Trail Dec 20 mini-mag

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28
Lakeland pilgrimage
Join us on the trail of two
mountain-dwelling men.
Legends or eccentrics?
You decide!
At the summit area of Dodd,
a fell south-west of Skiddaw,
following in the footsteps
of the Skiddaw Hermit.
TOM BAILEY
CONTENTS
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6 Peak of the Month
Highland icon: Suilven
8 Base Camp
Happenings from high places
12 Mountains for the Mind
Mental health – out in the open
14 Nature notes
Mountains by moonlight
16 Out There
Adventure stories from you lot
18 Everest Anywhere
Can you climb 8848m this year?
56 Hot Topic
Grouse moors: For or against?
62 Mountain skills
Top advice from Trail’s experts
FEATURES
20
36
42
Big views, no crowds
Find 21 ways to mountain heaven,
with our round-up of the very best
mountain views the UK has to offer
Lonscale Fell
Hiding in plain sight, within striking
distance of Keswick, this could be
Lakeland’s best ‘secret’ panorama
Mountain rivers
There’s nothing like a cold dunking to
sharpen the senses! Learn from our
mistakes and make your next river
crossing less nerve-shredding
46
weekend hideaway in
the heart of Snowdonia
Mountain
base camp
Discover
this historic
50
GEAR
68 FIRST LOOK
Great value Lomo
trekking poles
70 BIG TEST
The best winter
walking boots
75 GEAR
DISSECTED
Ice grippers
76 HEAD TO HEAD
Down jackets
Rescue on The Ben
We delve into the Trail archive for winter ascent
of Ben Nevis’ Ledge Route led by mountaineer
Alan Hinkes, with a shock at the summit
85 Helvellyn, Lake District
87 Ebbor Gorge, Mendip Hills
89 Craster to Beadnell, Northumberland
91 Bynack More & Beg, Cairngorms
93 Ben Venue, Trossachs
95 Tryfan’s Heather Terrace, Snowdonia
ULTIMATE WEEKENDS
97 Brecon Beacons, South Wales
101 Cumbria Way, Lake Districtw
WALKS OF A LIFETIME
105 Carneddau, Snowdonia
BRITAIN’S GREATEST SCRAMBLES
110 Suilven, Assynt
40 SUBSCRIBE TO TRAIL
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4 TRAIL DECEMBER 2020

LAKE DISTRICT
LITTLE MAN
SKIDDAW
LONSCALE FELL
SALE HOW
BAKESTALL
BURNT HORSE RIDGE
SKIDDAW HOUSE
STEWART SMITH / ALAMY
HIDING IN
PLAIN SIGHT
Skiddaw is one of Lakeland’s main draws, but hardly anyone notices the
sharp-edged outlier on its craggy eastern flank. Introducing Lonscale Fell...
WORDS SARAH RYAN
Looking up at Skiddaw, the fourth highest hill in England, is like gazing
towards a throne of the gods. The kind of thing Zeus might sit on, if he
were a Cumbrian lad. All long, straight slopes and rounded summits, its
imposition comes from its bulk. There are no razor ridges or needle-sharp
peaks – it is just plain massive. With neighbouring Blencathra, its twin
King of the Northern Lakes, it presides over the fells. But what’s this?
To the east, between these two mammoth mountains, is an acute edge.
A sheer cliff, clear enough to be seen from all the way down on the A66.
It drops as clearly and as smoothly as a tablecloth, sweeping elegantly to the floor.
On pointier hills, this shelf might not be so distinctive but on humpy ol’ Skiddaw
it jumps out a mile. This is Lonscale Fell, one of the seven Wainwrights which
encircle Skiddaw’s summit like orbiting moons, making up the massif. This jutting
ledge, carved between behemoths, offers some of the best views of the Lakes.
When cloud swathes the high summits, the sights that can be seen from this outlier
are some of the best. And how do you get there but trek up a dramatic valley,
climb a sweeping spur, peep into the most remote areas of the Lakes and
walk home into a magnificent view of arrayed mountains and lakes slashed
with silver. All nabbed with four hours on the clock.
36 TRAIL DECEMBER 2020 DECEMBER 2020 TRAIL 37

Looking across to Lonscale
Crags from the lower
flanks of Blease Fell.
LAKE DISTRICT
“THE SUN BEAMS
ACROSS TOPS I’VE NEVER
SEEN OR BOTHERED TO
IMAGINE BEFORE”
Lonscale Fell’s nose
is as well defined as
any model profile.
TOM BAILEY
Our route starts at the car park
between Latrigg (another short jaunt
with brilliant views and gentle grassy
slopes) and Lonscale Fell. To gain
the best views of the crags which give
Lonscale its distinctive, dramatic edge,
we crossed to the Blencathra side of
Glenderaterra Beck. This is the valley
which carves Skiddaw away from
Blencathra. A long deep cleft separating
the two massifs. Glenderaterra splashes
away downhill, its clear, cold waters
daily making that cleft a little deeper.
Ever-changing landscape
We take the higher path that cuts
along the western slopes of Blencathra,
above the burn. The crags shoot up
almost immediately to our left. They
are dark, steep and crumbling. The true
summit of Lonscale Fell stands back
from the edge and out of view.
But the second summit and highest
of the crags, at 703m just 12m below
the summit proper, is perpetually in
view. The crags concertina in folds
of constantly eroding rock. Near the
bottom of the valley, where the burn
has worn away parts of the lower walls,
they fall away in immense landslides,
leaving swathes of open earth.
As time passes, mosses lace the crumbs
together and some of these giant bites are
now covered with a fuzz of pale green.
The story of this valley can be read in
records which are still being written –
those of falling rocks and rain.
You can clamber up these crags,
which stick out like bony ribs. The
east ridge, which skirts the scree slopes
just below the second summit, offers a
relentlessly steep scrabble through loose
rock and heather directly to the top.
If you gobble up painful challenges
like other people consume jelly babies,
then this one is for you.
Burnt Horse ridge
But not for us this time. We want the
sweet remoteness of the far northern
fells, which are all too often ignored. The
Blencathra track crosses the burn near the
head of the valley and joins the Cumbria
Way at a boulder carved with ‘Keswick’
in all caps. Follow it south and, after
the promised town, it will lead you on
a 112km (70 miles) walk through the
entire Lake District, to Ulverston.
It’s a very nice path, made for people
just like us and we abandon it almost
immediately, taking to the tail end of
Burnt Horse ridge. The slope up the
ridge is grassy, insistent and never quite
steep. A cool haze of rain drifts over my
face and bare hands and – tzeep-tzeeptzeep!
– a meadow pipit darts past with
a lazer-sharp call. The ridge begins at
around 400m and, on these easy slopes,
you gain height fast. And when we stop to
look behind we’re greeted with a totally
surprise view – a massif of remote, green
hillside which fills the vision. The sun
beams across tops I have never seen or
bothered to imagine before. There is not
a road or hamlet anywhere between them.
Kilometres of grass, bracken and heather
are broken only by narrow streams and
barely-there paths. The Cumbria Way
slips between the contours and past
Skiddaw House hostel. At 470m, it’s
the highest hostel in Britain but we’re
quite a way above it already. The clouds
part and a burst of sunlight hits the fells.
Trio of massifs
We are looking into the centre of the
Northern Fells. From here, three valleys
shoot out, separating the three big
massifs: Skiddaw, Blencathra to the
right, and the Caldbeck and Uldale fells
ahead. A giant pie in three big, tasty
chunks. And in front of us is a slice
I’ve never even considered before.
Like on Skiddaw, there are few
compelling edges here, no terrifying
spikes. Wainwright basically describes
them as a gigantic sheep pasture. And
yet, standing in the mizzle and looking
out at these wide hills, as a faint rainbow
appears in the haze, I feel a twitch in my
feet. This is big, unfrequented country.
Wainwright, it seems, felt something
similar, and after his pretty damning
initial assessment acknowledges that:
“Although relatively unexciting in scenic
quality... these hills afford excellent
tramping and an exhilarating freedom to
wander at will”. This is a place to escape.
The quiet side
There is no escaping the climb, however,
and we turn back to the hill we are
already on. I remember that this is part
of Skiddaw, an outlying fell of one of the
most popular hills in the Lake District
and we haven’t seen anyone up here at
all. I can imagine, as I traipse upwards,
that few people ever visit this side of
the hill. And just as I think it, we find
something else worth visiting.
At the edge of my boots are a few
fronds of heather and below them a long,
rocky drop to a deep bowl. A nameless
stream chucks itself down the slopes,
filling the bowl with marshy green. At
the edge of a shallow corrie, we have
reached the first of the crags that we’ll
follow almost all the way to the top.
Misty mountains
Silver lichen sprawls amid the heather
and luminous moss. It’s damp and cool
and the air is clean. Good for plants and
good for humans. A line of trampled
grass cuts narrowly between the fence
and we follow that fence uphill. It’s the
last pull, and the steepest, taking us
almost directly to the summit. From
there, we should be able to look over to
Skiddaw on one side, Blencathra on the
other, to the unfrequented north and
south to the busy Lakeland heights.
Ah ‘should’, that word which, in the
hills, always comes with a silent ‘if you’re
lucky’. We turn in every direction and
look into the same shifting grey cloud.
Our summit is swathed in mist. It’s a
bare pate of a top and only half the
reason we’re here anyway so we abandon
it, at the top of the crags. Here, the cloud
whips up from the valley below, the
stream a thin streak. Blencathra emerges
for a minute, so big we can only see a
small portion of it, and we turn south to
follow these crags as far as they’ll go.
The gradient is the kind that allows
your feet to fall you home, adding just
enough gravity to help, rarely enough to
tumble. So we chat and trot down until,
after we have given up all hope, there,
emerging quite quickly, is that Lakeland
view. There it finally is.
Classic Lakeland vistas
We can see Helvellyn and the Dodds;
Low, High and Castle Riggs; Derwent
Water gleaming and the jostle of northwestern
hills. The Lake District is laid
out before us and we look out with the
knowledge that some of the highest,
most exciting peaks in the country are
secreted not far away at all. The fading
sunlight casts a warm glow across the
hills and the lakes shine like magnesium.
For a short jaunt, this little fell gives a
lot. And, if the urge takes, you can gobble
the distance from its top to Skiddaw in
an almost straight line north-west. For
us though, it is time to head home.
As we descend the larch turns lemon
yellow, birch trees flicker with golden
leaves, oak trees fade to red. Between
them twists the white line of the River
Greta, flowing into the silver pool of
Derwent Water. We make the car door
almost without breaking stride. T
The green
undulations of
Burnt Horse ridge.
11.5km DISTANCE
832m ASCENT
4hrs ON THE HILL
38 TRAIL DECEMBER 2020 DECEMBER 2020 TRAIL 39

MOUNTAINS
FOR
THE MIND
MENTAL HEALTH:
OUT IN THE OPEN
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of spending time outdoors for your mental health.
HELP US MAKE
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JOIN OUR
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DECEMBER 2020 TRAIL 115

PLAN
100
YOUR FUTURE
MOUNTAIN
TRIPS!
THE UK’S ULTIMATE MOUNTAIN BUCKET LIST
Hand-picked by the experts at Trail magazine, the Trail 100 is the definitive
collection of 100 peaks that every hillwalker must climb in their lifetime
INCLUDING…
BEN NEVIS SNOWDON HELVELLYN
SCAFELL PIKE KINDER SCOUT TRYFAN
BUACHAILLE ETIVE MOR BOWFELL SLIOCH
AN TEALLACH CONISTON OLD MAN BEN MACDUI
GREAT GABLE PEN Y FAN INGLEBOROUGH CADAIR IDRIS
BEN HOPE GLYDER FACH CROSS FELL SKIDDAW THE CALF YES TOR
For detailed descriptions of each peak, digital route guides
and a FREE peak bagging chart, go to LFTO.COM/TRAIL100
MAGAZINE

SNOWDONIA
The mighty Snowdon range
in its winter coat, taken just a
few miles down the road from
Pen-y-Gwryd near Capel Curig.
TOM BAILEY
MOUNTAIN BASE CAMPS
PEN-Y-GWRYD
SNOWDONIA
Located just east of the Llanberis Pass, the legendary Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel
is a great base for hillwalkers that’s not only perfectly situated
but also steeped in mountaineering history.
WORDS MATT JONES
The Llanberis Pass cuts across the heart of
northern Snowdonia, dividing Snowdon from
the boulder-strewn Glyderau. It also has a
handily placed car park at Pen-y-Pass, which is the
perfect starting point for an ascent of Wales’ highest
peak. Unfortunately, everyone knows it. Pen-y-Pass
is notoriously busy, and the car park – rammed at
the best of times – hit the headlines for all the wrong
reasons this year, when on the weekends either side of
lockdown, hundreds of people who were unable to nab
a parking space simply left their cars on the road. In
July, things got so bad that Snowdonia National Park
bosses were forced to close the car park entirely, with
a police presence on hand to turn people away.
Fortunately, there is another way. One that doesn’t
entail arriving at 5am just to be sure of a parking
space. The solution? Simply book yourself a cosy room
at the Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel, ideally with a wonderfully
stomach-busting five-course dinner, full Welsh
breakfast the next morning and a walkers’ packed
lunch thrown in too. Then all you need to do is start
planning your memorable mountain weekend, with
zero hassle guaranteed. There’s plenty of walks to pick
from. In addition to Snowdon itself, the whole of the
Glyderau and even Moel Siabod are all in easy reach.
Of course, the Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel offers much
more than its superb location. For anyone with a
love of big mountains, it is a place of pilgrimage.
This hotel, after all, is where the 1953 Everest team,
including Sir Edmund Hillary, stayed while training
for their Himalayan expedition. You can see their
signatures, along with those of many other illustrious
mountaineers, on the ceiling of the Everest Room,
on your left as you walk through the front doors of
the hotel. And behind the bar is the residents’ only
Smoke Room, which features an alcove of fascinating
artefacts brought back from Everest, replete with
everything from oxygen bottles to string vests.
46 TRAIL DECEMBER 2020 DECEMBER 2020 TRAIL 47

Walking high on
Moel Siabod.
The Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel,
with Snowdon behind.
IAN NELLIST/ALAMY
Near the summit
of Glyder Fach.
SNOWDONIA
4 great walks from Pen-y-Gwryd
Glyder Fach
& Glyder Fawr
This comparatively quiet route into
the heart of the Glyderau sets out from
behind the Pen-y-Gwryd, making use
of The Miner’s Track that snakes up
the mountainside to reach the rocky,
crested ridge above the pass. Follow it
west to bag the two summits of Glyder
Fach and Glyder Fawr, stopping en
route to pose on the famous Cantilever
Stone and scramble among the shattered
crenellations of Castell y Gwynt. In
high season it will be busy up here, but
given that most walkers come up from
Ogwen, you can soon leave them behind
as you work your way down the broad
shoulder of Glyder Fawr, with fabulous
views towards Crib Goch and the
Snowdon Horseshoe. To your left, look
for the lake of Llyn Cwmffnnon, with
the little-visited minor summit of Moel
Berfedd perched above. The ground
gradually gets boggier as you lose height,
but fortunately the path also becomes
clearer, eventually terminating at the
stile beside the YHA. Then it’s just a case
of crossing the A4086 to the car park
©CROWN COPYRIGHT 2020 ORDNANCE SURVEY. MEDIA 021/20
s Snowdon
s Y Lliwedd
s Crib Goch
s Glyder Fawr
1 2 3
4
at Pen-y-Pass and sauntering along the
permissive path beneath the road, back
to the reward of a crisp pint and a hot
bath at the Pen-y-Gwryd.
INSIDER INFO
The Pen-y-Gwryd’s
mountain links extend
far back beyond the 1953
Everest team’s stay there.
It was also the birthplace
of the Climbers Club in
1898, while the legendary
George Mallory spent
a night here in 1914.
The hotel’s guest
bedrooms are named
after each of Snowdonia’s
13 peaks over 3000ft
(910m).The hotel is also
a Mountain Rescue Post,
acknowledged by a plaque
placed outside the main
entrance.
Crib Goch & the
Snowdon Horseshoe
An exposed but exhilarating Grade 1
scramble along arguably the finest and
certainly the most famous ridge route in
Snowdonia, Crib Goch is widely known,
very popular and often frustratingly
busy. All too often you’ll be slowed by
inexperienced walkers shuffling along
the ridge, inch by tortuous inch. This
can reduce what should be a memorable
day out to a grim ‘once and never again’
experience. To avoid this, plan ahead.
Book into the Pen-y-Gwryd midweek,
early on or late in the season. Pray to
the mountain weather gods for a dry,
calm day and get up early or, if you’re
a more experienced scrambler, hold off
until early evening. Fortunately, having
the hotel as a base ensures you can easily
get a good night’s sleep and still be up
with the lark or happily while away
the afternoon hours in the residents’
lounge before setting out for Pen-y-Pass.
From here, follow the Pyg Track until
you reach Bwlch y Moch and look for a
low slate sign marked ‘Crib Goch’. The
initial climb towards the ridge is a little
loose, but you soon get the chance to
put hands on rock. The crossing itself
narrows considerably, forcing you to
stick to the crest, which is by far the
best line to follow. The bravest and most
comfortable ridge walkers just stride
along the top, but most use the crest as a
handrail while moving along just below
The Pen-y-Gwryd’s most
famous owners were
Chris and Jo Briggs. They
were succeeded by their
daughter, Jane, who was
known to upbraid men who
wore their hats inside,
sternly declaring:
“Hats off in the house!”
it on the left-hand side. Don’t forget
to take in the staggering views, which
rank among the best in Britain. Cross
The Pinnacles to reach Bwlch Coch,
then on to Garnedd Ugain before you
reach the trig pillar at Crib-y-Ddysgl
and ultimately, gain the summit of
Snowdon. To complete the horseshoe,
descend south-east from the summit
via Y Lliwedd before following the
path down to Llyn Llydaw, where
you can pick up the Miners’ Track
to return to Pen-y-Pass.
Moel Siabod &
Carnedd y Cribau
The view from the residents’ lounge in the
Pen-y-Gwryd looks out across the manmade
trout lake of Llyn Pen-y-Gwryd
to lonely Moel Siabod, which rears up
proud and distinct, perfectly framed
like a landscape painting. It is an almost
irresistible target for a day walk from the
Pen-y-Gwryd’s doorstep, and although the
route out from here to Siabod’s summit is
often thankless and squelchy, it’s the sort
of thing that you do, as Mallory famously
said, “because it’s there”. The walk
starts from the stile opposite the hotel,
following a faint path that peters out as
you climb to a series of rocky outcrops,
following a tributary of the Nant-y-llys.
It’s a bit of a slog but try to avoid the
boggiest ground – and perhaps take
your mind off your wet feet by looking
across the valley to jaw-dropping views of
Keep an eye, or a nose,
out for the feral goats
who roam the Glyderau.
You’re likely to smell them
before you see them.
Don’t be surprised to find
them perched in some
precarious places, or
atop ladder stiles.
If climbing Snowdon,
look out for the Snowdon
Lily, a rare arctic-alpine
plant with beautiful white
flowers and grass-like
leaves that blooms in late
May and early June. It has
not been found anywhere
outside Snowdonia.
Snowdon. At Bwlch Rhiw’r Ychen, where
four fences converge, cross the stile and
ascend Siabod’s grassy western flanks,
following the fence line that rises above
Llynnau Diwaunydd to Moel Gîd. The
trig pillar that marks the 872m summit
of Moel Siabod – the highest point of the
Moelwynion range – is further on, with
far-reaching views down the spiny ridge
of Daear Ddu. Descend past the summit
shelter along the ridge before heading left
to clamber down to the path back into
Capel Curig. The going gets easier here,
and winds down through forest to emerge
at a footbridge to Plas Y Brenin. From
here, the Snowdon Sherpa S2 bus will take
you back to the Pen-y-Gwryd.
Moel Berfedd
It might seem a little perverse to stay
somewhere within sight of Snowdonia’s
most famous 3000ft peaks and instead
climb a mini mountain that is marked on
the Ordnance Survey map at just 482m.
But diminutive Moel Berfedd offers
far more than its modest spot-height
s Glyder Fach
Miner’s Track from PYG
s Moel Berfedd
suggests. It’s easy to plan a short, brisk
circuit straight from the front door of
the Pen-y-Gwryd that climbs quickly to
the summit, loftily perched above Bwlch
y Gwyddel and the busy A4086, before
heading down to Pen-y-Pass and then
picking up the footpath that leads back
to the hotel. Leave the Pen-y-Gwryd and
cross a stile, then pass through a gate to
climb the boggy grass slope. Aim for the
stone wall and then veer right slightly to
negotiate a craggy section before heading
back towards the wall, where there are
some small, murky pools. The summit
of Moel Berfedd is just over the brow, a
unique vantage point that lies at the head
of three valleys. But more impressive are
the hulking Snowdon massif and the dark,
brooding Glyderau. Leave the summit
and follow a rough ridge, dotted with
outcrops and patches of boggy ground.
On a clear day, the glassy waters of Llyn
Cwmffynnon reflect the crags and clouds
above like a giant mirror. Descend to a
col and then pick your way downhill
to the YHA at Pen-y-Pass.
Pen-y-Gwryd
s Moel Siabod
[ Plays y Brenin
GETTING THERE
The Pen-y-Gwryd is located 4 miles west of Capel
Curig on the junction of the A4086 and A498. The
nearest train stations are Bangor mainline station
or Betws-y-Coed. Book a taxi if travelling via
Betws-y-Coed. The Snowdon Sherpa S2, S4
and S6 bus routes also stop at the Pen-y-Gwryd.
WHERE TO EAT, DRINK & SLEEP
n Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel
Well, obviously – but for the full experience book a
room in the main hotel with the shared bathrooms
rather than the newer en-suite rooms. And don’t
miss the three or five course evening meal,
served when the dinner gong sounds.
n Pen-y-Pass YHA
If you can’t stretch to the Pen-y-Gwryd, the YHA
hostel at Pen-y-Pass offers affordable dorm
rooms or private rooms, with Mallory’s Restaurant
and Bar on site, serving food and drink all day.
HOW TO BOOK
Due to COVID-19, at the time of writing the
Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel is only open on Thursday,
Friday and Saturday nights, offering en-suite
rooms with continental breakfast and dinners,
and a limited bar service reserved for hotel
guests. Find more information at pyg.co.uk
To check latest availability and book
accommodation at YHA Pen-y-Pass, see
yha.org.uk/hostel/yha-snowdon-pen-y-pass
48 TRAIL DECEMBER 2020 DECEMBER 2020 TRAIL 49

HILL HACKS
SKILLS, TIPS & TRICKS TO GET YOU HIKING LIKE A PRO
[SEASONAL ADVICE]
8 WAYS
TO ADAPT
FOR WINTER
1
Eat more! You’ll be
burning more calories in
the colder temperatures
and, when snow is on the ground,
chugging up hills that would be
a breeze in summer. Take the
opportunity to stock up.
2
Get your winter coat.
You’ll need warmer
insulated layers and
a robust waterproof jacket to
withstand the winter weather
conditions high up. Make sure
they’re up to the job.
■ HAMSTRING STRETCH
With mountain walking comes
strong glutes, calves and quads
and (unfortunately) very tight
hamstrings. Do this stretch after
a big day out while muscles are
still warm to stay limber.
● Standing up, cross the left leg
in front of the right at the knee.
● Slowly bend over, letting your
arms and head hang to the ground.
3
Don’t forget your paws.
Cold hands can be
agonising – get your
glove system right with a pair
of liners, and a pair of insulated
and waterproof gloves to wear
over them. And pack spares!
4
Check snow conditions.
In the Lake District,
fell top assessments
of Helvellyn start in December
and SAIS reports start coming in
more regularly, although they
can start earlier in the year in
places like the Cairngorms.
Check conditions online at
lakedistrictweatherline.co.uk
or sais.gov.uk
5
Charge your headtorch
and keep it in your pack,
along with a spare
battery or powerbank. If it has
the function available, make sure
it’s locked in the 'off' position.
6
Do
a kit check.
Crampons, ice axe and
the know-how to use
● Bend as far as you can until
you feel a stretch along the
back of the right leg.
● Hold it for a minute, dropping
down a little further if you feel
you can after about 30 seconds.
● Slowly stand back up again,
rolling up from the lower spine.
● Cross your legs so that the right
leg is front of the left and repeat.
them are essential in the winter
mountains. Make sure you have
all three before heading out.
7
Plan well. Remember
days will be shorter due
to fading light, and you'll
be slower due to snow and ice.
8
Book a winter skills
course. If you don’t
have the skills or
confidence to go out in winter
without a guide or experienced
pal, book a course now.
■ EXAMINE THE
WORLD AROUND YOU
Count the greens you can see.
You don’t actually need to number
them or do it out loud, but over the
course of a few minutes, see how
many different varieties of the
colour green you can notice. You
may find yourself noticing more
than you think, and in the process
colours may appear more vivid.
Sarah Ryan
Experienced outdoor writer and
qualified Mountain Leader
FIRST AID
BASICS
You’re out on the hill at night and
your pal drops their dinner packet,
spilling hot, wet food over their bare
arm – what’s the first thing you do?
OPTIONS:
A: Save the food! Those are vital calories.
B: Help them clean up and laugh it off,
the dope.
C: Very gently wash it off ASAP, then make a
compress from material soaked in cool water
from your bottle and wrap it over the burn,
refreshing every few minutes to keep it cool.
D: Gently clean it off ASAP and get them to
immerse their arm in a cold stream for 20
minutes, making sure they’re well wrapped
up and otherwise warm.
E: Clean it off ASAP and get busy sterilising
water to use on a compress – it’s more
important that the water is clean.
ANSWER: C is preferable as there is a lower
chance of hypothermia, but D is ok too. The
important things are to remove the heat
source and cool the burn quickly. The injury
will need to be cleaned and dressed, and
the person may need to be evacuated for
treatment.
[GEAR BASICS]
HANDY HANKY
In times of COVID, ‘snot-rocketing’ is not
really on, and tissues have a tendency
to flake and fly away. The answer?
A good ol’ fashioned handkerchief.
YOUR EXPERTS
Ben Weeks
Mountain Leader and
Trail’s senior writer
Rob Johnson MIC
International expedition leader
and mountain instructor
[KNOW YOUR ROCKS]
SLATE
What is it? A metamorphic rock
formed from shale or mudstone,
which readily flakes into sheets. It’s
usually light to dark grey, but can be
reddish, purple or green depending
on the minerals that make it up. A
redder colour indicates higher levels
of hematite (iron oxide), for example.
Where? Plentiful in North Wales
and the Lake District. Possibly
most famously in Honister, the
last working slate mine in England.
How slippy? Nightmarishly so. Slate
is infamous among climbers for its
low friction. Fortunately, you’re more
likely to be walking past it than on it.
And another thing In her description
of climbing on slate, Libby Peters
mentions the ‘singing rock’ at
Snowdonia's Dinorwig slate quarry:
a series of holes, each of which rings
out in a different note when hit.
roughly the amount the temperature
2ºC drops for every 300m ascent
■ 5 SIMPLE PACKED LUNCHES
● Tuna + pitta bread + romaine lettuce
+ mayo sachet
● Tattie scones +
cheddar cheese
slices + honey
● Babybel +
oatcakes + apple
● Jerky + fruit + nuts
● Peanut butter + jam + wrap
LEE AVISON / ALAMY*
■ GO BELOW
-274.5m (901ft) is
arguably the lowest
accessible point in
the UK. It is the depth
of Ogof Ffynnon Ddu
(the Cave of the Black
Spring) in south Wales,
the deepest cave
in the UK.
GET TO GRIPS WITH…
NORSE NAMES
Norse place names are less common
than Gaelic or Scots in Scotland but
can still be found in some areas –
particularly in the Northern Isles and
Caithness. Several words with Norse
origin have since been adopted into
Gaelic or Scots, so while their legacy
lives on those words can’t properly
be called Norse. Here are some
of the most common:
-ay (old Norse ey)
Island, as in Eriskay or Islay
Fair, far (old Norse fær)
Sheep
Fell (old Norse fjall)
Rough hill or mountain
Firth (old Norse fjörðr)
Firth, fjord or sea-loch
Ho (old Norse hár)
High, as in The Old Man of Hoy
Hope (old Norse hár)
Bay, as in Ben Hope ‘bay mountain’
Jur (old Norse djúr)
Beast or animal, as in Jura
Kirk (old Norse kirkja)
Church
Ler (old Norse leir)
Mud or clay, as in Lerwick ‘mud bay’
Ness (old Norse nes)
Headland or promontory
Orc (old Norse orkn)
Seal
Strom (old Norse straumr)
Stream, running water
Wick (old Norse vík)
Bay
Keiss (old Norse keis)
Rounded ridge
SAY IT
ð: called ‘eth’, sounds like ‘th’ as in the
þ: called ‘thorn’, sounds like ‘th’
ö: sounds like ‘oo-uh’ or the sound you
make when you inadvertently stand in a
stinking bog, similar to the German ö
62 TRAIL DECEMBER 2020 DECEMBER 2020 TRAIL 63
ALAN MAJCHROWICZ / ALAMY*

OUR TOP MOUNTAIN PHOTO SPOTS
An Stac MOIDART WALKED BY Ben Weeks, Trail senior writer
Moidart was an area I knew and cared little about. We were
going there to walk some Corbetts – small, stunted hills that
had never grown into Munro status. They sounded boring. I
already knew they’d look dull and uninspiring and, joy of joys, on
this particular day it was my job to capture enticing photographs
worthy of publication in a Trail feature. I was not thrilled at the
prospect. But I soon discovered two things: one, I’m an idiot,
because two, Moidart is amazing. As soon as we had gained
some height the views just exploded, increasingly getting better
and better all day until they climaxed in the impossibly picture
perfect summit of An Stac. With the peak’s rocky crest
leading the eye out over the island-studded waters of Loch
Ailort, which in turn lead onwards to the Sound of Arisaig and
the haze-softened outlines of the islands of Muck, Eigg and Rum
beyond, it was a photographer’s dream and a view that had me
begging Moidart’s forgiveness for my ignorant prejudice.
Being able to simply point the camera in the
HIGHLIGHTS
right direction and push the shutter button,
letting the landscape itself do all the hard work.
Watson’s Dodd
LAKE DISTRICT
WALKED BY Oli Reed, Trail editor
I actually had to look up the name of Watson’s Dodd before writing
this, because it’s so nondescript that I remember nothing at all
about climbing it. But just look at that view above. The whole of
the south, west and northern Lake District laid out before us,
summits crusted with a fresh dollop of late winter snow,
with more peaks in shot than I’ve ever been able to name.
The view is over the Thirlmere valley, with Watson’s Dodd one
of the long chain of summits north of Helvellyn that make up the
bulky spine of the Eastern Fells. Every time I look at that image
I pick out a new mountain. Possibly my favourite photo ever.
HIGHLIGHTS
The second I was allowed to stop posing for that
photo, because my face was frozen solid by wind.
South Ridge SNOWDON
WALKED BY Jenna Maryniak, Trail deputy editor
Choosing a favourite photo view is hard! Every moment high on a
mountain has been pretty special in its own right, especially if I’ve been lucky
enough not to be engulfed in mist. A cloud inversion from Buachaille Etive
Beag in winter, the sea and the Cuillin Ridge from Bla Beinn, the lochans from
The Merrick… oh and Assynt in the far north-west, from anywhere. But I
refuse to pick Scotland. Scotland doesn’t even have to try, and boy have I had
to earn those views with a whole day trapped in a car to get there. So, I’m
going to have to say Snowdon. And in particular from the South Ridge. The
pointy arête provides the dramatic foreground, the views take in the
Snowdonian mountains and then go past them right out to sea, and of course
the sights to be seen from the top – well everyone knows about those!
An obvious choice, but there’s a reason Snowdon
HIGHLIGHTS
is Britain’s favourite mountain. For me those views
are hard to beat, especially from the quieter south side.
Sgurr na Stri
ISLE OF SKYE
WALKED BY Sarah Ryan,
Trail contributor
Sgurr na Stri looks straight
into our most forbidding mountain range,
tracing all 36-odd peaks on the 12km
Cuillin Ridge. This particular evening,
those sawtoothed peaks were silhouetted
against a soft peach sky, the sun a drop of
gold sinking slowly behind. Loch Coruisk
gleamed pale blue below, catching the
last light of the day. And from the other
side of the mountain, I discovered the
flat blue of the sea and the Rum Cuillin
crowning the horizon; Bla Bheinn and the
pale sweep of Camasunary Bay; and the
rounded humps of the Red Cuillin rust
coloured in the setting sun.
From this peak, really
HIGHLIGHTS
anywhere you look
you can find a great picture.
112 TRAIL DECEMBER 2020
DECEMBER 2020 TRAIL 113

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