Scrambling courses in The Lake District. Langdale, April 15th 2011

At the end of last week we saw a fair amount of activity here at Kendal Mountaineering Services. Friday saw the return of Martin Richards & James Rocks with Iain to go scrambling in Langdale. However, on this occasion they brought two mates along as well.

Martin & James particularly wanted to return to the East Rib of Tarn Crag to have another go at this great little grade two scramble. Last October Iain & the pair had been here on day two of their scrambling weekend unfortunately, on that occasion, the weather had not been great and both Martin & James had decided that the step from grade one scrambling to grade two was a step too far.

This time however, the guys tackled the East Rib of Tarn Crag in fine style with plenty of confidence. However, they had been out in mountaineering terrain a number of times since both in North Wales & the Lakes -and it showed! Photos 1 & 2 show the chaps revisiting scrambling ropework on the East Rib and it was good to see they had remembered so many of the techniques Iain had shown them the previous October.


Once at the top of the East Rib Martin & James decided it was time for a spot of lunch and these Thames Valley Police boys don't do things by halves! Out came the Jetboil and the boil in the bag Chicken Tikka Masala followed by Chocolate Sponge pudding c/w chocolate sauce. The only things missing were the bottle of wine and the naan breads! Anyway, the pair wanted to celebrate their success and why not. Photo 3 shows them en route to our next scramble - Pavey far east - another grade two scramble. In the background here can be seen Stickle Tarn and the south face of Harrison Stickle where there are a number of good scrambling routes and a place where the others were having fun.

The final shot of this post shows the lads in improving weather with blue sky and summit of Sergeant Man in the background. It had been a bit of a grey day pretty much all day and we had been drizzled on a number of times on East Rib. We didn't go far on Pavey Far East before the lads decided they were satisfied and ready to call it a day.

Whilst we had been out on these two scrambles, one of our associates an MIA by the name of Kieran had taken Martin & James's two mates Wayne & John up two scrambles on the l/h side of Stickle Ghyll - Piked Howe and then followed this with the South West Face of Harrison Stickle - both grade two routes. All four thoroughly enjoyed their day out with us and will definitely be returning another time. Additional photos from the pairs day out can be viewed here.

If you would like to attend one of our scrambling skills training courses with Iain or would like to be guided up some classic Lake District Scrambles then get in touch and we will be happy to organise a day for you.

We look forward to seeing you soon.