Wainwright scrambles: the edges, rakes and bad steps

Nine Wainwrights have a well-known route that puts your hands on rock: Helvellyn (Striding Edge and Swirral Edge), Catstycam (Swirral Edge), Blencathra (Sharp Edge and Hall's Fell), Pavey Ark (Jack's Rake), Crinkle Crags (the Bad Step), Yewbarrow (Stirrup Crag), Scafell (Lord's Rake and Broad Stand), Helm Crag and Catbells. Striding Edge, Swirral Edge, Sharp Edge, Hall's Fell ridge, Jack's Rake and the two ends of Yewbarrow are all Grade 1, the easiest scrambling grade. Grade 1 can still mean real exposure on polished rock, where a slip would be serious. Broad Stand is a rock climb, and Lord's Rake is a scree gully with a rockfall problem rather than a graded scramble.

Each of these fells also has a walking route, so you can bag eight of the nine without scrambling. The exception is Helm Crag, where standing on the true summit, a rock tower called the Howitzer, takes a short scramble.

The scrambles, route by route

• Helvellyn by Striding Edge, from Glenridding or Patterdale. Grade 1. A path just below the crest takes most walkers past the exposed sections. At the far end a short rock step drops about 5 to 6 metres before a steep, loose pull onto the summit plateau.
• Helvellyn and Catstycam by Swirral Edge. Grade 1, and mildly exposed. The first rocky section has a bypass path to the south, but the scrambling itself can't be avoided. Many people use it to come down after Striding Edge.
• Blencathra by Sharp Edge, from Scales via Scales Tarn. Grade 1, and the most exposed route at that grade in the Lakes. The crest is barely a metre wide in places, with long drops on both sides, and there is one awkward step that many people shuffle down on their backside. Wet rock makes it far harder.
• Blencathra by Hall's Fell ridge, from Threlkeld. Grade 1. A 500 m ridge of low crags, mostly 2 to 3 metres wide, with a path alongside. Scrambling guides often suggest it as a first Grade 1.
• Pavey Ark by Jack's Rake, from Stickle Tarn. Grade 1, and often called the most technical of these routes. The rake is wet for most of the year, the rock is polished and loose in places, and there is a short, narrow chimney near the start. The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) advises a helmet and warns walkers off the grassy ledges to the left of the chimney, where there have been fatal falls.
• Crinkle Crags by the Bad Step, on the highest crinkle, Long Top. A gully blocked by two chockstones. WalkLakes recommends its bypass for walkers, and for anyone with a dog.
• Yewbarrow by Stirrup Crag at the north end and the gully below Great Door at the south. Both count as Grade 1, and the Stirrup Crag down-climb has several awkward cracks. WalkLakes describes a side path that avoids the crags, which it recommends in poor weather.
• Scafell by Lord's Rake. A serious rockfall in 2002 was followed by more falls, and in July 2016 the block wedged across the head of the rake collapsed. Recent guidebooks don't treat it as a viable route. From Mickledore, walkers go round by Foxes Tarn instead.
• Broad Stand, also on Scafell, is not a walkers' route at any grade. It rises straight above Mickledore, is usually climbed with a rope, and has caused many accidents. Leave it out of your plans.
• Helm Crag, above Grasmere. The walk up is straightforward, but the true summit is a rock tower at the north west end (the Howitzer), and standing on it takes a short, awkward scramble.
• Catbells from Hawse End. Short rocky steps near the top need three points of contact.

What the grades mean

Scrambling guidebooks grade routes from 1 to 3. Grade 1 routes follow obvious lines, and most walkers with a head for heights can manage them without a rope. Grades 2 and 3 get steeper and more serious, and at Grade 3 many parties carry a rope. Broad Stand sits beyond that and counts as a rock climb. A grade describes dry summer rock. Wet rock, wind or ice make any of these routes much harder than its grade suggests.

Staying safe on a scramble

Pick a dry, calm day with good visibility for your first scramble, and go up rather than down, since reversing exposed rock is harder than climbing it. Test each hold before you trust it, keep three points of contact on anything steep, and leave space between you and the group ahead on Jack's Rake, where stones get knocked down. In high wind, stay off the edges altogether. In winter, Striding Edge, Swirral Edge and Sharp Edge become winter mountaineering routes that need an ice axe, crampons and the skills to use them. The winter Wainwrights guide has more on that. Carry a map and compass, check the Mountain Weather Information Service (MWIS) forecast before you set off, and if something goes wrong, call 999 and ask for the police, then mountain rescue.

For fells that are hard for other reasons, such as distance or a remote start, see the hardest Wainwrights to bag.