Skiddaw

Sunday 31st March 2013

Before this walk, I had stayed overnight at the Skiddaw House Youth Hostel, which is a great place despite being so cold that I needed to go to bed with a hot water bottle. One of the many advantages of staying there is that since the hostel is 470m above sea level you are already half way up the nearby hill of Skiddaw even before you’ve started, which gives you a huge help in the morning. There is a track that runs from the hostel all the way up to the summit on mostly gentle grassy slopes that can be climbed even when there is snow on the ground, as I had on this Easter Sunday. In glorious sunny weather, without a cloud in the sky and hardly a breath of wind, I left Skiddaw House and set off up the snow-covered hill of Sale How, but soon after passing over the top the weather started to deteriorate and the snow got deeper and deeper, which made for a much slower and tiring ascent than would normally be expected. After wading through the deep snow I eventually reached the tourist path from Keswick near the col with Little Man where the views over the other side of Skiddaw revealed an awesome display of fells around Derwent Water and towards the north-western fells. It was a truly astonishing and gob-smacking sight.

But there was a really harsh cold wind that got worse as I climbed the final slope to the summit ridge and battered me senseless as I made my way along the ridge to the summit. I didn’t want to expose any amount of skin to that merciless, easterly wind so I wrapped myself up tightly, even covering my face with a buff so I was peering out through thin slits. After getting to the summit I didn’t want to stay there for a moment so I immediately turned around and headed back along the summit ridge down to the col with Skiddaw Little Man. The crystal-clear views throughout this time were tremendous, stretching right across the whole of the Lake District, despite the clouds that had quickly developed during the morning. It was at this time that I realised that the water in my drinking hose had frozen solid, which had never happened to me before, but I guess it must have been very cold at the top of Skiddaw!

Before reaching the col I branched off the tourist path and headed towards the top of Skiddaw Little Man, pausing to admire the stunning views from the top (that Wainwright described as the finest view in Lakeland) before dropping steeply down to the tourist path, but I didn’t join it. Instead I stayed on top of the ridge and waded through deep snow over Jenkin Hill and up the wind-swept slopes of Lonscale Fell. The only previous time I’ve been up Lonscale Fell was in 2008, also when there was loads of snow about and I had started climbing Skiddaw but diverted onto Lonscale Fell. It had also been very windy in 2008 and only slightly better now, and now I had a great view south towards Thirlmere, but the funniest view was of the summit, looking back towards Skiddaw, where a snowman had been built beside a cairn, complete with stone eyes, nose and hat! That really made my day.

After visiting the 703m eastern top I had lunch and made my way across the northern slopes to a fence that drops disturbingly steeply (especially considering the snow) before levelling off along the lovely narrow ridge of Burnt Horse. Despite a bitterly cold wind this was an exciting descent, but all too soon I reached the main track that runs around the side of the fell on its way to Keswick. Across the valley I could see two people climbing the wide grassy slopes of Mungrisdale Common (the dreariest Wainwright in the whole of the Lake District) and considered following their example, but thankfully I soon came to my senses and walked back up to Skiddaw House having completed a round of Salehow Beck. This was a great walk despite harsh winds at the top, but it was still early in the afternoon so I quickly came up with another little walk. After passing Skiddaw House I dropped down to the River Caldew on the path that I had taken the day before, but immediately after crossing the river I left the path and climbed the pathless heather-covered slopes of Great Calva.

In 2008, after climbing Lonscale Fell, I had climbed Great Calva starting from the point where the Skiddaw House road crosses Dead Beck on an ascent that I found really tiring. This time, for a bit of variety, I was taking a longer route up the southern slopes through dense heather that gradually eased as I climbed. I didn’t find this climb as tiring as before because the gradient was gentler and I soon picked up a narrow path that led me all the way up to the summit. Since I wasn’t in a hurry I had a wonderful time strolling along the ridge between Great Calva and Little Calva following footprints in the snow around the fellside until I reached the snow filled gully of Dry Gill. This was gently angled enough to make walking down the gully not only safe but thoroughly enjoyable. A fence eventually blocked my progress down the gully, forcing me out before the gradient increased, which would have made the gully considerably more dangerous than it had been. Even in dry conditions that fence is a much needed hint to get out before things get hazardous. Just as in 2008, a steep descent down the heather-clad slopes brought onto the Skiddaw House track just above the Whitewater Dash Falls. It was now four o’clock so I decided that I had spent enough time wandering over the fells and I might as well make my way slowly back to the youth hostel. This was a really enjoyable walk in the snow, despite the strong wind that plagued me all day, even on Great Calva.