Sheffield Mountaineering

Route: Striding Edge and Swirral Edge

Meet at: Outside the Fairlight Guest House, opposite the car park in the centre of Glenridding, Postcode: CA11 0PD. As an environmentally conscious group, we actively encourage car sharing. Further details of car sharing arrangements from Sheffield, Manchester and elsewhere will appear in the comments section nearer the time.

Striding Edge is the most famous mountain ridge walk in England and on a summers day it makes for a classic outing. Traversing this dramatic long narrow ridge with its many outcrops and pinnacles provides a real knee trembling adventure for beginners and a highly pleasant easy outing for seasoned mountaineers.

The full day will include a short pleasant stroll to Grisedale Bridge, a long steady ascent of the foothills over Patterdale Common to “The Hole In The Wall”, a Grade 1 scrambling traverse of Striding Edge and scramble to the summit of Helvellyn (at 950 metres, the third highest mountain in England) where we will take a well earned lunch break before an entertaining semi scrambly descent of Swirral Edge and a long easy walk down the banks of Red Tarn Brook with plenty time to reflect on the adventure we’ve just had high up on the mountain before returning to our starting point in Glenridding.

Photos from some of our previous outings on Striding Edge can be seen here:

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This event takes place in a big mountain setting and involves easy grade technical scrambling and adventurous hiking with some moderate exposure. It is suitable for confident beginners looking to progress to the next level. It also has more than enough quality to make it a worthwhile exercise for seasoned mountaineers.

Ben Nevis Ledge Route and Mountaineering in Glencoe
Meet at: The public bar in the Glencoe Inn on the main A82 road through Glencoe Village, PH49 4HP. The plan is to travel up on Saturday 6th then meet socially for an hour or two in the evening before the week’s activities will begin the following morning. We will be leaving to travel back home on the morning of Saturday 13th. As an environmentally conscious group, we actively encourage car sharing. Further details of car sharing arrangements from Sheffield, Manchester and elsewhere will appear in the comments section nearer the time.

While we plan to spend the week enjoying as many mountain adventures as possible, there will be one main objective; an ascent of Ben Nevis via the North Face Ledge Route and this outing will be prioritised for the first good weather day of the trip. The delightful Scimitar Ridge scramble will be on the agenda too and we will also spend plenty time in the magnificent mountains of Glencoe.

As the highest mountain in Britain, Ben Nevis needs no introduction. Tens of thousands of pilgrims reach its 1345 metre summit every year and virtually all of them do so by the Pony Track (the main tourist path). Very few venture round to the other side of the mountain and on to its imposing North Face (shown in photo above) but that is exactly what we will be doing. Our route of ascent will be via The Ledge Route, which follows an implausibly amenable line up that towering North Face. It is a long and sustained scramble with some dramatic positions but is never overly technical.

Glencoe boasts some of the most incredible mountain scenery anywhere in the UK with a series of spectacular jagged peaks towering over the narrow valley below from both sides. So breathtaking is the view that there is even a purpose built parking place on the A82 road through the valley to allow never ending coach loads of tourists to stop and gaze in wonder. Of course we will be doing a lot more than just gazing at those mountains, we will be getting up close and personal with their lofty summits including the likes of Buachaille Etive Mor, Stob Choire Sgreamhach, Am Bodach, Stob Choire Nam Beith, Aonach Dubh and more.

Photos from a couple of our previous trips to Ben Nevis and Glencoe be seen here:

Route: Long Crag Buttress, The Bell, Brim Fell Slabs, Brim Fell, The Old Man Of Coniston

Meet at: Outside Coniston Tourist Information Centre, Ruskin Avenue, Coniston, postcode LA21 8EH. There is a large car park next to the meeting point but it is expensive. Better to find roadside parking nearby and make your way on foot to meet us. As an environmentally conscious group, we actively encourage car sharing. Further details of car sharing arrangements from Sheffield, Manchester and elsewhere will appear in the comments section nearer the time.

The Coniston Fells encompass everything that is great about the Lake District. With an array of towering cliffs, airy ridges, delicate slabs and cascading gills, all in a stunning mountain setting, this place is a utopian playground for the dedicated scrambler. This outing will link up three of the best amenable routes in the area to make up one of the finest easy scrambling days to be had anywhere in the UK.

Long Crag Buttress is an enjoyable and entertaining scramble on perfect rough rock with the added bonus of starting right down at the roadside. The Bell is another excellent route, steep in places and tasty for the grade but very positive with good holds all the way. Brim Fell Slabs starts with delightful moves on exquisitely delicate rock before throwing up some interesting route finding challenges on more broken ground.

Topping out on the summit of Brim Fell, this is one of the most satisfying ascents you can have of any mountain in the Lake District without using ropes and gear. To add even more to the day we will then continue along the ridge to the summit of The Old Man Of Coniston, the highest point of the Coniston Fells and indeed once the highest point in Lancashire before the county boundaries were redrawn in 1974.

The full day will include a Grade 1 up scramble up Long Crag Buttress, a descent to the valley floor using an intricate network of sheep paths, a stream crossing and steady hike up the lower reaches of the Copper Mines Valley, a Grade 1/2 (between Grade 1 and 2) scrambling ascent of The Bell, followed by a Grade 2 scrambling ascent of Brim Fell Slabs to take us up to the summit of Brim Fell, then a hike along the ridge to the summit of The Old Man Of Coniston before a long leisurely descent down the valley on the way back to Coniston village.

Photos from some of the previous times we did this outing can be seen here: