Hall's Fell Ridge - Blencathra - English Lake District

This is one of the best mountain ridge scrambles in the Lakes, and my favorite. Its not as steep or precipitous as Sharp Edge on the other side of the fell but it is longer and has that big mountain feel to it. In winter it is a serious undertaking and while many of the more exposed sections can be avoided the direct approach sticking close to the top of the ridge proper can provide a challenge even to the experienced mountaineer in icy conditions.

I've struggled to capture an image that conveys the steep and exposed nature of the route, with difficulty, over many visits to the fell. This picture taken recently in January 2003 at least brings out the atmosphere of the route and leaves one with a feeling 'this is more than just a walk in the park!' and as my first visit back to the mountains for more than 2 years it blew the cobwebs well away leaving me with the odd blister, aches in muscles I only vaguely remember I had and another set of memories.

Photographic Details

The shot was taken with a Sony DCR P120E Digital Handycam, using its ability to take still shots and store them on the memorystick. Origonal image size was 1320x1020 pixels. This image has been re-sized to 560x420 using Macromedia Fireworks fx.

The shot was taken just after the start of the rocky section of the ridge at around 2000'. Those of you used to metric heights can work it out for yourself.

The relevent Wainwright guide is Book 5 The Northern Fells