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Keswick East Accommodation
Northern Fells near Keswick
Walking in the Northern Fells near KeswickClimbing Skiddaw Keswick Lake District Fells Cumbria
The fourth highest peak in Lakeland is Skiddaw. It is only 152 feet lower that Scafell Pike. It has been referred to as an easy climb primarily because of it's well marked paths and accessibility from the centre of Keswick.
Easy then, in the sense that paths are not dangerous or even treacherous, but as Davies adds you still have to push the legs!
Skiddaw and The North Cumbria Fells near Keswick
According to Hunter Davies you can knock Skiddaw peak from Keswick and return on it's head in three hours. Slopes are gentle, smooth and grassy and it is the oldest mountain in this area. Both Wainwright and Davies sing the praises of the walk up to Skiddaw, as one which all the family can enjoy. It is a walk rather than a climb they say. Be prepared though for an arctic feel, with a wind that can bite, at the summit even in high summer! Ample clothing, hot drinks and food essential of course.
Did you know that Skiddaw, tragically, is a widower. His 'old lady', according to AW, 'having perished in the Ice Age, She couldn't stand the cold'. Ney, ney. Don't panic, AW has plenty of distain to spread around and is as hard on 'unobservant and lazy walkers' as he is on learned men.
Walkers can choose to detour across to the summit of Skiddaw Little man. Wainwright suggests doing this on the return journey, and once you pass Jenkin Hill the path is clearly marked up to the south top. Once at the summit a path takes you from South Top to North Top, to Middle Top to Main Top. That should keep you busy for a while! Note the spectacular views from the South Top of Borrowdale, Derwentwater and of course Keswick!
Other popular assent routes, all included in Wainwright's book 5, feature the more direct but less scenic routes up to the North-West ridge from Bassenthwaite Village and High Side. You don't know Skiddaw (says AW) if you've only walked up it from the south and Keswick. Try it from the North taking in stunning Dash Falls and Dead Crags!
Climbing Skiddaw
One of the most popular ways up Skiddaw's slopes is to head up to Ormathwaite and follow the Gale Road, which is quite rough, to a car park. You will pass the monument to three Hawell family shepards Then up you go on the steep slopes of Jenkin Hill (no refreshment hut here anymore, just the ruins of the old Skiddaw Hut, which is located at approximately the half-way point to the summit).
As Davies suggests, this first steep bit is actually the hardest bit of the climb, best to get it out of the way! Take time to absorb the spectacular views of Derwentwater. Then off you head along a wide path towards Skiddaw Little Man.
As Davies and Wainwright suggest, a walk up to Skiddaw's slatted summit can be done in the mist - the path is well marked. Wainwright even alludes to night climbing with the aide of the moon! Hunter Davies, in his book 'A Walk Around the Lakes' describes just such a walk up Skiddaw with his son in the mist. No problems apart from the potential to bump into other walkers!
