High Snockrigg, Buttermere

IF THERE WAS no other reason to climb High Snockrigg, the name alone would surely do the trick. High Snockrigg. Rare and oddly sonorous, it’s a name to conjure blank looks and wide smiles.

Like all of our five unsung summits, Snockrigg isn’t listed among the 214 ‘ Wainwrights’ (i.e. fells given their own chapter by guidewriter Alfred Wainwright). That’s because in truth it’s a shoulder of a much higher fell, Robinson, which is part of the classic Newlands Round circuit.

But Snockrigg is no mere outlier. It’s a big, lumpy plateau that rises 1700ft above two of the most beautiful valleys in the world: Buttermere and Newlands. The climb from Buttermere is enthralling, as it weaves around the corner edge of the fell, joyously switching your view from one valley to the other every five minutes.

The top is reached by diverting off the path to Robinson and following a tiny sheep trod to a small grassy dome, from where a truly stupendous view unfolds: Buttermere, the High Stile range, Hay Stacks, Fleetwith Pike – all seen at a far more intimate scale than they are from Robinson itself.

It isn’t without its challenges: being a boggy, often trackless plateau, the top of Snockrigg can be a pain to navigate. But if you’re up for it, this comicallynamed fell will fill your memory card and

stay in your heart for a long time. WALK HERE: Turn to Walk 14 in this issue for a five-mile route from Buttermere to High Snockrigg.