In an attempt to avoid walking up the mountain side in the heat of the day, an alpine start of 05:45 was required to get us up and onto Great Gable. As we were packing our bags and about to begin the walk in from Wasdale Head, a friend from North Wales popped over to the van to say hi! He'd been up at the crags the day before to take some photos for a new guidebook he is writing and gave us a few tips and recommendations of good routes. Despite the early hour, it was still a long and hot hike up to the Napes Area on Great Gable, but as seems to be the norm around here this week, the views were fabulous.
There was one team of climbers above us on the path, but other than them, we had the mountain to ourselves again. Typically, this same only other team, were just starting up the famous Tophet Wall route we had aimed for. We took shelter in the shade of a big boulder and watched the leader setting off. After a few minutes, it was looking pretty clear that it was not going to be a rapid ascent, so instead of sitting there getting frustrated, we took our friend Garry's advice and traversed further around the cliffs to another route, which he declared to be even better although not as well know. It was a great tip-off indeed...
The first pitch was an intense 45m climb up the steep arete of Eagle's Nest Ridge Direct. At the time of it's first ascent, it was one of the most impressive pitches of the day. Thankfully, equipment has progressed since then, so we were able to be a little safer than the hobnailed booted first ascentionsits. The climbing was fantastic, with holds appearing just in time and a cool head required for the final slab moves. The pitch finished at the Eagle's Nest Ledge, where the shady recess made for a nice place to rest. In fact, when Clare joined me, we tied off the ropes and had a little nap hanging in our perch.
I was awoken by Matt, who was working out at sea on the Wind Farms, saying he could see us through his binoculars! Looking back out, we could clearly see the Isle of Mann as well as the distant outline of Snowdonia.
The rest of the ridge involved much easier climbing, but a satisfying journey up to the top of the butress - and we weren't tempted to use any of the multiple old abseil stations we came across!
Just to our side and below us, was the famous Napes Needle, said to be the birth place of English rock climbing. Matt, John and I had climbed it as a three over twenty years ago, while at University! I don't know how we all fitted onto for the summit photo that I still have?
The route was solid, but there were some big balanced rocks!
After a bit of scrambling, we made it to the summit, where we collapsed into a pile of ropes and downed the last of the water.
The heat was baking, even up high and as we lay down, there wasn't even a breeze. A sudden gust however, was enough to pick up Clare's helmet, which lay next to us and send it tumbling over the back of the cliffs and down the descent scree slopes.
It had gone a long way, but we were able to recover it near where we'd stashed a rucksack earlier in the day. It was well battered, but still in one piece. The long hike down to Wasdale was completed as fast as possible and we arrived at the van dripping with sweat, where we discovered that I'd left the van unlocked - and the door still open! Opps! Once changed into shorts and sandels, we went direct to the Wasdale Head Hotel and ordered big trays of food and some alcohol free ice cold beers.
We barely talked as the food went down in one - our bodies were craving the feed of salt and protein! Shaded by the trees and at a quiet table around the back of the pub, after wolfing down the food, we both lay down on the bench we were sitting on and promptly fell asleep for twenty minutes!
We awoke just in time to order an ice cream before the shop shut, then went and had a refreshing cool off in the lake before driving home, tired and extremely happy.
Great Gable, Napes Area Climbs:
- Eagle's Nest Ridge Direct, VS (4b)*** - leading into..
- Eagle's Nest Ridge, V.Diff***
No comments:
Post a Comment