Monday 10 October 2011

Ghyll Scrambling sessions in The Lake District. Stickle Ghyll, Langdale Saturday 8th October 2011.



On October 8th, Iain from Kendal Mountaineering services was out ghyll scrambling again for another business - back once again in Stickle Gill in Langdale here in The Lake District.

It was another fine day and there was less water in Stickle Gill this time than when Iain was last here with groups of undergraduates from Cambridge University.

This time Ian was here again with undergarduates and international students too, but this time from Grantham in Lincolnshire.

There was only one group of five in the morning but we had 24 students to deal with in the afternoon, so Iain was joined by two other instructors then. Photo one shows Iains team at the first climb in Stickle Ghyll.




With such a small team, Iain was able to crack on up the ghyll and reach his usual high point in photo two in a relatively short space of time.

Here, the instructor generally climbs the rock rib behind the group between the two waterfalls and rigs up a belay at the top before bringing the group up one by one.

Occasionally we manage to do the next roped climb above here, but the party had got well & truly stuck in to the experience of ghyll scrambling (otherwise known as gorge walking) and were wet through. They were happy to call time on the session once atop the waterfall.


Photo three shows Iain's much larger afternoon ghyll scrambling group about half way up Stickle Gill. Stickle ghyll along with Church Beck is one of the most regularly used venues for ghyll scrambling & gorge walking sessions in The Lake District although unlike Church Beck, Stickle Gill is not suitable as a canyoning venue.



Stickle gill has a smaller catchment area than Church Beck and so is generally a smaller stream making it suitable for use with groups of children and so it gets a lot of traffic from outdoor centres - there were five other groups in the ghyll with us in the afternoon.


Our fouth & final photo from this ghyll scrambling post. Eight happy clients at the top of the large upper waterfall climb in Stickle Gill and the end of another moist day for Iain.

It is getting rather late in the year now for ghyll scrambling, gorge walking or Canyoning half day sessions here in the Lake District, but if you want - we can still do it!

Everyone on our sessions gets provided with a full wetsuit, a cagoule, a bouyancy aid, helmets, harnesses and walking boots as part of your fee making us one of the best Lake District based outdoor pursuits companies to try this sport with.

If you would like to try Ghyll Scrambling or canyoning just as a fun thing to do or as part of a corporate event or Stag or Hen Event then contact us at Kendal Mountaineering Services and we'll be happy to arrange it for you. More photos from this ghyll scrambling day can be viewed here.

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