My first report - Cust's Gully

[Colley]

Living in Lincolnshire (max altitude 168m!!) I have to travel some distance to proper hills and so trips to the mountains are relatively few and far between and days out have to be picked with care. The weather so far this year has hardly justified the trip up to the Lakes or N Wales (let alone Scotland) - hopefully things will improve soon?!
Anyway, I enjoy reading other contributors reports and thought it time I trawled through the archives to find something that might be of interest. This trip was back in February 2010.
I have always had a thing for snow and ice and can't remember a better winter than 2009/10. With the weather forecast looking favourable and the Fell Top Ambassadors reports on the Met Office website (thank you guys your efforts are appreciated) suggesting that snow conditions were good I decided that a visit to Great End to have a look at Cust's Gully and then on to Scafell Pike was a good plan. The 6am start from home turned out to be well and truly justified!
Seathwaite was cold at 9am and with a fair amount of compacted snow crampons were required on the path beside Ruddy Gill well below Sprinkling Tarn.
The gully's on Great End looked in really good condition and after a after a quick consideration of Central Gully I decided to stick with the original plan of Cust's Gully. This turned out to be a good decision as I managed to break one of my old and trusted Salawa crampons and would not have liked to be on more difficult terrain when it happened! Looking on the bright side a good excuse to buy a new pair and step in bindings are a revelation after years of neoprene straps.
Cust's Gully turned out to be in fantastic condition and was climbed without difficulty. Whilst the lack of a crampon ruled prevented going on to Scafell Pike it was a really good day to which I hope the following photos do some justice.

[ChrisW]

Well worth posting Colley no matter when you did it Beautiful shots of a great day out, shame about the crampon but any excuse to get back to the outdoor shop is a good excuse

I lived in Lincolnshire for many years...when I went over to Louth I used to think I'd reached the hills

[stevesey]

Report caught my eye as I have been eyeing up Custs/Branch gully for a while. Most reports suggest both are blocked by slippery 6ft faces - so tricky even for keen scramblers. Perhaps the trick is to go when filled with snow