Helvellyn, a mountain in the Lake District, is the 3rd highest point in England. There are multiple viable approaches to the summit, but Striding Edge is renowned as the most difficult and dangerous route. It involves scrambling along an arête, a narrow ridge of exposed rock separating two valleys. As ambitious and naive adventurers, we of course opted for the most challenging route and quickly realized we were unprepared for the attempt. What began as an easy day-hike quickly became a sketchy summit attempt along Striding Edge’s steep eastern ridge-line, and we were buffeted by chill winds that penetrated our thin outer layers and threatened to push us off of our precarious position along the ridge. After carefully scrambling across the rocks on all fours for what felt like many hours, the final steep push to the summit on snow and ice tested the uncertain grip of our sneakers, but we finally arrived panting at the summit.

As we celebrated and reveled in the adrenaline of our successful summit push, clouds rolled in and blanketed the summit in a deep fog, severely reducing visibility and shrouding the path down the opposite side of the mountain. Luckily the fog eventually cleared and we were safely able to climb back down along an easier route and less exposed route, and we soon found ourselves hungrily enjoying some fish and chips from a food truck in the car park we started from. I’d highly recommend this climb, just might plan a little better next time.