Scafell Pike - WikiHQ

Scafell Pike () is a mountain in the Lake District region of Cumbria, England. It has an elevation of above sea level, making it the highest and the most prominent mountain in England. The mountain is part of the Scafell massif, an extinct volcano,

Alternatively, Scafell means "the mountain of the scaw (or promontory)". This usage can be compared etymologically with, for example, Skaw, Unst.

The name originally referred to Scafell, which neighbours Scafell Pike. What are now known as Scafell Pike, Ill Crag, and Broad Crag were collectively called either the Pikes (peaks) or the Pikes of Scawfell (see below regarding spelling); from many angles, Scafell seems to be the highest peak, and the others were thus considered subsidiary to it. The name Scawfell Pikes was adopted "by common consent" according to Jonathan Otley, shortly before the publication of the 4th edition of his guidebook in 1830. Up to this point, England's highest mountain (its status as such was not known until the early 1800s) did not have a name of its own; it was labelled Sca-Fell Higher Top by the Ordnance Survey in their initial work in Cumbria in the first decade of the 19th century. The newly developed name reported by Otley first appeared on a published Ordnance Survey map in 1865.

Formerly the name was spelled Scawfell, which better reflects local pronunciation. This spelling has declined due to the Ordnance Survey's use of Scafell on their 1865 map and thereafter.

Topography

Scafell Pike is one of a horseshoe of high fells, open to the south, surrounding the head of Eskdale, Cumbria. It stands on the western side of the cirque, with Scafell to the south and Great End to the north. This ridge forms the watershed between Eskdale and Wasdale, which lies to the west. North of Ill Crag is the more definite depression of Calf Cove at , before the ridge climbs again to Great End, .

Scafell Pike also has outliers on either side of the ridge. Lingmell , to the north west, is invariably regarded as a separate fell,

Broad Crag Col is the source of Little Narrowcove Beck in the east and of Piers Gill in the west. The latter works its way around Lingmell to Wast Water through a spectacular ravine, one of the most impressive in the Lake District. It is dangerous in rain and treacherous in winter, as when it freezes over it creates an icy patch, with lethal exposure should you slip. Several accidents and some deaths have occurred in Piers Gill.

Broad Crag is a small top with its principal face on the west and the smaller Green Crag looking down on Little Narrowcove. From Broad Crag, the ridge turns briefly east across Ill Crag Col and onto the shapely pyramidal summit of Ill Crag. Ill Crag and its associated crags overlook Eskdale.

Mountain classification

Scafell Pike is a Marilyn summit which automatically makes it a HuMP and a TuMP. Scafell Pike is topologically unusual because the Marilyn qualification contour ("Maquaco") line, 150 metres below the summit, passes around Scafell, which is itself a HuMP. This contour also encloses three other TuMP summits: Broad Crag, Ill Crag and Great End.

Summit

thumb|right|The summit of Scafell Pike, seen from neighbouring [[Broad Crag]]

The summit was donated to the National Trust in 1919 by Lord Leconfield "in perpetual memory of the men of the Lake District who fell for God and King, for freedom peace and right in the Great War 1914–1918". There is a better-known war memorial on Great Gable, commemorating the members of the Fell & Rock Climbing Club.

The actual height of Scafell Pike is a matter of definition or guesswork. The highest point is buried beneath a massive summit cairn over 3 metres high and it is not known how high the fabric of the mountain rises under the cairn. Traditionally the height was given as a very memorable . dating from the Ordovician; it is geologically part of the Borrowdale Volcanics and along with the other peaks of the Scafells, forms part of an extinct volcano which was active around 400–450 million years ago.

Pleistocene glacial activity

The rugged summit of Scafell Pike was shaped by glacial erosion of the Last Glacial Maximum (c. 20 kya), during which the Lake District was overlain by ice sheets with thicknesses of several kilometers.

Contemporary weathering

The summit plateau of Scafell Pike, and that of other neighbouring peaks, is covered with shattered rock debris which provides the highest-altitude example of a summit boulder field in England. To the north of the summit are a number of high altitude gills which flow into Lingmell Beck. These are good examples in Cumbria for this type of gill and are also biologically important due to their species richness.

Tourism

Scafell Pike is a popular destination for walkers. There is open access to Scafell and the surrounding fells, with many walking and rock climbing routes. Paths connect the summit with Lingmell Col to the northwest, Mickledore to the southwest, and Esk Hause to the northeast, and these in turn connect with numerous other paths, giving access to walkers from many directions including Wasdale Head to the west, Seathwaite to the north, Langdale to the east, and Eskdale to the southwest. The shortest route is from Wasdale Head, about 80 metres above sea level, where there is a climbers' hotel, the Wasdale Head Inn, made popular in the Victorian period by Owen Glynne Jones and others. According to the National Trust, as of 2014 there were over 100,000 people per year climbing Scafell Pike from Wasdale Head, many as part of the National Three Peaks Challenge. In 2022, the number reaching the summit by any route was 250,000.

Survey point

Scafell Pike was used in 1826 as a station in the Principal Triangulation of Britain by the Ordnance Survey when they fixed the relative positions of Britain and Ireland. Angles between Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland and Scafell Pike were taken from Snowdon in Wales as were angles between Snowdon and Scafell Pike from Slieve Donard. Given the need for clear weather to achieve these very long-range observations ( to Slieve Donard), the Ordnance surveyors spent much of the summer camped on the respective mountain tops. Scafell Pike was not used as a station in the earlier part of the Principal Triangulation of Britain, even though Sca-Fell formed one corner of a Principal Triangle. The Ordnance Survey's high precision theodolite was not taken to the summit until 1841.

Views from the summit

Summer

(Scroll left or right)

Winter

List of summits visible

As the highest ground in England, Scafell Pike has a very extensive view, ranging from the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland to Snowdonia in Wales. On a clear day, the following prominent mountain tops (Marilyns) can be seen the summit.

Dun Rig, , 2 degrees
Binsey, , 2 degrees
Turner Cleuch Law, , 4 degrees
Dale Head, , 5 degrees
Wisp Hill, , 11 degrees
Skiddaw, , 12 degrees
Roan Fell, , 15 degrees
Knott, , 17 degrees
Peel Fell, , 24 degrees
Blencathra, , 28 degrees
The Cheviot, , 31 degrees
Cold Fell, , 39 degrees
Howgill Fells, , 103 degrees
Bow Fell, , 105 degrees
Yorkshire Three Peaks, , 119 degrees
Boulsworth Hill, , 135 degrees
Pendle Hill, , 138 degrees
Ward's Stone, , 142 degrees
The Old Man of Coniston, , 149 degrees
Winter Hill, , 154 degrees
Snaefell, , 257 degrees
Slieve Donard, , 262 degrees
Slieve Croob, , 268 degrees
Beneraird, , 303 degrees
Merrick, , 315 degrees
Pillar, , 318 degrees
Cairnsmore of Carsphairn, , 326 degrees
High Stile, , 328 degrees
Criffel, , 334 degrees
Grasmoor, , 342 degrees
Great Gable, , 351 degrees

Notes

References

External links

Computer generated virtual panoramas North South Index
Scafell Pike is at coordinates
Scafell Pike Sunny Photos from the West at Wasdale Head and North from Borrowdale by Keswick [http://www.relevantsearch.co.uk/scafell-pike-hike-wasdale.html]
Descriptions of the Walking Routes up Scafell Pike