OFCOM IN BLACK HOLE

A team from OFCOM found themselves in a hole when out for a walk with Highpoint's John White!! With the weather conditions too poor for a higher level fell walk, the group enjoyed a classic low level walk to Black Hole Quarry via Slater's Bridge. Photos show the OFCOM group in The Cathedral - plus - a rare glimpse of the Black Hole Goldfish....

SNOW REPORT

Snow remains in drifts above approx 1500 feet, wth main gullies on highest fells remaining intact at the moment. Any freeze cycles will really harden the snow.

Phots show the corrie left of Sharp Edge Blencathra on Friday 20th February. Note the large cornice.

SHARP EDGE BLENCATHRA

Photos from Sharp Edge, 20th February. Still somes snow left especialy in gulles and hollows hgh up.

AVALANCHE ON RAISE

A significant avalanche in an inconspicuous and unlikely location near to Raise Ski Area. The avalanche had happened several days before the photo was taken.

WINTER SKILLS COURSE 14/15 FEBRUARY - LAKES

11 of us set out for Raise and had an excellent winter skills course, wih cracking conditions!

SNOW AND ICE CLIMBING ON HELVELYN - SENT IN BY JOHN NEATE

Fron John Neate:.....Dave, Keith, Simon and myself have just got back from the 2 days winter climbing instruction in the lakes and wanted to say what a fabulous time we had. On Friday, Richard and Ewan lead us up Gully 1 in Red Tarn Cove in the most magical conditions. No wind, good visibility and hard snow. It really was Alpine-like. Then on Saturday with Richard and Nick it was up Central Gully on Brown Cove Crag. The snow had softened a bit and there was more cloud around but again, superb instruction meant another fantastic day.

We all learnt a tremendous amount with the emphasis on safety at all times. I’d especially like to thank Richard for making it so enjoyable-and for his patience!

Hope to be in touch again in the not too distant future.

Introduction to Winter Climbing in the Lakes

Keith, David, John and Simon came up to the Lakes for an introduction to winter climbing on Friday and Saturday and conditions couldn't have been better for it.  Ewen and I went to Helvellyn with them on Friday where we climbed Gully 1 with plenty of good ice on the main pitch and lots of opportunity to look at rope work and anchors on the way.  A short abseil down from the plateau gave Simon and John a chance to be impressed by the strength of snow bollards as well!  A careful descent of Swirral Edge provided a great end to the day.

On Saturday we wanted to avoid the crowds so went to Brown Cove crags where the team did a great job leading Central Gully, even getting some solid ice screws in at the bottom!  A steep descent was followed by a little bit of steep ice on the bulges at the base of the crag to finish the day.  All in all a great couple of days so lets hope the current thaw is short lived.

WINTER HILLWALKING IN SCOTLAND FROM YVONNE O'KEEFE

Great conditions for winter walking from Yvonne O'Keefe - looks like hard work in that deep powder!

GLEN AFFRIC FROM RICHARD STRIVENS

A couple of views of winter walking in Glen Affric from last weekend, sent in by Highpoint instructor Richard Strivens.

UPSKIING ON RAISE - FRIDAY 6TH FEB FROM JOHN WHITE

UPSKI - TOWING THE KIDS - YAD MOSS - SATURDAY 7TH FEB

Great conditions on the Pennines for skiing and touring - Yad Moss open and very busy and lots of kites around.

PHOTOS FROM RAISE AREA, FRIDAY 6TH FEBRUARY

THINNER SNOW CONDITIONS ON SKIDDAW

LOOKING TOWARDS THE SOUTHERN FELLS FROM RAISE

SUNSET FROM RAISE

BROWN COVE CRAGS

LOOKING TOWARDS SWIRRAL EDGE AND HELVELLYN

HIGH STREET FROM NEAR RAISE

Here are a selection of photos from the Raise area from Friday 6th Feb. Lots of snow - some hard, icy neve and also lots of windslab and satstrugi - a real mix, but great winter conditions. It was possible to ski from the summits down to approx 1200 feet.

WINTER CLIMBING ON DOLYWAGGON AT THE WEEKEND FROM PHILIPPE GALLAND AT BRASHER

From Philippe Galland at Brasher - Trash Corner and Rescue Groove on Dolywaggon from the weekend.

I've just got back from a good week working in Scotland where amazingly there was less snow than Devon!  Climbing conditions are great at the moment and we had a varied week climbing everything from grade IV ice on Aonach Mor to super classic mountaineering routes like Curved Ridge on the Buachaille and Ledge Route on the Ben.  We finished off by topping out on a very snowy Dorsal Arete into 'full' conditions yesterday..... a bit of a contrast to the blue skies and amazing visibility on Ledge Route the previous day.  I've come home to stories of amazing Lakes winter climbing conditions which sound like they're going to be around for a while.  Get in touch for guiding and instruction if you've always fancied trying some snow and ice climbing but have never been keen for the drive to Scotland! 

Rich

BLENCATHRA - FRIDAY 6TH FEB 9AM

Blencathra looking fantastic in the early morning sunshine after more hard frost overnight.

CROSS FELL AND THE PENNINES 5TH FEBRUARY

Good looking snow cover on the Pennines - taken 5th Feb 3pm.

SNOW AT ALL LEVELS

Snow has fallen at all levels in Cumbria, but with more snow on the east side of the county than the west - Keswick for example, has very little snow.

PENNINES - CROSS FELL AND DUN FELL 3RD FEB

Significant overnight snow transformed the Pennines into a creamy white, winter wonderland.

PENGUIN SPOTTED IN LAKE DISTRICT

Blown off course by the current cold weather, this penguin was spotted this morning in a garden near Bampton, Cumbria. Wildlife experts are on their way from throughout the area to try to identify it. Goldfish in a nearby garden pond had disappeared overnight as the penguin foraged for food.

monday morning: Overnight snow closed 90 schools in Cumbria and caused problems on many roads.......as I suspect it did in lots of other places. Tough life being a squirrel though...