Rock-climbing in the English Lake District / Third Edition

by Owen Glynne Jones

For an off-day there is no more pleasant spot in Langdale than the vicinity of the Oak How Needle, which is perched on the side of Lingmoor, below the upper crags. Its situation is almost opposite a point on the coach road about half a mile beyond Chapel Stile when going towards Dungeon Ghyll. The outstanding mass makes a good photograph. The ascent of the short side is easy, but a crack on the front of the rock may be considered decidedly difficult.

The outline of Bowfell as seen from near the head of Windermere is one of the most massive and picturesque in Lakeland. The Langdale Pikes are perhaps more arresting at first sight, but a longer study of the mass to their left conveys a sense of grandeur and stability lacking in the more famous ‘twin peaks of Langdale.’

The Links of Bowfell are well worth a visit from climbers passing from Dungeon Ghyll to Wastdale, for they offer a pleasant contrast to the exposed buttresses of Gimmer Crag. Unlike most of our rock-faces, they have a southerly aspect, overlooking Eskdale and Three Tarns. The gullies, starting at the eastern end of the crags, are numbered from one to eleven, but only Nos. 4, 5, and 6 contain good climbing. The others are a suitable practice ground for novices.

It is well to start operations in No. 4, which has two pitches of interest, and then descend by way of No. 3 to the foot of No. 5. The large pitch at its foot is quite entertaining, and upon the occasion of its first ascent, on a day of pouring rain, offered a stubborn resistance before capitulating on the right. Above it, easy going takes one quickly to the top of the crags, and thence around to the foot of No. 6.

This also possesses a good pitch of the chock-stone variety near its foot. The way up it lies straight to beneath the ‘capstone,’ which bars direct progress. It is then feasible to work out under the stone on the right until an upward move can be made to the top of the pitch. On the occasion of the first ascent, in September 1897, by Messrs. C. R. B. Storry, G. H. McKilburn, and the writers, the upper part of the pitch was topped by loose stones; even nowadays it is well for the following climbers to take cover under the capstone, both for their own safety and to belay the leader as he scales the pitch.

The Bowfell Buttress is a more serious proposition, and as a climb the route found up it, in December 1900, by Messrs. Shaw, Oppenheimer, Craig, Hargreaves, and West, compares in point of difficulty and length with the North Climb on the Pillar, if the latter ceased immediately above the Nose.

The Buttress faces N.N.E., overlooking Mickleden, and is best reached from Langdale by following ‘the Band’—the long, grassy spur running down towards Stool End Farm—about two-thirds of the way to the top of Bowfell. From here it is best to contour around to the right and thence along, bearing obliquely upward, to the foot of the Crags.

The work starts at the lowest point of the Buttress, and, to quote Mr. Oppenheimer’s lucid account, ‘after 30 feet of broken rocks, the foot of a long chimney is passed, and a 10-foot chimney to the right of it, with an awkward pitch, taken. This leads, in another 10 feet, to a small terrace running down to a gully on the right. The next 50 feet is an upward traverse to the left, into the long chimney, soon after entering which a good sentry-box affords a stopping-place.

‘After 40 feet straight up the long chimney the latter ends on a grass terrace, which slopes down to the right and broadens considerably; following this, for 20 feet, a rather difficult vertical crack is reached. From the shelf at the top of the crack 50 feet up, bare rough rocks lead to a grassy corner. Here there is a very convenient large block, to which the second man should belay himself as the leader advances to the left along a very exposed upward traverse, with little handhold, into a small rock corner.

‘The best plan here is to climb to the right, away from the corner, and then to the left over the top of it, on to a grassy patch sloping away to the left, beside a fine belaying pin. To the right of this a chimney starts: 40 feet up there is a small pitch; then another 40 feet on sloping slabs to the right with a wall to the left, leads to the top of the Low Man, where a cairn has been placed.