Words & Photos Ronald Turnbull

December 06 2010

There’s a big bust up these days between Keswick, Fort William and Pitlochry – all three are placing claims as the Outdoor Adventure Capital.

But if England has a scrambling capital, it has to be Langdale. Bryan Evans’ scrambling book Lakeland South has fully 40 routes; from the silliness of Side Pike – by way of grim gills named as Stickle, Stake and Skull, Hell and the Old Dungeon – around to a burglar’s dozen (ie 11) on the faces of the Langdale Pikes.

With so many to choose among, it’s possible to link them from valley floor to summit. By the time we reached Stickle Tarn, we’d already come up Stickle Gill by the gill rather than the path, open scrambling on slabs beside the stream; and followed up with the Spur of Tarn Crag, a go-anywhere sort of route at Grade 2. Pavey Far East also goes at Grade 2, but is altogether more serious. The way weaved about the great broken face, with ground either side being altogether harder.

After a preliminary knoll, the route contoured left along what the guidebook describes as a sheep path. Sheep, we know, are silly. They don’t care if there’s a drop of 20 metres right beside their path. With an overhanging wall above, pushing me towards that drop, and a downhill scrambly section to contend with, I found myself less silly than any sheep and somewhat scared. The supposedly-for-sheep path led to the brink of East (or Easy) Gully. My companions, proper rock climbers, enjoyed the views across the gully to one of the steep bits of Pavey Ark. If someone had been climbing there we could criticise their every move from our comfortable rocks opposite. There was nobody there, but even so we could see the chalky handholds and be amazed.

But then our own route steepened to a narrow slab. The rock was clean and rough and there were little quartzy handholds, but the drop below appeared to be a 100-metre splashdown into the tarn; and even the two proper climbers went slightly quiet for a move or two.

From the top of Easy Gully, the obvious continuation is to go down it – there’s a dangly move on the way down – and then up that classic scramble, Jack’s Rake. The sum of all this is a route up Pavey Ark involving 800 metres of scrambling height gain. Quite something, given that Pavey itself is only 697m high. But 800m of scrambling did not satisfy my proper climber companion. Down towards Stickle Tarn we went, for a final scramble up the East Ridge route, thus turning the whole day into an ascent, with 1000m of scrambling height gain, of 736-metre Harrison Stickle.

Fort William and Keswick are splendid spots, especially if your idea of the outdoors is shops and restaurants. But for capital scrambling, it’s got to be Great Langdale.

Distance: 4 miles/6km Ascent: 3300ft/1000m Time: 5-8 hours Start/finish: New Dungeon Ghyll, Great Langdale (GR: NY 296064) Map: Harveys 1:25,000 Superwalker, Lakeland Central; Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger sheet 90 (Penrith) Public transport: Stagecoach bus 516 from Ambleside, last bus back mid-afternoon Information: Ambleside, 01539 432582

Technical Spec
Follow beckside path to footbridge on R. Scramble Stickle (Mill) Gill upstream (Grade 1); bear R and scramble Tarn Crag Gill (Grade 2), then the right skyline of Tarn Crag (West Rib, Grade 2). Cross to Stickle Tarn and pass R to base of Pavey’s E crag. Scramble Pavey Far East (Grade 2) over preliminary knoll; on main face contour L to ascend alongside Easy Gully. Descend Easy (or ‘East’) Gully to foot of Jack’s Rake, which is the rising shelf line slanting bottom right to top left across the main crag (Grade 1, exposed). From Pavey Ark head S, straight to Harrison Stickle or dropping L towards Stickle Tarn for its East Ridge (Grade 2, take lower lava tier direct). Descend from col to SW. All scrambles are in Scrambles in the Lake District – South by Bryan Evans (Cicerone Press).