Lake District, Raise. 30 March 2014


In pursuit of snow...


This was the last chance to ski in England this year. We have not skied in the Lakes so late in the season. The forecast was good, and we decided to go to Raise where a working webcam showed some snow. Our track (see map) clearly shows the places where we skied up and down the slopes.

The red line shows our track. The red arrow shows the direction of travel. The tent icon shows the campsite.

We got to the campsite late in the evening, pitched our tent and went to bed. The morning was very warm, with temperature around 15 °С. We were not sure if it was wise to carry the skis up the mountain, but the campsite owner assured us that people are still skiing up there.

There was no wind at all. This is quite rare in the Lakes. The surface of Thirlmire was very still.

No snow in sight...

After more than two hours of climbing we finally got what we wanted!

The spring snow is good for making snow sculptures...

But the conditions for skiing were also good.

There is a ski lift in the top left corner of the picture. This is one of the very few volunteer-run skiing resorts in England. It opens every year for at least a few days. There was a lot more snow in February, but the weather was not good, either very windy, or wet, or both.

This is probably the biggest remaining snow field in England.

View from Raise towards Sticks Pass.

There was no snow at all at the top.

The snow-covered mountain in the distance on the left is Helvellyn.

It is getting dark. Time to go home - just 700 vertical metres to climb down.

Russian English