SHARP EDGE

HARD (Grade 1 scramble) ■ 2½ hours ■ 3.9km ■ 650m ascent

Start Scales parking bay, NY340267 (limited spaces) Terrain Good paths to start, grassy hillsides, exposed ridge, steep rocky scramble, plateaued mountaintop

Starting from the A66 lay-by at Scales, Sharp Edge is approached firstly up the grassy eastern flank of Scales Fell. Once you reach the head of Mousthwaite Comb and get that first real look at its jagged crest, this route just gets better and better. The steep pull up Scales Beck to Scales Tarn gets the blood pumping, before you ascend to Sharp Edge’s shattered and narrow arête. This isn’t the route for scrambling newbies or anyone uncomfortable with extreme exposure. You’ll have your hands on rock for much of the ridge as you negotiate the infamous accident black spot of the ‘Bad Step’ and the steep final pull up the headwall of Foule Crag. But once you top out on Atkinson Pike it’s just a short stroll south to Blencathra’s summit: Hallsfell Top.