Strictly Come Dandling

Wednesday July 15th

It's fair to say that this plan was cooked up well ahead.  The new FRCC "best of" guide has some excellent pics of many familiar crags and some less so.  The images of
Buckbarrow in Longsleddale 
were especially inspiring - so last week (whilst hanging out in Hove) resurrected a plan previously mooted by NB and got ourselves in gear.  Visited in October 2005 with the Gman and had a bit of an epic in the summit gale.  Some useful pics and recent comments on UKC gave pointers on descent path difficulties so figured we would be in for an adventurous day out.  The weather Gods did their bit, all we needed to do was to do ours.......

About 1 hour to base of crag along easy track then a steep slog up

NB carries gear and a rope, cyclo-fitness!!

Suffering scree chutes Batman!

Its a Big Day in the North.....!
Destination Dandle

Sadgill Wall (S)

P1 20m - two cruxes then up to spike belay


P2 20m, peerless rock, quite sustained





P3 30m - a hanging slab which feels out there, some fine positions, top 5m totally botanical but a welcoming thread belay

P4 20m(+) alternate LH finish avoids the gorse fest taken on the normal route just right of the belay. Finishes with a traverse part way along the pinnacled ridge that forms the crest of the Dandle

NB holds it together across the thrilling first six metres of P3

...and takes note of plea for a bomber belay

(AT only partly suppressing all visions of any kind of pendulum over the gulping void)

Prospecting P4, finishing up a testing shallow groove just left of the arete

Belays well back in a bed of bilberries above the plunging depths of Cleft Ghyll

The Dandle summit crest, kept on ropes given dramatic drops on both sides (out of shot)

Looking back along the Dandle Summit Crest
Cleft Ghyll on right

© James Kendal (UKC)

Down climbing this 7m or so looked a bit tenuous so rigged a bit of tat and abbed down

Getting off - detail

(Click image for best result)

Red circles - belays

White line - top pitch

Yellow lines - scrambling on rope (up to abseil)

Red line - abseil

Dotted yellow line, descent gully (hidden)

Black line - line intermediate ridge separate from main fell 

Approach shoes recommended

A quick freshen up in the River Sprint - next stop Black Swan Ravenstonedale

Walk in - 60 mins

Walk out - 45 mins

A really beautiful valley, idyllic

Yankee Doodle Dandles

(or not!)

Thanks to PM for the blog title

And finally, all the way from 2005, the Gunter tapes is proud to have dredged up yet more drivel

                         Dandle in the Wind