Engineer's Slab

Walking along paths in the Lake District can sometimes feel like a docile endeavour. Armored with countless laboriously laid stone blocks, the edges worn smooth by the actions of hundreds of feet every year, its hardly an outing that will enthuses the intrepid explorer. But then again, the Lakes is one of the most frequented National Parks in the UK (if not the world), so you can be pretty confident that wherever you tread, you're following in somebodies footsteps.

It was this very train of thought that occupied my mind on the walk along Moses' Trod below Brandreth on the way to Gable Crag. A trail which over hundreds of years was scarred into the side of the fell by man and beast alike, hauling highly prized green Honister slate from the quarries to the coast for export. Rumor has it these horses would then return with smuggled cargoes of whiskey and tobacco. Unfortunately for us there was no sign of those horses bearing such gifts today, just ramblers and runners out enjoying a sunny Saturday. Their reasons for travelling along that path was nothing new, and neither was ours (if not perhaps slightly more obscure). However in June 1934, a party of three climbers walked along that path, and attempted something completely new.

Moss, slime, lichen and looseness. These attributes combined with several gargantuan chimneys and of course a north facing aspect ensured that Gable Crag was 'in vogue' in the early 1900s and by 1934 climbing at that place wasn't all that out of the ordinary. However Cooper, Balcome and Sheppard had a different objective to those early tweed donning pioneers. It was the central groove splitting the main 100 foot high 'slab' set high within the north face that was their objective. After an early mishap with some loose rock, the leader of the party, Astley Cooper was left "hors-de-combat". Not wanting to waste a day Balcome stepped up and took the ropes, leading and cleaning the line up the face in three pitches with Sheppard and an injured Cooper in support. After the ascent Balcome reported that at the end of the first pitch in the sentry box crack that 'there is no belay here at present' which was later rectified with a large rock apparently.. This only confirms the remarkable feat these climbers pulled off, with little to no protection available on the pitches and nothing to secure the seconds at the belay, the consequence of a fall for anyone would have been unthinkable. It was not an easy climb either, with the difficulty of the moves being cutting edge and as hard as anything else being put up by the well known elite of the day. As Paul Nunn wrote in Ken Wilson's Hard Rock "it was a feat of considerable boldness, lost in the obscurity of the twenty years which elapsed before a repetition". It is for this reason perhaps that the crag and the climb itself has ascertained classic status amongst mountaineers.


Walking along the path and gazing up at the climb, concealed by shade, moss and damp alike, it was reassuring to know that we were following in the footsteps of somebody else.  

Looking across at the north facing Gable Crag from Brandreth

The somewhat dank and slimey approach to the base of the 'slab' situated high in the centre of the north face

Looking up the wall with the exit chimney looming high overhead

Matt approaching steeper ground just below the sentry box

Moving through the 'awkward layback' just below the final chimney

Finishing up the hanging arete

Sun, Snow and Saucisson

‘Weekend Warrior’ (Noun) ‘A person/persons who has a boring rat race job, and compensates by being irresponsible during the weekend’ Urban Dictionary.

I can definitely  be accused of having one of the traits mentioned in the above quote, all I’ll say is I enjoy my job!

Four days probably isn’t enough time for a holiday in the Alps, the highest and most demanding playpark in western Europe. Decades of ill prepared but ambitious folk have embarked upon adventures there with such vigour and determination, only to be thwarted by weather, loose rock or an inebriating hangover from an overzealous night slamming shots of genepi. Equally, many of these people are struck by a combination of luck and more luck, and pull of amazing feats of mountaineering skill and persistence. Circumstantially, our trip to the Alps this year was neither of these; it was a lot of hard work, we didn’t get to the top of everything we set out to do but we did eat our own body weight in delicious saucisson and learned how to open a bottle of wine with a tent peg and rock. Every cloud has a silver lining then clearly! 

Some photos from our adventure are posted below. Enjoy!

Ed enjoying some unexpected sunshine crossing beyond the Col des Flambeaux

High on the Aiguille d'Entreves traverse

Climbing up to the belay just before the crux crack on the Aiguille d'Entreves traverse

Alpine cuisine preparation at its most sophisticated 

Taking a breather on the approach to the Dent du Geant

Sunrise hitting the summit of Mont Blanc

Think light thoughts..

Descending from the Midi

"The weather is better than they foretasted!"

"Oh Wait.." This photo was taken 10 minutes after the one above

Bad weather = crevasse rescue training! Until the lightening that is..

Looks like a great crack right, just don't push the top bit! 

Topping out on the Cosmiques Arete after the storm

Sunshine sport climbing!

Thanks to Ed and Laurine for an ace trip. Perhaps we'll go for more than a weekend next year!