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Rock-climbing in the English Lake District / Third Edition cover

Rock-climbing in the English Lake District / Third Edition

Chapter 40: INDEX.
By Owen Glynne Jones
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About This Book

A blend of practical guide and personal memoir, the volume pairs vivid first-person accounts of Lake District rock-climbing with precise route descriptions, technical advice, and ten outline plates showing chief ascents. It is richly illustrated with full-page images and includes appendices that bring route information up to date, together with a short biographical memoir and portrait of the author.

Doe Crag, seen from across Goat’s Water

A A Buttress.
B B Buttress.
C C Buttress.
D D Buttress.
E E Buttress.
f Easy Gully.
g Great Gully.
h Central Chimney.
j Intermediate Gully.
k Easter Gully.
l North Gully.
m A Buttress Climb. Original Route.
n A Buttress Variations.
 o B Buttress. Broadrick’s Route.
p The Lion’s Crawl.
q Easy Terrace.
r B Buttress. Original Route.
s B Buttress. Woodhouse’s Routes.
t C Buttress Climb.
t^1 C Buttress Climb Variation.
t^2 Branch exit from Intermediate Gully.
v D Buttress Climb.
w Blizzard Chimney.
x Easter Gully. Jones’ Route and continuation up E Buttress.
y Easter Gully. Broadrick’s Crack.
z E Buttress Climbs.
3 The Real Chimney.
4 Woodhouse’s Crack.

A Buttress is the magnificent bastion which separates the Easy Scree Gully from the Great Gully. Unlike the other buttresses, which afford good climbing only for about 200 feet above their bases, the best sport is to be obtained in its higher reaches. The climbing starts at about the centre of the buttress, where is a cairn, but a vast overhanging precipice forces the climber away diagonally to the left along a narrow, grass ledge, which dwindles until, at a considerable height above the screes, an awkward corner is rounded. This can be reached by two distinct variations starting lower down and to the left of the route described, both of which are very stiff. Above this a thin crack is ascended for about 30 feet until a large ledge is attained. Here a choice of routes is available. A cave pitch straight ahead can be ascended on the right wall and, after ascending some broken rocks, a traverse to the right discloses an interesting chimney, above which the serious climbing ceases. An easy gully leads to this cave pitch direct from the Easy or Little Gully.

For very strong parties a fine variation is to traverse diagonally upward to the right from the large ledge, treading the upper edge of the huge overhanging crag already referred to, until a fine chimney is entered. This is difficult, but the anchorage is good. A few feet above it an exposed traverse is made away to the right until the foot of a most sensational crack is reached. This can be climbed, or the traverse continued somewhat further until upward progress can be made by a zigzag course almost overhanging the upper confines of the Great Gully. To Messrs. Ormiston-Chant, Craig Gordon, and Parker most of the fine variations on this buttress have fallen.

B Buttress offers several good climbs, the most recently discovered of which—the Giant’s Crawl—starts at the foot of the Great Gully and, after striking straight upwards for about 100 feet of exceptional severity, follows a well-defined slab diagonally to the right for about 250 feet. It then doubles back to the left and thence to the top of the crags.

Some years ago Messrs. R. W. and H. C. Broadrick made a very fine climb up the crest of the retaining wall of the Great Gully. This started from the same point as the Giant’s Crawl, but instead of continuing across the face to the right they struck upward over some poised and shattered blocks and came upon the well-defined crest referred to; thence, by continuously steep and sensational rocks, which, however, afford good holding, they forced a way to the crest of the crags—one of the best and longest routes up the Buttresses.

A few feet below the foot, and to the right of the Great Gully, a wide broken terrace or rake gives easy access to the heart of the crags, and all the other good climbs on B, C, and D Buttresses to be described, finish on this terrace.

Some considerable distance below the start of the terrace, and at about the lowest extremity of B Buttress, a thin crack starts up to the right. This marks the start of the route by which the Buttress was first climbed. The crack gives out upon a grass ledge about 30 feet above the screes. Beyond this a somewhat awkward stretch of climbing brings one below some overhanging rocks, which entail a flank movement to the left until a conspicuous recess is reached. The continuation above this is most exhilarating, a steep exposed face of rock which takes the climber into an ideal situation, and which claims his entire attention in the continuation of its enjoyment. Two chimneys on either hand have both been climbed, but the ascent of the rock-face should not be missed. It finishes on the Easy Terrace. Above this the Buttress evidences a lack of continuous climbing, and the time will be better spent by descending the terrace and thence round to the foot of the Central Chimney.

After ascending the easy rocks at its foot for about a hundred feet, a detached pinnacle is a prominent object on the left. Messrs. Woodhouse found that by passing behind this a fine chimney could be entered and ascended to a grassy ledge at its top. A pleasing variation is to be had by passing below the pinnacle, whence a steep slab recommends itself to the gymnast, and, after a strenuous pull on the arms, lands him at the foot of the chimney mentioned above. From the grassy ledge above it the route can be varied in many ways, but the best sport lies across to the left for a few feet, where a chimney of real difficulty forms the lowest of a series of pitches of great merit.

C Buttress separates the Central Chimney from the Intermediate Gully, and throughout its entire length is set at a very high angle. It offers little temptation to stray from the line of least resistance, and the climbing is better defined than on most of the Buttress routes. For a hundred feet or so the holds are large and plentiful, but the climbing is interesting withal, until further progress in the same line is barred by impending rocks.

After traversing slightly to the right some steep slabs provide excellent sport until a good belaying pin is reached. Again discretion suggests a flank movement, this time slightly downwards to the left, and thence, after rounding a corner, upward progress is made to a grass ledge.

The scenery hereabouts is magnificent, and a few minutes can be well spent in viewing the formidable difficulties of the Central Chimney, the greater part of which is now visible. It appears anything but inviting, and most people will be content with merely looking. Our Buttress also has become difficult, and the next move up some steep slabs, which terminate on a wide grassy ledge awkward of access, is one necessitating considerable care and skill on the part of the leader.

A little beyond this, on the right, is a steep chimney leading downward to the Intermediate Gully, at a point immediately below the difficult pitch. This branch chimney was first ascended by the brothers Woodhouse, and is stiff.

The continuation of our climb now begins to lose interest, and before long we find ourselves at the foot of the final pitch of the Central Chimney, whence the going is comparatively easy.

D Buttress, separating the Intermediate and Easter Gullies, is, in the writers’ opinion, the most entertaining and prettiest problem of all. In its lower reaches it is quite easy and apt to disappoint until, at the same height as the difficult pitch of the Intermediate Gully, it rises almost vertically for above a hundred feet.

The way lies up a vertical arête, which recalls most strongly some of the Coolin Ridges. The holds are sound and rough, but none too large—just sufficient to leave a fair margin of safety in a very exposed position. This delightful stretch gives out at an excellent belay, beyond which the interest continues unabated for 50 feet or so, until it ceases on a wide grass platform. Shortly beyond this the Easy Terrace is again reached.

Before dealing with the easy climbs of the E Buttress, mention must be made of three fine chimneys, two of which have been climbed since Jones wrote his description of the Easter Gully. On page 235, after he had ascended the first pitch of the Gully and attained the ‘great hollow’ above it, he refers to ‘splendid branch gullies up to the ridges on either side.’

Two of these branch gullies were climbed many years ago, that on the left-hand wall, now called the South Chimney, by Mr. H. C. Broadrick, and its counterpart on the North Wall by the brothers Woodhouse.

This latter is known as the Black Chimney. It is deeply cut, and looks most forbidding. A closer acquaintance dispels most of its terrors, for the holds are excellent, and the fearsome upper capstone can be rounded on the right-hand side with comparative ease. It is, however, well worth a visit, and the continuation up the E Buttress is not lacking in interest.

Lower down than the South Chimney—a pretty problem in ‘backing up’—a rectangular opening in the crags, almost immediately above the first pitch of the Easter Gully, claimed the attention of Messrs. Woodhouse, Westmorland, and the writers in April 1910. A heavy blizzard of snow and hail, which fell at the time they made its first ascent, suggested the name Blizzard Chimney, and this was adopted. It has always seemed rather a pity that the majority of the names on Doe Crag are so prosy; the latter-day climbers have lacked the happy knack of giving distinctive names to their exploits.

G. P. Abraham & Sons, Photos Keswick

THE BROADRICK’S AND HOPKINSON’S CRACKS DOE CRAG

The most awkward part of the Blizzard Chimney is at its foot; to effect an entry is not easy, but once attained and an exposed bulge climbed by the crack on the left, the rectangular opening is reached, and the way lies up the left-hand wall of this. After about 90 feet of moderately difficult climbing the chimney gives out on the D Buttress.

E Buttress presents a variety of fairly easy climbs. None of these possess sufficient individuality or difficulty to demand a detailed description; the routes of greatest interest are shown on the outline drawing facing p. 370. These climbs supply a real want on Doe Crag, and render the climbing upon it, from ‘easy’ to ‘exceptionally severe,’ graded to an ideal degree.

Beyond the North Gully there is no climbing of sustained interest, but the Real Chimney, a curious cleft enclosed on all sides, possesses unique features. It is about 150 feet above the foot of the crags, some distance to the right of the North Gully.

The North Gully itself was first climbed in 1901 by the Messrs. Barton, and again by the writers two years later. Since then it has been visited several times. After climbing to the under side of the chaos of jammed boulders which form the great pitch, a narrow ledge will be noticed running outward along the left wall. The feat of traversing along this with practically no support for the hands, and a fearsome drop below, led to the inclusion of the Gully amongst the ‘exceptionally severe’ courses, and rightly so. Just when the ledge dwindles to nothing, a good hold can be reached with the left hand, and then a severe struggle upwards discloses good holding above. Thence the going is easier, and the top of the boulders can soon be attained. Away at the opposite end of the crags, a hundred feet to the left of Slingsby’s Pinnacle in the Great Gully, and at about the same level is a fine crack which the brothers Woodhouse first climbed in 1905. The lowest 35 feet are of about the same standard of difficulty as the Doctor’s Chimney on Gable Crag; indeed the crack as a whole is about as long and of as great merit as its more popular counterpart on Great Gable, and is very well worth a visit.

It but remains to be said that the first pitch of the Great Gully can be climbed direct up the left-hand side of the boulder without the aid of a threaded rope—a most strenuous effort—and that the two pitches of the Intermediate Gully (which Mr. Jones obviated in the manner described in his chapter) are amongst the very finest in the whole of the Lake District.

Other climbs in the Coniston district have been discovered recently by enthusiastic members of the Fell and Rock-Climbing Club.

Sylvan Chimney is one of the best of these. It lies to the left of Church Beck, and is the most conspicuous cleft in the splintered mass of rock between Boulder Valley and Lever’s Water, being situated 300 or 400 yards below the tarn.

(Boulder Valley is the fine upland hollow running from the foot of the falls below Low Water in the direction of Lever’s Water.) The Chimney affords about 120 feet of fairly difficult climbing.

A few yards to the left of Sylvan Chimney is Gouldon Gully, which gives a rather longer but somewhat easier climb. A slab of about 70 feet provides excellent practice in neat footwork. Above it a 100-foot chimney proves interesting, but unfortunately is somewhat earthy in its interior.

Colonel Crag, the boss of rock at the foot of Paddy End, at about the same height as Sylvan Chimney, has also been thoroughly explored and climbed, but is scarcely worth a visit; indeed it is to be feared that the proximity of Doe Crag would lead to the utter desertion of vastly more entertaining places than these latest additions to the Coniston climbs.

INDEX.