Ascent of Raise from Glenridding

This was my first meet out with the club, and had a wicked time. We started climbing at about 10:30 and headed for Raise, and hoped to go on to Helvellyn from there. There was snow on the tops, and it snowed on and off throughout the day, but never very severely.

We followed the track between Glenridding Beck and Screes to the youth hostel by some disused mines. From there we headed uphill northwards very sharply. With the much of the ascent behind us, we walked up a slowly rising path, past the skiers and upto the cairn at Sticks Pass, from where we turned left and had a slight scramble up on to the summit plateau of Raise.

Once we gained the summit of 889m we lost the protection that it had afforded to us from the wind, and it was very exposed up there. The temperature was about -6°, and the wind was quite strong as well. It became apparent that we did not have the time to tackle Helvellyn, and probably not the correct equipment either, with ground conditions worsening with altitude.

After a break for lunch in the shelter of some stones on the summit, we persisted in the direction of Helvellyn, but descending on to the path below. There were awesome views of Helvellyn and Catstye Cam, with Swirral looking fantastic. We descended the path beside Glenridding Common and Beck, picking up once more the track that we had deserted several hours earlier. We followed that as far as the Traveller’s Rest where we had a few well earned beers prior to the long return journey south.

I later discovered that none of the photographs taken here could be developed. So I have replaced it with a new digital one, but unfortunately I have no pictures of a wicked day out.