Thaw.

- January 24, 2015

After a cold few days temperatures rose in Cumbria on Friday and there was a thaw. Hoping for some remaining snow we headed east but decided on a low objective to start the day as the forecast was for strong winds.

We parked in Glenridding and headed for Sheffield Pike the 99th peak in our Lakeland 100 list. It was a steep climb and we soon warmed up especially when the sun came out. There was some snow and ice on the path and this made the going hard work. The views across to the Helvellyn range was very wintry.

The ascent was largely out of the wind but as we reached the summit the wind picked up. It was not, however, as strong as expected so we decided to climb higher. We firstly headed for Sticks Pass which gave good views of skiers on the Raise drag lift and piste. As we climbed higher the wind picked up and the going became increasingly icy so just below the top of the pass we put the microspikes on. This proved wise as the path up onto Raise was very icy. In places full crampons may have been better but on much of the rocky ground the 'spikes' were ideal. The summit was very windy and we struggled to find much shelter for a lunch break. Views were limited as cloud had built up during the day.

Our third and final top was White Side. The wind on this leg was at it strongest and we had to take care. Sadly there had been an accident on Brown Cove Crags as a helicopter was struggling to get into position to winch up the casualty. We learnt later that a climber had fallen 40m resulting in a compound fracture to his leg.

Our descent took us down into Keppel Cove and then back to Glenridding. Thankfully the wind dropped as we lost height and it was an easier walk to the car. A good winter day.

On the steep climb up Sheffield Pike.