Last blast of 2009 - Whernside, Yorkshire Dales. 31st December

As 2009 drew to a close, 3 of the Verdes adventurers (Davie, Rich S and Speirsy (PQotD)) set off on a cold, but clear New Years Eve morning to the Yorkshire Dales. It had been a few years since the Verdes lads had set about the Yorkshire 3 Peaks, but one of them was going to be scaled, which was still to be decided. In previous years it had been an annual ritual to bag all three (hope to resurrect again in 2010).

Rich drove up for the day and Davie provided the transport to the dales. There was still snow on the roads and the forecast was for possible wintry showers over higher ground. Though the Vectra would have been the car of choice, Davie was keen to see if the Discovery ‘could go beyond the school gates!!’. The onboard satnav read like the Times Educational supplement, school league tables’ edition. Never mind streets or towns it was 'Infant' or 'Junior'. (Typical Land rover though, not a state school in the system).

The drive over took the back route through Pately Bridge and Grassington, then via Skipton. This was a most interesting drive as Speirsy kept his two companions enthralled with intricacies of emergency planning. Though Davie and Rich did find it difficult to take the big man seriously as he sat in the front wearing, what was described as a Norwegian Jumper? What in gods name was he doing wearing wool and micro fibre in this day and age. Speirsy stated that it wasn’t wool but in fact made from Polar bear fur (as the Polar Bear is white and his jumper was brown, we can only speculate what part of the bear the jumper came from!!!)

First stop was Horton in Ribblesdale, with a view of scaling Pen y Ghent. As we pulled into the car park, to Davie's dismay he spied a ticket machine and realised that there may be a charge. The canny Scot was having none of it and knew of a place up the road where we could park for free. Plus Speirsy didn’t have any decent winter gear and would have probably struggled on the ascent (he normally does so no change there!!)

So the decision was made to try for the highest of the Yorkshire three peaks, ‘Whernside’ standing at over 2400 ft it is often termed the 'roof' of Yorkshire. We parked close to the junction of the B6255 and B6479 roads by Ribblehead, with an excellent view towards the Viaduct.

Our intrepid adventurers were keen to try and work off some of the Christmas excess developed over the festive period.

(The above picture has been stretched and airbrushed, but Speirsy still looks like Shrek, Davie like the dancing baby and Rich S would get the support of Joanna Lumley should he want to settle in this country - ‘Ayo Gurkali’)


We started out on the standard route via the Viaduct, passed the signal box and up to the Blea Moor tunnel. The path was extremely Icy and there was about 2 foot of snow on the ground, deeper in places where it had drifted.

We were not alone on the hill and several parties were seen in the distance. The walk in was steady with Davie setting a nice even pace. There had been a fresh covering of snow the previous day, which did make the going a little strenuous at times. As we cleared the tunnel and started up the main ascent, the slab area that Rich thought could be an issue was not to be seen (covered in about 3 foot of snow)

We left the main path as it heads over into Dentdale, and took the signed path heading west to the summit. The climb is steady and the views were stunning. The weather was still undecided. It had been good to us thus far, with visibility out to several miles. However, darker clouds on the horizon did signal the possibilities of some tastier conditions.

Reaching the main ridge, the wall and fence were both covered with snow. From the summit we could see Howgills into the Lake District, across Ribblehead viaduct to Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent in the south east.

The wind chill on the top was estimated to be about -16. (Which wasn’t an issue for Speirsy in his Norwegian Jumper)? The wind had started to pick up and once you stopped moving you did start to feel the cold. As we made the summit the views were pretty impressive! The summit trig is tucked behind the ridge wall. Our band of brothers found a spot out of the wind (Speirsy behind a wall and the others behind Speirsy) and tucked onto a quick bit of scoff before heading down.

Davie at this stage produced the buy of the season, an all in one multi activity eating utensil. This 16 in 1 piece of kit was swiftly produced to aid the consumption of a bowl of pasta. I think the pasta was bigger than the fork!! It was more like something you’d see in a dentist for taking out fillings (only joking)

We were joined on the summit by several other groups amongst which was a family group in jeans and trainers - it makes you realise why the MRT are kept so busy. A couple of chaps appeared with a dog. As we sat eating lunch the wee terrier sat in front of us, turned its head and licked its genitals, Rich said in a thoughtful voice how he wished he could do that, to which he was told if he asked the dog nicely…… (OK the old ones are the best ones!!)

The normal descent is to the south west following the ridge wall. However, this wasn’t always visible due to drifting. Rich was having other ideas, and the sight of him carrying his ice axe, and a Cheshire cat grin was ominous. It hadn’t twigged on the walk in, when going over what kit we were carrying, that our newly fledged ML didn’t have a map or compass and was only carrying his crampons, ice axe and a rope. So when he set off down something that even Eddie the Eagle would have had problems on, the sphincter started to twitch in anticipation.

The route chosen was sloping in places about 50 – 60%. The ice axe came out and the walking poles shortened as all those lessons about moving over steep ground came flooding back. Once we found a couple of deeper channels on the slope, it was time to practice the ice axe self arrest drills. First away was our ghurka ML. With grace and style he executed a perfect arrest, controlling his speed and coming to a gentle stop. Shrek was next, using poles rather than an axe, he carved a zig zag route down the slope, his posterior cutting a channel that was possible visible from space.

(Editor's note: actually it was TWO channels Speirsy...I thought a tractor had passed by... )

Davie was next, with less mass than Speirsy to help him on his way, the 'prepared run' did however increase his momentum and he shot past Rich, poles in hand, with a startled deer look in the eye. However, the initial run had wet the appetite of all three and very opportunity was seized to go down on our ar*es.

Once we had cleared the main slope and reached the lower plain, going did become difficult. The ground was very uneven and drifting snow was waist deep in places. It was at this time that the weather closed in and driving snow reduced visibility to about 50 meters. It was then a worry that we’d be snowed in at Ribblehead, as the only real shelter was the Railway Inn; the idea of trying to explain THAT to the wives would probably take some doing. Fortunately the weather did ease and by the time we had returned to the road, it did become clear that we would be able to get home.

So as the day drew to an end our three intrepid adventurers reflected on a good quality day in the hills. Whernside was a good tester after the Christmas break, clearing the lungs and burning off a little of the Christmas festivities.

This was an excellent days outing in our own backyard. Here's to an active and adventureous 2010.

Speirsy