Thursday 5th August 2010 - The Edges

A two day event climbing the two classic edges of Lakeland, two of the most spectacular ridge walks in the Lake District.

In all but the best weather conditions the ridge can be daunting to the inexperienced and should not be underestimated! With it's high levels of exposure this exciting ridge is bound to get your adrenaline pumping.

Why not let our experienced instructors guide you safely, making the most of the rocky ridge to the summit of Helvellyn.

This is not a walk to be taken lightly it requires a guide or a good level of skill with many years experience to enjoy this ridge safely.

Many inexperienced walkers have been fooled into thinking they can make the edge walk and the local mountain rescue reports can tell you the outcome, we ourselves have had to guide strangers down to safety!

The views from the ridge are breathtaking this is definitely a walk you will be talking about for some time.

Sharp Edge is a classic edge, shorter but a little harder than Striding Edge. Why not let one of our experienced instructors guide you up this classic route in safety.

From here we will follow the ridge onto Birkhouse Moor with wonderful views of the crags along Striding Edge and Helvellyn and down in the opposite direction over Ullswater to the Eden Valley.

The route now follows the ridge climbing onto Striding Edge where we will follow the sharp ridge until the final steep climb to the summit of Helvellyn.
From the summit we will descend over Swirral Edge to the summit of Catstycam where we will again have great views down to Ullswater and back across Red Tarn to Striding Edge.

A grassy descent from Catstycam will bring us down onto the main path to the old Greenside Mines and on to Glenridding.

Blencathra & Sharp Edge:
Similar to our Blencathra From Threlkeld route we climb directly to the summit of Blencathra via the wonderful Halls Fell ridge, but after a stop on the summit we then descend to the east, dropping down to Scales Tarn before re climbing along the famous Sharp Edge ridge, a short rocky arete with steep drops on either side, we make our way along this ridge to climb steeply at the far end over Foule Crag, this brings us back onto the summit ridge.

Our planned descent route is via the Doddick Fell Ridge, this descends alongside Halls Fell on a fine ridge with great views over the surrounding fells where a good path at the base takes us back to Threlkeld.

Obviously Sharp Edge is a very severe mountain route, and should not be attempted in bad weather, it is at our guides discretion whether we will undertake the ridge, and if not a suitable alternative will be offered.

From the North Lakes: From the A66 between Keswick and Penrith turn off onto the A592, near the Rheghed Centre, signposted to Ullswater, follow this road south along the shore of Ullswater to the village of Glenridding. A car park will be seen on the right (pay and display), just after the garage, we will meet outside the Tourist Information Centre in the car park.

Blencathra & Sharp Edge:
Threlkeld is just of the A66 main road between Keswick and Penrith, follow the signs into the village, we will meet outside the Horse and Farrier Pub in the centre of the village, please do not park in the pub car parks, plenty of parking can be found a short distance in either direction from the pub.

The Lake District Walker is able to provide limited equipment for use by clients, this includes waterproof clothing and warm clothing.

Equipment currently available is listed here