Category: Langdale

Back out on the Langdale crags

18/9/2018

Afternoon sun lighting Langdale

A last minute booking today saw us out enjoying afternoon sun whilst climbing at Scout crags in Langdale. After lots, and we do mean lots, of rain, the Ghylls were all in spate, we even had to boulder-hop over White Ghyll which is very unusual. This all added a nice sense of drama to the day. Strong winds were shifting the clouds over the valley and giving some stunning light conditions the whole time, such a privilege to be out on such a day.

To the climbing. Justin & Lisa enjoyed around 7 climbs this afternoon, some being repeats in order to spend time on developing technique. The crag was completely dry thanks to the strong winds. We rounded up with a bouldering session which saw to it that all muscles were completely spent. An easy meander back through the fields in the late afternoon sunshine brought the day to an end, lovely.

Thanks Justin & Lisa.

Mark

Enjoying dry rock and sun at Scout crags

Bouldering in the sunshine - Langdale style :-)

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Guided rock climbing days - Lake District

29/4/2018

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The brilliant 'Route 1' at Upper Scout crag, Langdale

With a fairly settled few days here in the Lake District, we were keen to make the most of it and get out climbing.

Firstly out with Joe for a guided day at Wallowbarrow crag in the Duddon valley. This didn't go quite to plan as it rained quite hard there, so we got 1 route done before the downpour! Thomas is a great route though and worth the drive just for that. 3 pitches of top drawer Severe climbing all the way. The crag was quite busy, clearly many others had seen the good forecast for Duddon!!! We saved the rest of the day with a visit to Raven crag, Walthwaite (Chapel Stile) which was completely dry and a clear sky overhead. We climbed 'Route 1' and 'Route 2' the later having some quite memorable moves and great value at Hard Severe.

We've also spent a couple of days out with local pals Anna & Susan. Firstly visiting Shepherds crag in Borrowdale. Here we climbed 'Chamonix' HS 4b and rather tough I thought! A rather devious move off the big spike. Great route though and one I would definitely repeat. We then moved on to 'Eve' a brilliant VS 4c with a fantastic traverse line on the middle pitch.

And another day in Langdale, the morning spent with Joe (a different Joe) and his family at Copt Howe. Introducing the family to the delights of rock climbing. Langdale helped us no end with this as the weather and views were quite sublime. A great morning had by all.
For the afternoon I met up with Anna & Susan again, the plan was to run up to White Ghyll crag for some scary routes! However the chilly wind got the better of us and we opted to stay low and enjoyed a couple of cruising routes at Upper Scout crag.

Thanks all for a fab few days. Off to Snowdonia tomorrow for a Welsh 3000's before more Lakeland fun :-)

Mark

Enjoying the classic route of 'Eve' (VS4c) at Shepherds crag

Skiddaw beyond Derwentwater, from Shepherds crag

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Fun filled Family Adventure Day in Langdale

10/4/2017

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Family-adventures-rock-climbing-lake-district

Learning new skills - how to tie in with a re-threaded 'figure of 8' knot.

The Easter holidays are here at last and yesterday was a busy day for us with Mark taking a big group ghyll scrambling in the morning whilst I ran one of our family adventure days for David Temkin and his sons, 11 year old Arieh and 10 year old Solly.

We spent a lovely sunny morning at Scout Crag in Great Langdale, just a short walk from the New Dungeon Ghyll and I was lucky to have Paddy Cave join me to help run the morning session (due to me being slightly out of action still from a recent wrist injury!). So, for a change I was free to take photos, watch the fun and enjoy the views! Arieh had climbed before on a climbing wall, but his father David and brother Solly were new to the activity. As well as climbing 3 routes they also learned how to tie into the rope and to belay. Arieh was able to put to test all that he had learnt on his recent trips to the indoor climbing wall in Manchester – tying on with a re-threaded figure of eight and belaying his climbing partner. David and Solly were also keen to learn and by the end of the morning, with Paddy on hand and keeping a watchful eye, they were all confident to belay each other.

We all returned to the Stickle Barn for a drink and some lunch on the picnic benches before saying goodbye to Paddy and meeting Mark who was to join us for the afternoon.

The afternoon was spent at Cathedral Quarry in nearby Little Langdale for an afternoon of abseiling and tunnel exploration. Whilst Mark set up the abseil we went into the huge cavern where Cathedral Quarry get its name. As often as I go I still always find it an awesome place to be – the sun streaming through the ‘window’ and the huge pillar supporting the enormous cavern. After a little bit of scrambling up rocks and watching people descending the ‘big’ abseil we donned our headtorches and went into the tunnels. Youngsters always love this bit of exploration in the dark and on request from Arieh and Solly we did the tunnels twice!

By the time we got back to Mark, he had the abseil all set up and ready for us. First down was Solly, then Arieh, followed by their father. On the first descent the boys were a little nervous to begin but not for long and by the time they reached the bottom they were already asking to do it again!

Thanks David, Arieh, Solly, Paddy and Mark for a super day out!

Kate

‘Thank you so very much for a wonderful day. Myself, Arieh and Solly enjoyed it so much and you were very kind, patient and attentive with us all. Thank you very much and our sincere thanks to Mark and Paddy whose company we all thoroughly enjoyed. We would recommend you highly and hope to see you again one day’.
David Temkin 9.4.17

If you’re interested in joining us on a Family Adventure Day or on any of our other activities please click here – we’d love to hear from you

Family-adventures-abseiling-lake-district

Abseiling at Cathedral quarry.

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Family adventures in the Lake District

8/6/2016

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Having fun Rock scrambling on Pike O'Blisco

Last week was half term and with the sun shining every day, we had a very busy and enjoyable week. One popular activity we do is our Family Adventure Day. There are various options depending on the ages of the children, the weather and what our clients want out of the day.

Families who prefer less walking to the day can enjoy the valley option. We spend the morning in Langdale where you are spoilt with views of this popular and beautiful valley; the dramatic skyline of the Langdale Pikes always drawing your eyes to it. We do some fun rock-climbing, starting with easy climbs and testing yourselves on harder ones if you wish. We then head over to Cathedral quarry for a picnic lunch at a place which never ceases to amaze people – you walk through a dark tunnel and appear in a huge cavern, lit up with rays of sun pouring through the ‘window’. This man-made quarry gets its name ‘Cathedral’ from the huge pillar inside the cavern. As well as the caverns there are long, dark tunnels to explore, always good fun - one is 120m long so we take a torch! There is an abseil here too, just long enough for children but long enough to give a challenge.

Pike O'Blisco Family Adventure Day - children enjoying searching out good rocks to scramble up.

Last week the weather was perfect for an adventurous day out in the mountains. So with two families – 3 adults and 5 children from 8 to 17 years old we drove up to the top of the Wrynose Pass and headed up Pike O’Blisco. We stayed off path for most of the day, scrambling over small rocky outcrops – for anyone not familiar with scrambling, in this case it is very easy rock-climbing on low level rocks, for which you don’t need a rope. Children of all ages love this and the joy of it is that you can choose your route, so it can be easy or a little harder, or you can simply walk around it.

We scrambled our way up the mountain until we reached the crag of Long Scar, seeing lots of interest on route - sheep and lambs (Herdwicks and Swaledales), plants including Sundew, one of only two insectivorous plants in the UK, and some fascinating rock formations.

Long Scar is a lovely climbing crag about 12m tall and here everyone enjoyed some rock-climbing on the end of a rope on either the ‘easy’ climb or the ‘hard’ climb for those who wanted to challenge themselves, or both! Here we enjoyed a well-earned picnic lunch whilst being treated to stunning of the Lake District fells including Wetherlam, Swirl How, Cold Pike and Crinkle Crags.

Everyone then fancied the idea of abseiling; some were worried because of previous experiences, however the slabs we use on Black Crag are not at all intimidating and perfect for ‘first timers’ and especially good for youngsters too. Everyone did it at least once and the children all came back for another turn. You also get to do some more easy climbing as it is quicker and far more enjoyable to climb back up to the top than to walk around.

Theo, Georgia, Sarah, Thomas, Eric and Tristan all feeling happily challenged at the top of the abseil.

Time enjoyed always passes quickly and before we knew it was time to return to the cars. Here I left them as the adults were keen to finish their day by testing their driving skills over the famous Hardknott Pass, a single track, twisty road with a gradient of 1 in 3, the steepest road in England (along with Rosedale Chimney in North Yorkshire).

Thanks for a great day out Eric, Johnny, Sarah, Matt, Georgie, Tristan, Theo and Thomas!

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A guided walk up Crinkle Crags

12/4/2015

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Friday saw another lovely spring day here in the Lake District and perfect fell-walking weather.

This was the second day out with us this week for Heidi and 8 year old Rocco. They had also walked up Scafell Pike with us last October, Rocco's first mountain and were keen to experience another. Rocco requested Don's company again and Don was more than happy to oblige - a day in the mountains being a favourite activity for collies!

Crinkle Crags at the head of Langdale is a beautiful craggy mountain with an unmistakable outline of the five Crinkles, with Pike O'Blisco to the right and Bowfell to the left.

We took the route from the Old Dungeon Ghyll in Langdale up to Red Tarn, and from there past Great Knott and on up to the first Crinkle. There's lots of rough rocky terrain along the tops of the 5 Crinkles which made the walk more interesting with rocky steps to scramble up.

We got to the Bad Step, a steep section of rock some 10 feet high and from below looking impossible to negotiate. There is a path to the left avoiding it but as Rocco and Heidi had experienced a day of rock scrambling a few days prior we decided to take the route up the Bad Step. Once below the rock you can see the polished steps and hand holds on the rock that many people have taken before and Rocco and Heidi both easily ascended it in a few moves. However, this was not the case for Don which is no longer as agile as he was in his youth and he was happier to be taken on an alternative route to the right, up steep, grassy terrain - much more to his liking!

Lunch was had on Long Top, the second and highest of the Crinkles (859m), and from there it didn't take long to walk over the other Crinkles until we reached the Three Tarns col below Bowfell. From here we descended back to Langdale via the long shoulder of The Bank.

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Langdale Pikes walk

10/11/2014

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Having only just returned from 25C heat in Spain, it was quite an awakening to be back out in the Langdales on Saturday.
Julie had bought one of our Gift Vouchers for friends Julie & Stuart, and after a false start earlier in the year, here we were for a day out amongst the magnificent Langdale Pikes.

The weather was being a little unkind, but nothing too dramatic, just a touch of cloud and a splash of rain. We set off from the Stickle Barn car park and headed for Stickle Tarn, our first stop and time to catch our breath, have a bite to eat and make an onward plan.

Low visibility at the tarn made for atmospheric conditions. It was decided to aim straight for Harrison Stickle, the highest of the Langdale Pikes. The ascent was quick and easy, everyone making rapid progress on the well maintained and occasionally steep path. The summit was breezy but quiet, in fact we were the only people around. Wind chill meant this was not a place to linger, so we made haste for the top of the Dungeon Ghyll. Having followed the rightmost path to the stream, I decided to continue onto Loft Crag and backtrack to our descent route from there. On a clear day the views from around here are spectacular, with parts of the mighty Gimmer crag revealing themselves for the eyes delight. Alas, today our visibility was mostly less than 20 metres!

Prior to our descent we passed near to the Neolithic axe working area. To think folk were 'commuting' to here thousands of years ago, incredible and humbling.

Having ticked the summits of both Harrison Stickle & Loft Crag, we returned to the valley a little damper than when we set off, but pleased with our day. The weather had kept the masses away, leaving solitude to be enjoyed that little bit more.

Thanks to Julie, Graham, and Stuart. A pleasure to meet you all and we hope to see you all again before too long.

Langdale Pikes on a clear day

Fell running again

I've been having a go at getting back into fell running. It's been a while since I took this seriously, so am taking it easy at the moment.
So far the runs have been a success. Today I built on that and went for a run on Cauldale Moor to Stoney Cove Pike. The weather was 'Cumbrian' so couldn't really see much! The terrain is actually pretty friendly, although boggy in places, but stones are in place for the worst sections, so no swimming required!

It felt great to be moving fluidly in the mountains, covering distance quickly is so satisfying. Don came with me too, he's a complete natural of course and maybe wondered what all the fuss was about and why I might be out of breath and still going so slow!!

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Multi-pitch climbing in Langdale: 11th & 12th March 2014

14/9/2014

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This week it has been mostly very sunny indeed. And not wanting to miss out on an opportunity, we've been out making the most of it.

I think it's reasonable to say that the Lake District has some of the finest climbing in the country, and Langdale is definitely a jewel of Lakeland climbing, offering so much variety and mostly on South or South-west facing crags.

Over the last couple of days we've been to Upper Scout crag, White Ghyll crag, and Gimmer crag.

All excellent venues in their own right, each with a variety of grades to choose from.

Upper Scout is very easy to access, being only about 15 minutes from the road, the routes are friendly and offer plentiful protection for the lead climber. We climbed two routes here.

White Ghyll is just around the corner from Upper Scout, but could not be more different. A steep and imposing place with an atmosphere that can sometimes be quite gripping. This is a crag to visit when you want full value from your climbing day as it's likely at some point during the day it will feel intimidating. The routes are mostly fabulous and on excellent rock, again the protection is usually very good where it's needed most.

Gimmer crag is on a whole new level. Best crag in Langdale / best crag in the Lakes / best crag in the UK? It's certainly high on the list. Reasons for this are its amazing position high above the valley (this helps keep it quiet) providing beautiful views of the valley and to the Coniston fells. A good spread of grades means there's something for everyone here. The rock is extremely high quality, the routes are almost all brilliant, and there's in-situ abseil stations making multiple routes far more feasible. I think the best approach to this crag is to firstly climb Middlefell Buttress on Raven crag, this takes the toil out of gaining height and is a good route in its own right. From the top of here it's only about 20 minutes to the crag.
We climbed a 'classic rock' route today called 'Bracket & Slab'. We split this into about 5 pitches, each gave unique challenges and provided excellent climbing, all the belay ledges were large and comfortable too making for a very pleasant excursion.

If you haven't yet tried any of these crags, I can highly recommend them, and if you'd like a guide for your climb, do give us a call.

Let's all hope for a long hot summer.

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Back out on the Langdale crags

Guided rock climbing days - Lake District

Fun filled Family Adventure Day in Langdale

Family adventures in the Lake District

A guided walk up Crinkle Crags

Langdale Pikes walk

Langdale Pikes on a clear day

Fell running again

Multi-pitch climbing in Langdale: 11th & 12th March 2014

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