This slightly circuitous route to England’s sixth summit is offered as an alternative to the well-pummelled superhighway of the Band. Despite the rather melodramatic name, you could actually do most of this route with hands in pockets; the Traverse takes you beneath some spectacular crags but requires no particular head for heights. In the description, I've assumed you treat Hell Gill as a walk, but grade 1 scrambling opportunities are close at hand in hot weather. Rossett Pike is offered as a bonus on the descent, if only to avoid the descent of Rossett Ghyll.
Fetching Map
Height Profile
metres / Distance
miles
Detailed description
1
NY2861706147 From the car park, pass through the kissing gate and cross the cobbled packhorse bridge to the dog-leg in the valley-road, by the post box. Then take the signposted road to Stool End Farm, crossing a cattle grid as you go.Follow signage through the farmyard and exit onto the Land Rover track slanting up to the left. Ignore the track branching right onto The Band. This will likely carry fifty times the traffic of our route but offer considerably less opportunity for splashing. Follow the track along the wall parallel to Oxendale Beck. At one stage, the signage guides you to the left of a sheepfold. Resist any temptation to cross Oxendale Beck by the footbridge but keep heading upstream, crossing Buscoe Sike by a small footbridge below the cleft of Whorneyside Force.
2
NY2633905197 After the footbridge, turn right and follow the ravine to the charming fall and plunge pool at Whorneyside Force. Allegedly the fall is climbable in dry conditions but a detour to our left (looking up) is loose but viable. Keep following the gill up.
3
NY2596505393 Watch out for this confluence, as it would be easy to blunder and carry on up Green Hole. Cross the main beck and set off up the rocky staircase alongside Hell Gill proper. This leads you to a shallow scoop in the side of the Band.
4
NY2519406007 At 560 metres, by a conspicuous rickle of stones, take a thin right fork and head up to the skyline. Cross the main drag of the Band (the one that heads up to Three Tarns) and turn left at the second track (the one on the actual crest of the Band).
5
NY2496606356 At 750 metres, the track abandons the crest to set off across Bowfell imposing Mickleden flank. This is the Climbers' Traverse. Although visually arresting, the sense of exposure is minimal, with all of the steep rock above you and merely bracken clad slopes below. The only vaguely gymnastic move is a parkour jump down from a rock.© Norman Hadley, Jun 2024
6
NY2461706596 After about 400m of contouring, a stony zag is offered up to our left. Take this, noting the huge expanse of the Great Slab, surely a place named by Ronseal's marketing agency.
7
NY2462106436 When the ground levels out at the top of the Slab, join the cairned path up from Three Tarns. In mist, note that the summit requires a slight detour south.
8
NY2447106432 From the summit hold the ridge to the subsidiary top of Hanging Knotts, avoiding the cairned temptations of the main track down to Ore Gap. Locate a thin trod slanting down to Rossett Pass. It may seem sketchy and rough, but this is the route of the Bob Graham Round, so be thankful you aren't halfway through that monster. At Rossett Pass, make the risibly easy ascent to the rocky turret of Rossett Pike, and continue along its crest.
9
NY2539808001 To cut off the corner of Stake Pass, locate a thin trod dropping off the crest and taking a slanting traverse to join the Stake Pass zigzags at about 420 metres. Descend to Mickleden and follow the main track down. By then you'll have the scent of the Old Dungeon Ghyll in your nostrils so you won't need further directions. And having completed the Climbers' Traverse, you can hold your head high in the Climbers' Bar, can't you?
This has been viewed 897 times
Download
OS maps and some other mapping apps don't allow waypointsStatistics
Difficulty: DifficultDistance: 8 miles (12.90 km)
Total ascent: 931m
Time: 2:30 hours (Trail running);
4:30 – 5 hours (Walking)
Voting:
from 2 votes
Login as Existing User
to rate this walk.
to rate this walk.
Additional Information
Start/Finish:Start at the Old Dungeon Ghyll. If you’re parking, either pack coins, your National Trust membership card or pre-install the PayByPhone app. The mobile signal in Langdale is notorious, so you may need to use the hotel WiFi, NY285061
Nearest town:
Ambleside
Terrain:
Hell Gill is easy if you stick to the route described. Although the traverse puts you on close nodding terms with some spectacular rock scenery, the sense of exposure is minimal. The descent of Hanging Knotts is gnarly.
Seasonal variations:
In winter, the Traverse and the descent from Hanging Knotts could offer a full-blown mountaineering experience.
Weather and Hill Conditions: mwis: Lake District – Met Office: Lake District
Public transport:
Service 516 will get you up Great Langdale
Guidebooks:
Wainwright's Southern Fells
Maps:
OS Explorer OL6 (1:25,000), Harvey/BMC Lake District (1:40,000), OS Landranger 89 (1:50,000) Directory Listings:
Find more Listings near this route Tourist info:
Grasmere (015394 35245); Seatoller (017687 77294); Coniston (015394 41533)
Further Routes
by Norman Hadley
- Bannisdale Horseshoe 6 Apr
- Sallows and Sour Howes 20 Mar
- Kinder Downfall and the Reservoir Round 14 Feb
- Buttermere Horseshoe 3 Jan
- Brock Crags and Angletarn Pikes 12 Dec, 2023