Last Saturday I was keen to head up to Scafell to get out on the mixed. Unfortunately, as I was unable to make an early start, I headed up and around the coast rather late in the day and decided to check out St. Bees- South, which Greg has recently documented and developed. What a superb crag! The place is a little sun trap and it was warm enough to soak up the rays and climb in a t-shirt.

The view from the Amphitheatre, Moss Ghyll (Photo by Andy Sinclair)

Sunday was one of those crisp, clear days that you dream of in winter. A perfect day to head up to Scafell. I stayed the previous night at a mates house in Egremont and, unlike our friends who had driven up from Lancaster, we had a nice lie-in and started the trek up to the crag at a rather leisurely 8am. Walking up to the crag and onto Rake's Progress it became apparent that there weren't any parties on Moss Gyhll. This meant a chance to relax, have the route to ourselves and tick a Lakes winter classic! The snow was firm, the turf bomber and there was ice on the Collie Step. All in all the route was in great nick and it was a joy to climb!

The Collie Exit, Moss Ghyll (Photo by Andy Sinclair)

Later on, driving home under the gaze of a strange, orange full moon, it was nice to reflect on how contrasting the two days were. Two venues offering completely different genres of climbing, with one thing above all being apparent: there is an abundance of quality climbing in the Lakes.

Steve Ashworth's blog has a good set of pictures from Saturday on Scafell.