Lakes Conditions, Helvellyn area. 26-02-13

Still some great conditions to be had, mainly gullies and ice but some mixed holding on in!  Due to bright sunshine anything that catches any sun is suffering a bit.  Out of the sun the snow is frozen hard and many routes are in great condition.  Today I went to Falcon Crag and Chock Gully which was thin until into the gully proper, there was then good ice up to mixed moves around the crux chock.  After that I did Thrash Corner on Dollywaggon North Crag which was in great condition, bomber snow, turf and ice, others were on Dolly Mixture which looked good also.  Then it was over to Jogebar Gully on Nethermost Pike which was OK where steep and shaded and had some good ice but the lower part was suffering in the sun a bit.  Then a quick visit to Helvellyn and Bladerunner was well worth it with some of the best conditions on the route I’ve seen, lots of ice in the lower groove.  All the gullies looked good, V-corner was climbed also, VB looked quite stripped but could be OK just about via the classic line? certainly the turf and snow on it will be good.  All this was topped off with another day of bright sunshine…

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Dollywaggon North Crag

Viking Buttress Area, Helvellyn