The Ramsbottom Variation.
Heading out over Swirral Edge.
Imagine, you have a chance to fit in a climb. You are at the end of a glorious few days of hiking on snowy Helvellyn, lording it over the Youth Hostel with an exclusive hire. Striding Edge was a no-no without crampons, but Swirral, covered in slippery ice, had been interesting enough as a way down.
Now, though, there is a day left over for the return home...and perhaps we could just nip round to Langdale for a couple of hours on the way? Your mate has to fly off that afternoon from Manchester. Let's squeeze something in, though. Go on!
That's how we ended up at Upper Scout Crag, with some lessons to learn about rushing when you don't need to.
Our greasy start at Upper Scout Crag is over my right shoulder
Spoiler: we were lucky on this occasion. Later that day I would screech around the loop at Manchester departures, burning rubber in the fourteen-year-old Peugeot, and drop James off just in time for his flight to France. I left him sprinting into the building with his loose backpack straps dancing in the air. We had had a successful day, but had we been foolhardy as well?
Helvellyn: Red Tarn coming into view to the right
Consider the conditions. It was early March. There had been plenty of wintry weather up high and some chilly mist and rain down below.
The raven on Helvellyn top had looked pretty sceptical of our mountaineering skills. What climbing tips could I learn from him? Wear black. I could do that. When in trouble, say "Caw!", spread wings and fly off. I could not do that.
Summit cairn of Helvellyn
Upper Scout Crag is only ten minutes from the road and has a selection of easier routes. Both factors make it attractive for a pair of low grade climbers on a schedule. Given our situation we targeted what the guidebook described as "Route 1", rated as a V Diff Plus. What that means is that the route is straightforward for most climbers, with perhaps a little bit of edge.
The interesting bit is the central corner you can see just below. You are supposed to scramble to a position under it, then belay your partner up the bow-shaped arête, or little ridge, on the right of the cleft.
Route 1, Upper Scout Crag
I balked at the dripping rock all around the start, so James led us up to the belay spot. Here I took over, hoping to regain a little pride. I got a little lost trying to pick up the pace and climbed directly up, just to the left of the "V" of the corner.
The line was called the Ramsbottom Variation. It was slightly easier, but I was in a muddle and made a terrible job of finding places to put in nuts or cams to clip the rope into and provide protection against a fall. I simply carried on, hand over hand, foot over foot, telling myself the faster I was the better chance we would have of reaching the airport in time.
At the top, I needed to construct an anchor to bring James up on the rope. Here is a photo of it. Any good? All I remember is fussing about, trying to get the thing finished at speed and hearing him asking what the hell I was doing. Looking at it now I think I can see a second anchor point below the obvious sling going into that gap in the rock. However, ideally, I would have three solid points to rely on.
The anchor
Anyway, his happy helmet was soon appearing over the scrambly final section. He seemed to have drifted over to the other side of the climb. In the distance behind him you can see towards Pike of Blisco and Crinkle Crags. The parking is for the hotel at New Dungeon Ghyll.
See how close the crag is to the road
We stuffed everything in our packs and jogged back to the car. Looking back, it is clear that we added to the risks we were taking by working to a tight deadline. I took an unplanned line; I didn't place enough protection; I'm not sure my anchor was sufficiently bomb-proof. Obviously, unexpected things can happen in the mountains: delays, weather, mistakes, injuries. Even so, there is no point in multiplying the dangers when you don't have to.
All this came to mind because we are in March again. But our visit to Scout Crag was in an earlier geological age: the Pre-Lockdown. A few days before we had nipped up Middlefell Buttress, which is a little further up the valley. It is on the right of the gully above the leftmost sheep, below.
Langdale Pikes
The rock was similarly greasy and the air was cold. When we reached the top of the main section we had decision to make: do we carry on over the last slippery lump of rock and walk out along the precipitous and winding return path, or do we take an abseil straight down the gully? There was no time pressure this time. We could come to a considered view, taking account of all factors. For instance, that there was a blazing fire in the Hiker's Bar at Old Dungeon Ghyll and a refreshing pint waiting for us.
We tied our two 60m ropes together and plunged down the gap, heading straight for the hotel.
James on Middlefell
Comments