Winter has decided to arrive again, later than predicted by many independant weather forecasters/stations, but its here.. for now.

Nicola and I have been pretty active over the last 2 weeks, getting out as much as possible. We have been using the Kendal Wall new facilities, more routes, different walls, extended main wall and super new bouldering room at the to pof five flights of steps. Its a great place to stay fit and get strong for this winter or next summer.Nicola made her first lead a couple of weeks ago and is now comfortably leading F4/5+. Go Nicola!!

We had no kids last night (Wednesday), so we decided, since it had snowed, that we would get out for a little winter ascent of Red Scree's.It would be Nicola's second time out winter mountaineering and strangely she has a lot of trust in me (her first was Rampsgill Head, last year on Boxing Day). We set off from Windermere a little late, as usual for me. I forget how long it takes to get your winter stuff ready, especially if its all packed away and your not ready. By 9:15pm we were in the Kirkstone Inn carpark, getting our kit on, boots laced and raring to go. We let the dogs have a brief run around and then set off in wet snow across the beck/bog to start the ascent to Kilnshaw Chimney. The moon was high and 2/3rds full and shone brilliant blue/white light on the fells when the clouds were out of the way. And with the clouds moving fast they cast shadows and light across the fells like I have never seen before. I have obviously spent too much time inside.

The ground was difficult, as the snow was wet, the ground underneath was as well and this would have made for ultra slippy conditions if we hadn't been prepared with Kahtolla MicroSpikes attatched to our matching Aku SL PRO Ltr's. Have I now reached the sad position of 'his and hers'? Aargh, the approach of middle aged mediocraty, must fight it... mu...st...fig...ht...i....t....... We made good time up the ever deepening snow, and its a steep old pull upto the chimney. The open chute under the entrance to Kilnshaw Chimney was caked in snow, not just a foot or so, but in places it must have been 3 feet or more deep. I had mused about avalanche risk beofre we set off and this memory came back now, so we moved left onto ground with only 12 inches of snow covering it, where the rocks were still visable. Soon we were at the foot of the chimney pearing inside. Nicola was nervous and I was hell bent. 

I dug a snow testing pit, using my axe to cut the block and then proceeded to pull at the block. I found a loose-ish layer at the top about 3" down from the surface and then the rest seemed to be well bonded. So I made a descision it would be worth a look, but the gully looked full, there was 2 to 3 feet of snow in it at the start. I moved up the left wall, staying well out of the deep snow but when I got to the constriction, with one piece of gear in I dug out another pit in the mouth of the constriction. Standing to the left in relatively safe ground, I again pulled at the block and this time 3 layers appeared and it slid much easier than below. The wind had been coming from the West, so it made sence that windslab was building higher up, as the snow was desposited from the westerly slopes to the east. The snow was also deeper in the gully constriction now, possible 4-5 feet, so I hightailed it back to were I had come from and told the now shivering Nicola we were changing tack and taking a line to the right out of an open gully and weaving a line upto the plateau so we could descend. The snow became firm as we came out of the top of the open gully and we short roped it until we topped out.

All the way up we hardly had any wind, the moon shone brightly above and it was a very beautiful night. When we topped out, the wind showed itself and it battered us until we got a few hundred feet down towards the carpark. We knew it was late, we were both tired, but we were smiling and happy to have stolen a moonlit, first of the winter, mountaineering route up the east facing flank of Red Scree's, even if we didn't get to experience Kilnshaw Chimney on that occasion. Nicola explained on the way down when we could hear each other again, now we were out of the wind, that she had felt dread looking up the chimney and was glad we hadn't done it and that the ascent in itself had been plenty enough for a seocnd winter outing and a first by night.

Back at the van, the dogs went mental and we had a little sit down before driving back to Windermere to get our dinner, that we should have eaten before we set off. We arrived home at 2:20am, ready to cook!!

Needless to say, we were a little tired when the kids arrived back at 7:30am from their Dad's.

Lets hope this warm day and rain hasn't stripped everything and we do get more snow tonight and later in the week.. I guess the moral of the story is, don;t wait, just get out there because you never know how long it will last, or if it will even last at all. But if you make the effort, you can be rewarded with everything, or then again.....

Kit used:

Lowe Alpine Power Strecth Bibs - Invaluble winter attire.

Montane Resolute Smock (worn with a tank summer base-layer) - Perfect temp control, apart from part of the trudge to the foot of the chimney

Aku SL Pro Ltr Gtx boots - Perfect for Lakes and UK Winter Mountainering.

Kahtoola MicroSpikes - Invaluble

Aarn Natural Exhillaration - Best pack ever (apart from the fact it collects snow in the back padding)

OMM Ultra 15 with Summer MSC - great for quick winter forays, fast and light

Camp IceRiders - perfect crampons for alround mountain use.