Society Of Lancaster University Graduate Speleologists

Arriving in Langdale we were amazed to see snow piled up beside the road. The next morning was even better everywhere cloaked in pristine snow and blue, blue skies. I rushed around taking photos only to discover many hours later that I had no film in my camera! Slugs sped into action. A party ascended to Lingmoor Fell, breaking trail in deep untouched snow. See http://www.17beechroad.freeserve.co.uk/ Anne, Matthew, Rosie and Phil walked up the other side of the valley. Matthew was so delighted to be able to use his ice axe at last that he kept practising ice axe breaking, even on the flat! In Langdale the snow was very deep and hard going. Over on Helvellyn the snow was much older and completely frozen. It would have been very hard to walk around without Crampons. Just what we wanted! John Boardman, Ritchie Munro and Ken were seeking winter climbing. Conditions were perfect for easy gullies. We soloed up one on Brown Cove Crag and then descended Swirral Edge to reach Tarn Crag. We climbed up and down a few gullies on perfect frozen snow until everyone else had gone home. It was like being transported back in time. Saturday night 20 people gathered at Rawhead, a good turnout. Sunday was warmer and cloudier but did have the odd sunny moment. Sledging, running, walking to Cathedral Quarry and for John and Ken more gully climbing. We had such a good day in North Gully that we didn’t get back till after dark. Ken. Photos by John Boardman, Phil and Rosie Johnstone.