Pinnacle Ridge, St.Sunday Crag 11-12-11

Yesterday was another great day out, though was a big contrast to Saturday.  A lot of snow had gone and the rivers were high due to a rapid thaw on Saturday night with rain on the summits.  With so much snow about and a thaw with rain, we were keen to avoid anything with big snow volume or cornice exposure, it seems that water beneath the snow has caused a number of full depth slides around the Lakes, including the Helvellyn headwall were we saw the fracture line on Saturday (see photo on previous post).

More info on Helvellyn avalanche here - http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=486009

Pinnacle Ridge gave a great scramble yesterday, no crampons were needed though an axe was useful in places as there was still the odd patch of snow on the ledges.  Once on the top of the route there was still lots of snow on the descent side of the hill for some more snow skills.

Traversing the Pinnacles 

A good freeze now is needed for consolidation and to bring the turf harder.  With so much water and the ice that had started in places a freeze could bring some good ice in quickly.