Sail

Sail sits in the middle of the ridge from Causey Pike to Grasmoor, between Scar Crags and Crag Hill. Its slopes are steep and rough, but its top is a rounded dome of heather. It stands on the main watershed of the North Western Fells, which Grasmoor does not, with Coledale draining north to the Derwent and Sail Beck running south to Buttermere.

Most walkers cross it on a ridge traverse or on the Coledale Horseshoe from Braithwaite. For a direct ascent from Stair in Newlands, the old Stonycroft mine road climbs to Sail Pass, the col with Scar Crags, and from there a raised, badly eroded path zigzags up the east side. From Braithwaite, head for High Coledale Farm and cross the Outerside ridge near Stile End to reach the pass from the north. From Buttermere a long walk up Sail Beck behind Ard Crags reaches it from the south.

Westward, the ridge to Crag Hill narrows over The Scar, a rocky crest with Scott Crag on the Coledale side and Scar Crag above Sail Beck. The path keeps to the crest and has a couple of easy rock steps. Nothing is exposed.

The main path misses the summit by a few paces. The small cairn stands just off it across the grass and often sits in a puddle. The head of Coledale lies below to the north, the Helvellyn range stretches out beyond Catbells, and the high fells around Wasdale and Eskdale fill the south. Bassenthwaite Lake is in view, and a few steps bring in Buttermere and Derwentwater.

On the north side of Sail Pass are the levels of a cobalt mine opened in the 1840s. The vein turned out to hold far more arsenic than cobalt, and the venture was soon abandoned.