An August Bank Holiday Sunday, with pouring rain and strong winds, were certainly not ideal conditions for attempting my first Grade 3 scramble. But off we went to the top of St Sunday Crag via the highly photogenic and atmospheric Pinnacle Ridge.

We caught glimpses of the Helvellyn range during the approach walk along Grisedale Beck but as we climbed the zig-zag path to the foot of the ridge the anticipated bad weather shrouded the range earlier than the MET office had predicted!

The early part of the climb was good Grade 1 stuff and I asked myself ‘why am I wearing all the climbing gear?’ An exhilarating 10 metre vertical climb half way up the ridge provided the answer. I’d passed my own personal test and my legs hadn’t turned to jelly!

After another 40 metres of easy climbing, the much-photographed pinnacles were reached and, although slippery after the rain, the final sharp piece of rock was easy to down climb. One last short scramble and the summit of St Sunday Crag was less than a 100 metres away.

Due to the poor weather lunch was taken in a bivvy bag on the return down the mountain to Patterdale. A great day out and I would recommend the ridge to anyone looking to get out of their scrambling comfort zone.

Regards

Clive