Mountain Scrambling on Ill Crag, Lake District

Route: Ill Crag via Cockly Pike Ridge

Meet at: Seatoller Car Park, Seatoller village, Borrowdale, OS grid reference NY245134, approx. postcode CA12 5XN. The car park costs £8.50 for the day but is free if you’ve got a National Trust pass. There is also ample free parking along the nearby Seathwaite road and large numbers of people park here but there have been incidents of serious damage being caused to hill goers’ cars by local farmers in recent years. I would rather play it safe and use the car park. 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.

With a height gain of over 400 metres, Cockly Pike Ridge is by far the longest scramble in England. It also provides the added bonus of topping out on the summit of the fourth highest mountain in the country, Ill Crag at an altitude of 935 metres. The scramble is sustained and varied with a wide choice of line and rising from a remote valley, it has a genuinely adventurous feel to it. It is a broad ridge with plenty good clean rock and gets quite airy in its upper reaches. The trickiest moves come right at the end at a headwall guarding the summit. Make no mistake, this is a proper big mountain outing.

The full day will include a gentle down the Seathwaite road to the picturesque Stockley Bridge then a sustained steady ascent along the banks of Grains Gill and Ruddy Gill on the way up to Esk Hause before a descent into the upper reaches of Eskdale then a Grade 1 scrambling ascent of Ill Crag via Cockly Pike Ridge followed by a traverse of the boulder strewn summit plateau to Calf Cove to begin the descent to Esk Hause followed by a retracing of our steps back down to the car park.

Photos from our previous ascent of Ill Crag via Cockly Pike Ridge can be seen here:

https://www.meetup.com/sheffield-mountaineering-rock-climbing-meet/photos/34809367/

Difficulty: Grade 1 scrambling by the easiest line with optional harder variations presenting themselves at regular intervals along the way. For more information on scrambling grades see:

https://www.thebmc.co.uk/understanding-scrambling-grades

Experience Required: Some previous scrambling experience is strongly advised. If you want to participate but lack the required experience just come to a couple of our other scrambling meets first.

Duration: Approx. 12 km with height gain of approx. 1,000 metres. Estimated time 6 to 7 hours. The walk in is very long but it is well worth it once you get on to the scramble.

Ordnance Survey Map: OS 90 Penrith & Keswick 1:50,000 scale.

Guidebook: Scrambles in the Lake District Volume 1: Southern Fells published by Cicerone Press.

As always, if everybody wants to contribute £2.00 towards our Meet Up site fees and other operating costs that will be great, thanks.