10 TOP WINTER PEAKS
BEN LOMOND, 974M
SOUTH HIGHLANDS
The most southerly of the Munros, Ben Lomond is many people’s first Scottish 3000ft-er. Like any Scottish mountain, winter brings a whole new set of challenges but if you take the path from Rowardennan the technicality is low.
LOCHNAGAR, 1155M CAIRNGORMS
Located within the Balmoral Estate, Lochnagar’s top is pointed and proud, and one of the most celebrated Munro summits. Steep and clefted cliffs plunge down to its namesake lake, but stick to the main tourist track for a top winter walk.
PEN Y FAN, 886M
BRECON BEACONS
Chief of the Beacons and the highest summit in south Wales, Pen y Fan is a hugely popular peak with routes to the top to suit everyone. Under snow the distinctive, sweeping, green bluffs of the Beacons look even more magical.
GRASMOOR, 852M
LAKE DISTRICT
Grasmoor is the highest peak of Lakeland’s north-western fells: a colossus overlooking Crummock Water and the Buttermere valley. Approach on its rounded eastern slopes for huge views over the Scafells and beyond.
MOEL HEBOG, 782M SNOWDONIA
Moel Hebog is Beddgelert’s peak; rising above the village like a protective guardian. Tall and craggy from the east, rounded and green to the west, there are bountiful ascents for winter walkers.
KINDER SCOUT, 636M PEAK DISTRICT
If England has a true wilderness, the vast and almost featureless summit plateau of Kinder Scout is about as close as it gets. In winter, the waterfall of Kinder Downfall can freeze spectacularly.
PLACE FELL, 657M
LAKE DISTRICT
Place Fell is a rocky gem, cupped in the crook of Ullswater and offering a magnificent viewpoint over the lake and the Helvellyn range. It’s thoroughly deserving of a winter expedition in its own right, with a rugged lakeside route along its western base.
THE CALF, 676M HOWGILLS The highest of the Howgill Fells, The Calf sits in both the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the county of Cumbria. It’s a green, flat-topped hill, with its best ascent heading up and past the 198m Cautley Spout waterfall to a massive panorama “over the Dales and Lakes.
INGLEBOROUGH, 724M YORKSHIRE DALES
Characterised by eroded layers of millstone grit, shale, sandstone and stream-swallowing limestone, and home to caves and the remains of Iron Age settlements, an ascent is an exploration of the history of the Dales’ people and landscape.
CADAIR IDRIS, 893M SNOWDONIA
Complex and striking, Cadair is the Snowdon of southern Snowdonia: a honeypot mountain renowned for imperious cliffs, enticing ridges and pretty tarns. The Minffordd Path past Llyn Cau (main picture, left) makes for a cracking adventure under snow.