Goats Water to Levers Water - Photo Gallery

I was looking for snow and I was fairly sure I was going to find it. The weather was dry and for most of the journey there wasn't a trace of snow but I could see the white hills from the motorway. As I got to Coniston there was snow in the fields, the roads themselves were clear but there were large heaps of cleared snow even in the centre of the village. It was a lovely sunny day when I set off along the Walna Scar Road, there were Christmas Card views of trees and snow. I didn't get very far up the road before the rutted car tracks between the snow lying on the road became too slippery to walk on.

Two cars passed me and I had to climb on to the verge to allow them to get past but I caught them up before the first gate in the road. They were stuck because another car coming in the opposite direction couldn't get enough grip to get out of their way and there wasn't enough room for them to get past. It has to be said that the other drivers were not helping very much by just sitting there. Once I got through the gate the snow was covering the track to a depth of about 6 inches with only tractor tracks and footprints disturbing it.

At Boo Tarn the path at the start of Coniston Old Man south ridge was very unclear, you wouldn't notice it if you didn't know it was there. I was tempted to take the navigation challenge of that route but I had a better challenge planned for later. After I got past the second gate there was a single set of tractor tracks until a sheep feeding station and from then there were only footprints. The snow was still good for walking on and still about 6 inches deep on the track.

Shortly after going through a low rocky corridor you would normally arrive soon afterwards at Cove Bridge, a stone built bridge crossing Torver Beck but I didn't want to do that. I missed the start of the path across The Cove towards Goats Water but I wasn't the first to do that and I followed some footsteps through deeper snow until I reached the surprisingly well trodden path in the snow.

There is something magical about big snowfields, a cleanliness and freshness – a feeling of purity as the footprints in the snow barely make an impression in the whiteness. After crossing the flatness of The Cove the ground starts to rise and there are boulders, someone who knows the route had trodden a thoughtful route upwards and around the boulders although I suspected I might have been gaining too much height for where I wanted to go.

Shortly afterwards the frozen shallow end of Goat's Water came into view and I got to a point where most of the footsteps carried on upwards but a few went downwards towards the outflow of the tarn. I followed the majority route for a short while but quickly realised I had to go back and make my way steeply down over the less well trodden snow. The outflow of the tarn and the many boulders in the vicinity were well covered by snow and progress was slow as I kept sinking into the snow upto my knees.

At one point my right leg went into the snow upto my knee and in using my left leg to support my weight while trying to pull the other one out it too went into the snow upto my groin. This was going to be awkward to get out of; with pushing my arms into the surrounding snow to pull myself out it caused all of the snow around me to fall away and I ended up standing waist deep in a hole between boulders. At least I was able to get out of the hole from there but it made me more cautious as I clambered around a field of large boulders surrounded by deep, soft snow.

Once I got above the boulders I could see the start of the challenge, straight up a forty-degree, snow-covered slope up to the base of the Great Gully of Dow Crag. I dallied for a long time wondering if I was up to the challenge and if I could manage the rest of the climb that I couldn't see from there. I watched a walker get up to the gully and there were already people up there, more people arrived at the same place as me so I decided I may as well go for it rather than go back and tackle the man eating snowdrifts.

I did of course get my ice axe out and I put on my crampons, I fastened them in a different way to normal to avoid having a long length of loose strap flapping around. I set off up the steep slope confidently kicking in with my crampons whilst following another set of footprints. I suddenly realised my left crampon was slipping off so I looked to see how my right one was doing and saw it had already come off some way down the slope. I took off my left crampon and went to retrieve the other one and put them in my rucksack top for the time being. My hands had become cold whilst putting the crampons on after prevaricating for so long; I didn't want to struggle with putting them on again at that point.

Anyway I was alright kicking into the soft, ankle deep snow with my ice axe to steady myself, I would find a place higher up to sit and put the crampons back on. At the top of the initial climb the snow became harder and kicking in needed more care and effort, I was glad my ice axe was well planted on a couple of occasions. The real problem was that there was nowhere to rest and put my crampons back on, the gradient was decidedly steeper but I was still kicking in without any problems.

Then I got to a point where I had to get past some icy boulders, I would not have been happy on this very steep slope trying to get past them – I had to put my crampons on now. The only dry rock seemed to be upwards at the start of Easy Gully but that meant some more serious kicking-in to get up to it. Once I got to the big boulder I could see that I wouldn't get onto it, the steps required to get up would have needed crampons or a bit more bravery than I have, one slip at that point would have meant a long slide downwards very quickly.

I had to make do with kicking the snow away from the rock I was standing on, just big enough for both of my feet side by side. With my ice axe hanging from my wrist I had to take my rucksack off, place my crampons so they wouldn't fall, put my rucksack back on and put on my crampons in an awkward standing up position. I wonder why I don't have any any photographs taken from there? While I was fiddling with my crampons a climber came backwards down the gully and he confirmed that it was Easy Gully, he also confirmed that it wasn't really easy and he wasn't going to climb it on this occasion.

It was with some relief that I got my crampons on and descended to the start of the South Rake, it was with some trepidation that I started climbing, it was a good deal steeper than I had anticipated. With the adrenaline pumping and with confidence in my crampons and ice axe I started to climb. Looking at the upward pointing photographs now doesn't do justice to how steep it felt but the ones looking down give me that “ohmygod” feeling. Don't get me wrong, I had absolutely no problems on the climb but it wasn't a place for faint hearts or weak legs.

At the top of the rake you come out onto the ridge, there is a cairn here that obviously marks the top of the rake should you wish to descend by that route. The breeze was very strong here, it felt more unpleasant here than at any time on the way up. I decided not to climb to the top rocks of Dow Crag in this wind and as I bypassed them I came across a group of people scattering somebody's ashes - for a while at least they would make their mark in the snow and be well scattered by the wind.

There were more crampon prints than boot prints as the path and cairns were well hidden by the snow and in looking where to put my feet I wandered quite a way from the footpath. Once I realised I couldn't see where Coniston Old Man was I knew I was going in the wrong direction. This is one of those places where you can navigate by knowing where the steep ground is, keep bearing right without falling off the edge and you will get to Goat's Hawse. It wasn't that desperate in the good visibility and once I could see the Old Man it was obvious how to get down to the hawse.

It wasn't obvious though where the path to Coniston Old Man was so I used the same “keep away from the edge” technique to get uphill until I found the trodden route through the snow. The hard climb up Dow Crag had left my legs feeling drained so the start of the path felt harder than it should have done. The view all around was fantastic, not a spectacular clear day but lots of variations of clouds and light, Dow Crag was well seen and the snow filled South Rake looked impossibly steep.

Once I got to the ridge the wind hit me again, it was uncomfortably strong and cold but there were plenty of people coming and going. At the summit of Coniston Old Man I held a route planning meeting, the descent through the quarries might be interesting but it's a bit early to go home and I quite liked the idea of descending Prison Band from Swirl How. The only problem with Swirl How would be running the gauntlet of a strong wing blowing across Brim Fell so I gave myself an option of descending to Levers Water if it was as bad as I feared.

Brim Fell was its usual inhospitable self, I was still wearing my crampons making it easier for me than the poor souls struggling to stay upright on the icy surface whilst being beaten up by the strong freezing wind. It didn't take long to decide that I was not going to Swirl How, as you get to the bottom of Levers Hause there is a cairn and a little way to the right there is a small cairn leading to another. I know there is a reconstructed path here because I saw the path fairies building it but I had to follow two sets of footsteps in the snow.

The snow was much softer on the sunny side of the hill and I wasn't sure if my crampons were helping me not to slip or if they were making me step deeper into the snow. A good pair of gaiters was as important as the crampons, keeping me dry and comfortable on the painstaking descent through the wet snow. It seemed to take an awfully long time to get to the dam of Levers Waters but shortly afterwards I was able to remove my crampons, hat and gloves for the final walk back to sunny Coniston village.

Andy Wallace 18th March 2006