move from grade 1 up to grade 3 routes. A rope is often to help protect more difficult and exposed scrambles. Today was about passing on some of the skills necessary to do this in a safe manner.

Pinnacle Ridge is a good route for this as protection is abundant and easy to arrange during its entire length. For most of the way Jo & David alternate led the route in pitches, thus allowing for lots of practice at selecting belay anchors and using the Italian Hitch (Munter Hitch) for belaying. We covered indirect and direct belay techniques as well as incorporating the use of spike belays using only the rope. A little time was spent discussing escape options from scrambles, with Abseil skills being looked at briefly.

David did a fine job of leading the crux corner pitch and the pinnacles. After this both were keen to see 'short-roping' in action so I took the lead for the final short section to demonstrate this.

After a warm and sunny day on the ridge, rain arrived as we reached the top, great timing for sure. A quick and easy walk back to Patterdale accompanied by those ever splendid views to Ullswater.

Thanks to Jo & David, we hope you enjoy the Rock Scrambling for many years to come and hope to see you both again for more.

Mark

A guided walk around the Coledale Horseshoe

7/8/2017

I spent a delightful day guiding Howard, Simone, Russell and Penny around the beautiful Coledale Horseshoe on Friday.

The weather was quite changeable with strong winds, clouds, sunshine but luckily no rain! We had plenty of stunning views but also walked in cloud on the summit of Eel Crag (or Crag Hill as Ordnance Survey name it on the maps).

Grizedale_pike_guided_walk

Heather on the path up Grizedale Pike

The walk up Grizedale Pike is a long ascent, steep and rocky in places but we took our time and enjoyed walking through the heather in all its purple glory! On reaching the summit we were hit by very strong winds and found a sheltered spot for a bite of lunch. However, starting off from here on our way to Coledale Hause the wind hit us hard and almost had us off our feet. We sat for a few moments to assess the situation and I thought about turning around and descending back down the way we’d come. In the end, I decided to test the wind again and although it was still strong we soon became sheltered by a shoulder of the mountain and after that the wind hardly bothered us at all!

guided_walking_Coledale_horseshoe

Our descent off the Coledale Horseshoe via Outerside

We reached the big plateau like summit of Eel Crag/Crag Hill, the highest summit on the Coledale Horseshoe for us today. We didn’t linger long as there were no views because of the cloud. The next summit of Sail was quickly reached, then on to Outerside and finally back down to the pretty village of Braithwaite where our walk has started. The sun was shining by now and we finished the day off with a welcome drink in the garden at the Coledale Inn.

Thanks Howard, Simone, Russell and Penny for a lovely day out!

Kate

coledale-horseshoe-guided-walk

Views over to Skiddaw

A multi-activity mega weekend

6/8/2017

#begineer rock climbing lake district

Slate climbing at Tilberthwaite

We've had a pretty non-stop weekend of Rock scrambling, Abseiling, Gorge scramble, Rock climbing, and Abseiling again.

Firstly with Asam and his 7 pals. Keen to squeeze in Abseiling and Scrambling into a morning, we combined the brilliant Raven crag, Yewdale for Scrambling with the epic abseiling venue of Hodge Close quarry. With the venues being so close together, we were able to easily cruise both activities and enjoy the views and be finished in time for lunch.

Then it was away to Langdale for us, to meet the Dumbarton Fire Cadets. The sun was out and we were in, in the Gorge that is. Perfect weather for it and everyone got a proper soaking. Jumping and swimming in the pools as well as some waterfall climbing too.
For Sunday it was more fun with the Fire Cadets. Rock climbing and Abseiling at Tilberthwaite quarry near Coniston. This proved to be a good venue for this team who definitely rose to the challenge that slate climbing brings. Some really impressive climbing going on this morning. We finished the day with an abseil, just as the rain arrived, so a bit of a soaking too ;-)

Thanks everyone and especially to Allan from the Fire cadets and Joe for helping out.

Mark

#mountain activities lake district

Raven crag, Yewdale

#abseiling lake district

A sunny day at Hodge close quarry - Abseiling

#rock climbing course lake district

Focused on the next move

#combined climbing tactics lake district

The most important thing, to have fun and enjoy some laughter with friends

Guided climbing - dry rock through the showers

4/8/2017

#guided_rock_climbs_lake_district

Shafts of sunlight in Langdale

The grey skies of this week have not dampened our spirits, we've been out enjoying some fine days with lovely people. Firstly with the Kimber family from Dorset on a Family Adventure Day in the Langdale and Little Langdale valleys. Despite it being a pretty damp afternoon, we enjoyed plenty rock climbing in the morning before retreating into the Cathedral caverns of Little Langdale, this is such a fun place to explore, yes we still love walking through the tunnels too.

And today with returning client Stig from Norway, here to sample the historic climbing of the Lake District. On Raven crag we climbed: Middlefell Buttress; Evening Wall; Original Route; and Revelation. The morning was showery but the rock dried quickly in the wind, during the afternoon we enjoyed increasing amounts of blue sky and sunshine, Langdale showing off again ;-)

Thanks everyone for a fab week, we hope to see you all again soon.

Mark

#rock_climbing-instructor_lake_district

Climber on Revelation

#guided_rock_climbing_lake_district

Stig on Evening Wall (Severe)