Cicerone Lake District Winter Climbs

The Lake District is known all over the world as an area of outstanding beauty and tranquility. Winter climbing opens the door to a new world of snow, ice and rock. No less stunning than in the warmer months, climbing in the cold offers a challenging slant to a well-loved landscape. Ridges become gravity-defying cornices, crags are sheer with ice and snow, frothing waterfalls in gullies become static sculptures; all the more alluring because the climb is different every year.

The guide is divided into five different areas, with clear maps to find the crags and colour photo-topos to locate all the intricate routes. The routes range from classic high-mountain gullies and buttresses on crags such as Scafell, Pillar, and Great Gable to frozen watercourses and icefalls including Great Gully on the Wasdale Screes, Launchy Gill, Low Water Beck and Cautley Spout. And, of course, popular venues like Great End and the Eastern Coves of the Helvellyn Escarpment are described in detail. With additional sections on winter equipment, ethics and conservation, climbing walls, accommodation and a first-ascent list, Winter Climbs in the Lake District is an indispensable companion to any climber counting the days to the first snow.