Walk Reports|Western Fells|Sphinx Ridge|Gavel Neese, Needle Gully, Sphinx Ridge, Great Gable, Beck Head

Sphinx Ridge - Photo Gallery

Wasdale Head was very warm at 9am when I started walking, it would be a good day for a special walk. I walked along the road to Burnthwaite Farm, and carried on to cross the bridge over Gable Beck, near its junction with Lingmell Beck. Immediately afterwards I started to climb the steep grassy slope towards Gavel Neese, it was very warm on the long slog uphill, I was beginning to wonder if it would get too warm. After walking up grass the path becomes more obvious as it bends towards Beck Head, it would be easy to follow it but today's route is straight uphill. A steep scree slope takes you up to Moses Finger, an upright boulder you can see from the path, amazingly still standing wedged on a smaller boulder in the middle of such erosion.

After you pass Moses Finger, there is plenty more steep scree and grass, until you eventually reach a completely unexpected cairn. From there, a faint footpath bears left, visible at first it can be difficult to follow, especially across the scree runs and boulders. There is a point at which the path disappears, it's not easy to find the uphill scramble that takes you up to a proper path; it's a proper path but about as rugged as it gets without gaining any height.

The path takes you across the extensive wide scree gully of Little Hell Gate, the path is less obvious than usual with the scree having moved enough to cover most of it. Getting out of the gully needs you to clamber up exposed rocks; immediately afterwards you can climb over rocks to avoid a smooth exposed slab. It gets quite interesting from then on, you can see the Sphinx Rock up above before crossing Sphinx Gully; there is more rock to be handled, and then you reach Needle Gully.

It is a steep, eroded gully, an unlikely looking walker's route; you can see Napes Needle from the path, but only if you know where it is, it doesn't resemble anything recognisable. The way upwards is steep and the shattered rocks are loose; higher up, a huge boulder must be resting on chockstones and you have to climb upwards past it, close to the right hand wall of the gully. The only possible escape from the gully is to follow the climbers straight up the crags, or maybe the unlikely looking gap in the rocks up to the left might also work.

It's a precarious rake across the sloping rockface, before some big steps up, and a clamber over a rocky edge to reach the Dress Circle, a natural viewing platform to photograph Napes Needle and the more adventurous climbers. It doesn't do the reputation of climbers any good when they leave rucksacks and other gear all over the only way across an awkward route. I'm always surprised about how awkward it is to get across the exposed sloping slab, the steep drop is obvious and very close; by this time though it's too late to turn back.

After the exhilaration of the slab there is no time to rest, you have to down-climb a 30feet vertical gully. A slightly easier traverse follows, but it's a long, steep way down; you are heading towards Sphinx Rock, an obvious target. It seems a shame, having got this far, to avoid getting up close to the Sphinx's human face; it's a further exhilarating steep climb upwards, although the grass in between the rocks make it less nerve-wracking.

It's well worth the effort to stand cheek-to-cheek with the Sphinx, but you have to get down again; not the same way, but across an exposed rocky ledge to reach an eroded narrow path. The eroded path soon becomes a steep, eroded gully,it starts off quite steeply and there is a precarious clamber across the eroded top of gully; I was guilty of using a knee to get up onto that boulder.

There is more steepness up another steep-sided gully; the smell of earth means that it has had a recent rockfall, and the material in the gully was very loose and quite tricky. A final effort to get out of the gully, through a rock gateway, gets you not to the summit of anything, just to the start of Sphinx Ridge.

There is not much bare rock at first, but it's best to use the rock for hand and feet holds; it's an airy crest, you can't help but be exhilarated by the steepness on either side. The final twenty feet of vertical can be avoided by an obvious path around to the left, but in those conditions I thought I should at least try a direct approach. I though it was the first time I had made the climb but it looked familiar once I got above the vertical section; my apologies again for using a knee on the way up.

I eventually reached the high point at the edge of the unexpected grassy col below Great Gable's Westmoreland Cairn crags; suddenly I felt exhausted, my legs had no strength left in them with the warmth of the day and the effort of getting up the ridge. I walked up to the busy summit of Great Gable, descended to Beck Head, and made the not-easy descent back to Wasdale.