January 2nd and we have our first ascent of over a hundred for the year up Scafell Pike. The forecast was again showing some grim weather which included snow showers, and with the sleet smashing off my windscreen on the way to Seathwaite, I thought it was going to be a bit of a wild one!
I met the group at Seathwaite Farm and there was a nice break in the weather, and the cloud base was suprisngly high, maybe it was going to be ok, but having been caught out just minutes from the car before, I donned my waterproofs straight away. We made our way to Stockley Briudge and climbed past Taylorgill Force. With no sign of rain we all started to overheat a little, as we even started calling it 'quite mild!' After a quick layer adjustment we made our way to Styhead Pass and admired the surrounding fells. There was not much evidence of snow on the ground apart from the odd patch up high. We joined the Corridor Route and made great time as we ascended to Lingmell Col. As we joined the track to ascend Scafell Pike we emerged into a strong wind. We got to the Zig Zags and as we got to the western face of the ascent it turned into a winter wonderland. All the rocks had been blasted with Ice, and although pretty it meant we had to walk with extra caution. As we got higher and higher the ice got more and more impressive. We reached the summit plateau in the mist and the summit emerged out of the cloud. We bagged the trig point and quickly saught shelter in our usual spot (Although there was a massive pile of snow taking up half the shelter!) After a great lunch to refuel we went to head off the summit to the north to follow our usual route towards Great End. A big patch of consolidated snow was covering most of this northern aspect, and with a couple more northern slopes to descend later in the route we opted to return via the Corridor route.
We made quick progress back down to the Corridor route in order to get out of the wind. We had great views back down Borrowdale and into Wasdale all the way. We returned via Styhead Tarn and back down past the Stockley Bridge. Just as we got back to the cars a hail storm started, now thats what you call timing! A fab day out!
