Helvellyn
Helvellyn at 950 metres is the third-highest fell in England and possibly the most climbed. The reason is Striding Edge. That narrow arête connecting High Spying How to the summit ridge is one of the great experiences in British walking — exposed, exhilarating, and genuinely committing in poor conditions. In good weather it is a hands-and-feet scramble of around half a mile that leaves most people grinning. In mist and ice it is a serious proposition. The summit is a long, windswept plateau running roughly north to south. The highest point has a stone shelter and a large cairn. On a clear day the views extend west to the Scafell group, south over the Coniston Fells, north to the Scottish hills, and east toward the Pennines. The site of the famous 1926 aircraft landing — the first mountain-top landing in England — is marked on the plateau. On the eastern side, Red Tarn sits in a hanging valley below the ridge lines of Striding Edge and Swirral Edge. It is one of the most dramatic corrie lakes in the Lakes. Catstycam rises sharply to the north. The whole eastern face of Helvellyn, viewed from Glenridding, is a textbook glacial landscape.
Walking
The standard approach from Glenridding car park (CA11 0PD, paid) takes the Mires Beck path up to Hole-in-the-Wall, then follows the ridge to the start of Striding Edge. The Edge itself is a grade one scramble — hands needed on the rockier sections, but there is no genuine technical difficulty in dry conditions. The final haul from the Edge to the summit is steep and loose. Allow 6 to 7 hours for the round trip, returning via Swirral Edge or by the tourist path down to Wythburn. The Thirlmere approach is longer and less dramatic but considerably quieter. Park at the National Trust car park near Wythburn church (CA12 4TW). The path climbs directly up the western slopes. It is relentless rather than technical. The reward is a sudden emergence onto the summit plateau from the west — a different perspective from the classic eastern approach. Allow 6 to 7 hours. A third option from Patterdale via Grisedale and Dollywagon Pike gives a high-level ridge approach from the south, connecting into the Helvellyn summit from Dollywagon and Nethermost Pike. This adds distance (around 10 miles) but is one of the finest fell days in the eastern Lakes.
Routes
Striding Edge from Glenridding
Glenridding car park
Thirlmere western approach
Wythburn church car park
Tips
Striding Edge in mist is not a joke. I have done it a dozen times and it is always the conditions that decide the day. Check the Mountain Weather Information Service (mwis.org.uk) the morning you plan to go — not the day before. If there is ice on the ridge between November and April, the stakes are serious. The Travellers Rest (CA11 0JQ) on the A591 south of Grasmere is worth knowing about for food and a pint on the return. Glenridding car park charges and can fill by 9am on summer weekends; the overflow is along the main road.