A Mountain Journey

“It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey”

… I can hear you now… ‘ohhh not that old cliché!’ … but it’s a cliché for a reason!

As most of you will know, I am currently on a quest to climb all 15 of the Lake District Classic Rock routes and on Tuesday I managed to tick off another two! Ash Tree Slabs (VD) and ‘C’ route (S4b) on Gimmer crag which are now ticked off and logged with the rest of my climbs on my UKC profile!

I’ve been thinking back on our day out climbing and what it was that made this day in particular feel like a stand out great day and I have come to the conclusion that it was the journey we went on that made this day so memorable.

The planning of which routes we climb and when has been left to the very capable Ade and Tuesday was an absolute treat as he linked together a scramble/short pitch climb with two classic rock routes and a further scramble leading us to top out on Loft Crag (Langdale Pikes).

Views down the lush green Langdale Valley

Our day started in Langdale Valley where we parked at the Old Dungeon Ghyll hotel before heading up the hillside to Middlefell Buttress.

Those of you who have been following my climbing blogs might remember that this was one of my first climbs, back when Ade took me out for an introduction to climbing day just a few weeks ago!

First day climbing on Middlefell Buttress (D)

On the intro day we climbed middle fell buttress (D) as a trad climb, but on Tuesday we scrambled and short pitched this route and I didn’t even have my rock shoes on!

This was a great start to the day, not just because climbing and scrambling is the fun way to gain height, but because it was an opportunity for me to see my progress and increased confidence since the last time we was here!

Scrambling and short pitching up Middlefell Buttress (D) to start our journey

At the top of Middlefell Buttress we short roped up the crag until we reached the foot path that would usually take us up to Loft Crag, we followed this for a short time until Gimmer crag came into view and we veered left on a small track to traverse over to the bottom of the crag.

There’s a lot of knowledge, skill and technique required for rock climbing but one skill that is often not talked about very much is the route finding!

Take a look at the picture below!

Gimmer Crag in the Guide Book

Check out number 13! This is one of our routes from Tuesday and if you look very closely you might be able to see that there are two climbers on the route… this gives some scale to the photo that was probably taken from across the valley on a long lens camera. Great angle for the book to show the multiple routes, but imagine being as small as those climbers, traversing across the bottom of the crag looking for an indistinct start point where the book shows the start of your line… definitely not a skill to be scoffed at!

Found the start of Ash Tree Slabs (VD)

Luckily for me I was with a professional Guide and we were soon at the start of the climb!

Sorting the rope at the start of the climb

Ash Tree Slabs (VD) is a pleasant slab climb that naturally guides you up and left on a route of least resistance. It was nice to not be traversing the slab on this climb as on previous climbs… there isn’t the same feel of exposure when you’re travelling upwards!

Climbing Ash Tree Slabs (VD)

Conveniently this route tops out at Ash Tree ledges, the starting point for ‘C’ route, so no complicated route finding for that one!

Taking five on Ash Tree Ledges before we head up 'C' route (S4b)

I found that ‘C’ route was a very varied route, we scrambled the first pitch with ease, leading us right from the ledges to pitch two where the ABC routes spilt.

Ade on the first pitch of 'C' route

After the initial difficult move on the second pitch the climbing was really enjoyable, the weather was great, the views were outstanding and we were having a great time as we made our way up the route.

Climbing 'C' route (S4b)

Another exposed belay! 'C' route (S4b)

As we gained more height Ade called back to me to warn me of a tricky and exposed move coming up that would require some commitment from me to swing around under an overhanging boulder to some good holds on the other side (he knows I can be hesitant on these kind of blind committing moves).

As I approached the move I spotted a piece of protection wedged in the rock right at the critical point… now, usually when he’s placing protection in exposed places I’m pretty thankful for this as it definitely increases the feeling of security. However, what followed was around 10 minutes of cursing while I used all the strength I had left to try and whack the nut out of its precarious placement with my trusted nut key while standing on the very tip of my tippy toes on a two small ledges and exerting way too much energy trying to hold on to the rock at the small overhang where he so kindly and diligently wedged the nut… got it!

I find removing protection to be quite tricky sometimes, but on the flip side it’s always good to know that should I fall… the protection isn’t going anywhere! After reaching the top of ‘C’ route Ade abseiled back down a few meters to retrieve a stuck nut that I couldn’t get out no matter how much I tried!

Then we short roped up to the summit of Loft Crag!

Ade at the summit of Loft Crag

Linking the climbs together and continuing up to the summit made for a really great and memorable mountain day; and ticking off another two routes from my list felt like a great accomplishment!

Of course we then headed straight back down to the pub!