Christmas Outdoor Fun - Skating & Rampsgill Head
The weather has been excellent running up to Christmas & it looks set to stay good into next year. The forecast shows thaw for the next 3 to 4 day's & then on by the weekend it is set to start freezing again. Today's snow will have brought harder mixed climbing into condition, and another dump of snow is forecast for tomorrow morning, which will make it hard to travel anywhere off the main roads in the Lakes. It is due to warm up tomorrow afternoon and it will strip the crags & fells of alot of the snow cover (hopefully not all), but hopefully the ice should all stay in place & get harder, better & more tempered as it freezes again. The night before Christmas Eve, Mike Elliot & myself went to have a look at Honister Icefalls on Gantry Crag. They were forming, but needed more time as water was running down the back & pouring over the front, so we soloed a little beck that runs under the mining tracks & the headed for a solo ascent of Sour Milk Gill. This was in general 1 foot thick all the way & gave excellent low grade climbing all the way to the top. Christmas day; Nicola & I headed to Ratherheath Tarn just outside Kendal for an hour of ice skating. Great fun & I was pleased I could still do it, after not being on skates since I was 13, thats 24 years ago... amazing what the muscles & cells remember. Boxing Day; Nicola & I headed over to Hartsop. As we came over Kirkstone, ice was abundant. In the quarry a good section of columns & curtains was formed, Raven Crag was plastered in ice, Kilnshaw Chimney will have a good ice step now formed, the corners above the Kirkstone as you drive over into Patterdale were in excellent condition with fangs/daggers of ice hanging from many rocks & boulders across the fell side. The crag up in the east corrie of Red Screes will be holding good ice as well. We arrived in Hartsop, got geared up, light style with OMM Packs, a 30m Tendon Scrambling rope, a couple of warthogs & pegs, Kahtoola KTS Steels & Microspikes & a Trad Axe for Nic, I used my ultra-light Camp Corsa Axe (not rated for climbing, but surely ok for ascending grade 1 snow slopes).
We walked up to Hayes Water, over the side of the Knott & down into Martindale underneath Rampsgill Head. As we descended the gully into the valley I was watching to see what windslab had formed.As we came further down, I stepped in softer snow, which happened to be windslab & a big plate broke away, fracturing above and around where I was standing. A sign that we all need to be conscious of avalanche conditions which wil form in the Lakes again this winter season.
We then took off our Microspikes & put KTS Steels onto our Inov-8 Roclite 400's, scooted across to the base of the crag & climbed a snow gully weaving up the crag, no particular route, just an introduction to winter climbing for Nicola. We moved together for part of the ascent & I belayed Nicola for confidence on the more exposed parts, using traditional methods of standing on frozen tufts and body belaying. Looking at the fells around, it looks to get better & better for winter ice, as the build-up is happening either lower down, or on natural water course lines. Lets see what the next few days bring, but things look like they will continue with a possible hard base down for skiing next time the snow comes.
Sad News: A man has died at Cautley Spout, Eastern Howgills whilst ice climbing, the report I have read doesn't say much, but it is a stark reminder for us all to excersize great care when climbing ice, although it can feel safe, things can go wrong. Special care should be taken whilst climbing waterfalls, they can fracture, you can fall through. Our sincere condolances go out to the family & friend of this tradgic accident. MWIS Planning Outlook: Planning Outlook: All mountain areas of Britain from Wednesday, 29th December, 2010 Persistent thaw with extensive low cloud and patchy rain until Thursday. Winds will fall light. An area of high pressure will move southwards across Britain over the New Year Weekend, bringing a slight drop in temperature level, but most slopes will remain above freezing point. Most areas dry, but later in the weekend, patchy showery rain may spread into northern Scotland.
