A little trip up Great Gable
Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2018 1:22 pm
With lots of snow everywhere during the last few days and a decent forecast for Saturday, it seemed a shame not to get out. Word on the grapevine, though, was that the snowpack was very unstable, meaning dangerous conditions in the gullies, corries and on steep slopes. The fell-top assessor for the Lakes had, apparently, turned back from an ascent of Helvellyn by Striding Edge due to the state of the final slopes leading up to the summit plateau. So caution would be the watchword. Karl and me were also anticipating some hard graft wading through drifts of soft snow, so we kept our objectives modest and decided that a simple walk up Great Gable might make a rather nice preamble to our forthcoming trip to Lochaber.
In the Penrith area the snow was piled up at the roadsides and covered the fields, but in Borrowdale the snowline was rather higher. We were surprised to find that the path up beside Sourmilk Gill was not at all icy and had only a smattering of slushy snow on it. The snow didn't really start in earnest until we reached the entrance to Gillercombe.
At this point the weather deteriorated a little, the tops were clag-bound and it began to snow. We stopped to put our waterproofs on. Luckily the trail had already been broken by someone before us. It was still hard work though, as the prints were very deep. But there was no hurry. We just took our time.
As we got higher up the combe it stopped snowing and the cloud began to lift off the tops. It looked like we might get some views after all.
The summit was clear, the views were fantastic and conditions were benign, so we settled down among the snowy rocks for a very long lunch stop.
After about forty minutes two other fellas appeared, just as we were preparing to head off down. They'd come all the way from Glasgow! After a bit of a chat we bid them a good day and set off down the Breast Track for Sty Head. It was great fun stomping down the snowfields in the brightening sunshine. We stopped to talk to a woman on her way up, who asked us which way we'd gone up. She'd come via Glaramara and Allen Crags - good going! She was pleased to hear from us that the path down beside Sourmilk Gill was pretty clear of snow and ice, that being her intended route back.
So what at first didn't look too promising turned out to be a perfect winter's day - well, apart from the gullies being out of condition.
In the Penrith area the snow was piled up at the roadsides and covered the fields, but in Borrowdale the snowline was rather higher. We were surprised to find that the path up beside Sourmilk Gill was not at all icy and had only a smattering of slushy snow on it. The snow didn't really start in earnest until we reached the entrance to Gillercombe.
At this point the weather deteriorated a little, the tops were clag-bound and it began to snow. We stopped to put our waterproofs on. Luckily the trail had already been broken by someone before us. It was still hard work though, as the prints were very deep. But there was no hurry. We just took our time.
As we got higher up the combe it stopped snowing and the cloud began to lift off the tops. It looked like we might get some views after all.
The summit was clear, the views were fantastic and conditions were benign, so we settled down among the snowy rocks for a very long lunch stop.
After about forty minutes two other fellas appeared, just as we were preparing to head off down. They'd come all the way from Glasgow! After a bit of a chat we bid them a good day and set off down the Breast Track for Sty Head. It was great fun stomping down the snowfields in the brightening sunshine. We stopped to talk to a woman on her way up, who asked us which way we'd gone up. She'd come via Glaramara and Allen Crags - good going! She was pleased to hear from us that the path down beside Sourmilk Gill was pretty clear of snow and ice, that being her intended route back.
So what at first didn't look too promising turned out to be a perfect winter's day - well, apart from the gullies being out of condition.