A Matter Of Attitude

The Lakes can’t match the Alps for sheer scale, but occasionally our comparatively diminutive fells serve up an offering with more than a hint of Alpine about it...

- Ben Weeks

There are places for which the adjective ‘Alpine’ is regularly used and perfectly apt: the Cuillin of Skye; the ridges of Torridon; high and narrow parts of north Wales; and, naturally, the Alps. But it’s not often applied to the Lake District. Perhaps we need to establish what we mean by ‘Alpine’. If used solely to describe mountainous landscapes whose upper reaches pierce the 4000m ceiling, then nothing on our elevationally mediocre islands is going to measure up. But if being ‘Alpine’ is a matter of attitude rather than altitude, the UK’s peaks have much to offer. Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis is a classic Alpine-style route. Cyfrwy Arête on Cadair Idris too. And in the Lakes, though it may lack the scale or rarefied air of an equivalent Alpine ridge, Blencathra’s Sharp Edge has every right to claim that distinction; and never more so than in winter.