I headed up Helvellyn today with Ben and Cassie (the dog) to play in the snow. The weather was amazing right from the start, and we were both amazed at how low the snow line is (below Red Tarn).
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| Beautiful moon on the walk in |
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| Amazing how plastered the crag is (nearly at the Tarn) |
We decided on the classic Striding Edge - Helvellyn - Swirral Edge combo to get the best views and give Cassie a good walk as we'd thought that the climbing conditions wouldn't be that great, but we bumped into Charlie from the 'outdoor warehouse' (http://www.outdoorwarehouse.co.uk/) on Striding Edge. He'd just climbed one of the gulley's and said conditions were okay, its not completely consolidated (when is it in the Lakes!?!?) but pretty good. V-corner has also had some ascents this week (classic grade III), but I'd guess not much ice at present.
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| Can you spot the two climbers (I think its Charlie and his mate)? |
Striding Edge was fun, Cassie seemed to enjoy the grade I terrain. And she loved playing with the snow on top.
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| Playing on top. Keep your eye on the snow ball Cassie! |
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| At the end of Striding Edge (Red Tarn below) |
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Fairly busy on top, with lots of folks, dogs, runners etc. Great views of the Lakes and Howgills.
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| Panorama of the ridges and catstycam |
I managed to persuade Ben to go up Catstycam on the way down. We decided to play on the side of it and practised ice axe arrests all the way down to Red Tarn - great fun. Ben was particularly good at throwing himself down at various angles and trajectories.
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| Quiet on Catstycam |
As we neared the car at 14.30 ish, people were still heading up to play in the snow, including a few with ski's. More snow is forecast for tonight, so the snow pack may be more unstable before it settles again. Great morning out............
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