Great Gable, Birthplace of British Rock Climbing
Mountaineering History on the Lake District's Finest Mountain
Sep 2, 2009
The reasons for this may be varied and complex, but their roots reach down into the igneous ash of the English Lake District, and back to a day in 1886.
Great Gable and the Napes
A glance at the map of Cumbria reveals that the valleys, in which lie the lakes, radiate out from a central point, occupied by Great Gable. It is not the highest of the mountains. Indeed, there are nine summits in the Lake District that are higher. Gable, however, is the most distinctive and shapely. It may be seen from nearly all of the valleys, but presents its most impressive and challenging face to Wasdale. From any place in this valley, its long lines of scree draw the gaze up toward the wall of rock that guards the summit, the crag known as the Napes.
The most direct and strenuous route to the top of the mountain is by way of the track leading up to the left of the crag. Longer, but more gradual, is the line along the valley floor to the right, bringing one to Sty Head Pass, from which the top is more easily attained. Whichever route to the summit be chosen, it is difficult to resist the urge to descend the face directly, for this provides the most exhilarating trip in the entire Lake District.
Great Hell Gate Screes
A short scramble down broken rocks brings one to the start of Great Hell Gate. To one side of this, reaching back to the summit, are the Westmorland Crags, while to the other rise the pinnacles marking the top of the Napes. Funnelling between the two, and disappearing around pillars of rock, far below, is a tremendous scree chute.
As soon as the feet are placed onto this, it is almost impossible to prevent downward movement for the whole hillside shifts, and carries one with it. Even if the legs go at walking pace, the body slides down between the walls with amazing speed. To the experienced scree runner, the descent can feel as thrilling as an Alpine ski course.
Tophet Wall
Turning the corner at the bottom, one is suddenly confronted by the precipice, towering above, of Tophet Wall. For many, this will be the first place they are able to see rock climbers in close proximity.
Always a popular rock route, it can be studied from a distance of a few feet, as perhaps two or three climbers inch their way, with almost painful slowness, up its apparently blank and holdless verticality. By modern standards, Tophet Wall, in spite of its formidable aspect, is not a very hard climb, but its ascent is breathtaking to watch.
The Napes Climbers’ Traverse
A few yards lower begins the Climbers' Traverse. This is a track which cuts across the base of the Napes. It is an easy scramble, and with care and good weather, can be accomplished by anyone with a head for heights. Nevertheless, sandwiched as it is between the crags above and the screes, falling for more than 1,000 feet below, it is full of spectacle. A short distance along the traverse, a 60-foot monolith stands apart from the crag. This is the Needle.
Ascent of the Napes Needle
In 1886, unable to resist the challenge, W. P. Haskett-Smith scrambled onto a ledge at the foot of the Needle. Alone, he climbed a wide crack leading to a shoulder beneath the precariously perched summit block. There, he paused to throw pebbles up onto the block. A few of these did not fall back again, so he assumed the top to be flat. Encouraged by this, he made the last difficult and committing moves onto the block.
The news of his ascent spread, and a picture of the Needle, in the Pall Mall Gazette, led British mountaineers to the realisation that what their hills lacked in height, they could more than compensate for in difficulty. British rock climbing, as a sport with its own merits and character, claims the ascent of the Napes Needle as the moment of its birth.
As an old man, Haskett-Smith returned to climb the Needle again, watched by hundreds of devotees, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his original climb.
Since Haskett-Smith's days, rock climbing has exploded in popularity. Standards have risen to a level which amazes the best climbers of only a generation ago. The Napes crags carry a network of dozens of climbs of all grades of difficulty from relative ease to near impossibility. On a warm day in summer, it is common to see groups queueing up at the starts of Needle Ridge, Eagle's Nest Ridge, Arrowhead Ridge and many other popular routes, including the Napes Needle.
