Another excellent weather day. Since we were in Wasdale, it would have seemed a bit odd not to go up Scafell Pike again (last time was in 2006). So we did, but this time not turning back from the top of Scafell Pike, but continuing over to the other side on to Broad Crag, skirting aroud the shoulder of Ill Crag, and going as far as Great End.
We went up via Mickledore again, and it was a pleasure to walk up in the snow with crampons. There is less impact through your body with each step than when your boots hit the bare ground. Without crampons, it would have been a lot more of a chore, having to be careful not to slide in the icy patches on the steep slope. It looked like many walkers without crampons considered the way up to Mickledore, some starting up the lower part, then opted to veer left to take the gentler way up approaching the summit from the north-west rather than from the south-west from Mickledore.
It was quite windy at the top, and people were finding what shelter they could by sitting behind the small summit platform or behind some rocks. We stayed just long enough to have a sandwich, then moved on. The visibility was good, and it was easy to find our way down to the col to Broad Crag down the steep north-east side. Continuing up to Broad Crag, we found our way through the rocky ground to the top before returning to the path and continuing, past Ill Crag, towards Great End (what a name!). Ignoring the path going down right towards the path junction of Esk Hause, we carried on over the expanse of snow to the top of Great End, joining a group of people with climbing gear who might have just come up the crags on the other side.
After taking a few minutes to look around, we headed back over hardened, undisturbed snow back to the col between Broad Crag and Scafell Pike. We decided to try heading down north-west from there, choosing our line with care as the gradient was steep (and we did not want to risk starting an avalanche and getting buried!). Getting past the steepest section, we saw a group of walkers come over from Lingmell col and proceed to inspect a snowhole in a nearby slope. We were curious, but looked only at the entrance, then found our way now south-west again over to Hollow Stones. From there we headed fairly directly down, ignoring the zig-zagging path which was partly covered in snow, looking back up left (south) at Mickledore as we went.
Map of walk route
View Scafell Pike, Broad Crag, and Great End – Apr 2013 in a larger map