The Lake District has been very busy this weekend with plenty of folk out on the hills enjoying the good conditions. Generally there's more snow and better conditions in the north with the Coniston area looking very bare. Temperatures have stayed low (-4 oC in Ambleside at the moment with 2" new snow) but plenty of sun today has helped the snow to consolidate. There's a surprising amount of water ice around after a few days of cold temperatures. Helvellyn has been the main focus but a few folk have gone for more adventurous options with Scrubby Crag seeing some action and a potential new route on High Crag, Dollywagon. The highlight of the weekend was arguably the first winter ascent of Scabbard on Bowfell by Paddy Cave, Chris Sterling & Tom Greenwood to give Fragile Existence at VII+ 8. The weather is forecast to stay cold for the next few days with a few more snow showers coming from the east. Conditions for climbing should continue to improve with more water ice forming. A quick round up of what's been climbed in the last couple of days...
- Blea Water Gill, III
- Left Branch, II, Brown Cove Crags
- Central Gully, I, Brown Cove Crags
- Right Buttress Crack, III, Brown Cove Crags
- Two Grooves, IV, Brown Cove Crags
- Catstye Cam Gully, I/II
- Pinnacle Ridge, III, Gable Crag
- Bottlescrue, IV 5, Gable Crag
- Engineers Chimney, V 4, Gable Crag
- Window Gully, II/III, Great End
- Central Gully, II, Great End
- Swirral Edge, I, Helvellyn
- Gully 1, II, Helvellyn
- Gully 2, I, Helvellyn
- V Corner, III, Helvellyn
- Blade Runner, IV 4, Helvellyn
- Viking Buttress, IV 5, Helvellyn
- Striding Edge, I, Helvellyn
- Thor's Corner, IV 4, Helvellyn
- Nethermost Cove Gully I/II
- In to the Groove / Big Groove, V 6, Bowfell
- Bowfell Buttress, VI 6
- Pikes Crag Long Gully, I
