A LADDER TO THE HEIGHTS

Just as many fell runners once came to the sport from some form of mountaineering background, so many climbers had their first taste of steeper rock, while scrambling. Today it seems many fell runners have come from the road while many aspiring climbers have seen little but the plastic holds of an indoor wall. Perhaps there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, though it seems to me that a great deal is being missed along the way. If only because experience on steeper rock, if not graded rock climbs, opens up all sorts of possibilities to the fell runner, and offers what the celebrated climber and author Harry Griffin described as a magnificent ladder to the heights.

The Lakeland fells are not so rugged as those of Snowdonia, and offer fewer opportunities than the Scottish hills, yet there is no shortage of lines which can be joined logically, giving even a modest fell run, an adventurous edge.

Swirl How is perhaps not the most obvious choice for such a route, but the twin buttresses of Great Carrs, although broken, give a surprisingly good and logical line to the summit, easily linked with the Coniston fells where Brim Fell in particular offers a fine and long Grade 2 scramble on immaculate rock.

It’ll do nothing for those concerned with minute-miles, and though the difficulties may appear trivial compared to the climbing standards of even those fresh from the wall, it might just result in some of the most memorable days ever spent on the hill.