Climb of Life 2025
I sit reflecting on the climb this year and on how much we have managed to raise for the ICR, and I want to share some of the experience....Climb of Life 2025 by Kevin Windo.
The lakes were battered by rain on Wednesday and Thursday before the walk, and this drifted south, so Friday was very rainy down south, but the weather in the lakes was dry apart from the widespread flooding.
On the morning of the walk, the sky was grey, and the wind was around 40mph, expecting to rise to over 65mph later. We drove to Coniston, parked the car, and prepared for the walk. Our group was included 17 people with three walk leaders (which was fortunate, as you will see later).
We set off up the mountain.
The Coniston copper mine on the side of the mountain was the first stop, around 150m up from the car park. The greyness and the workings reminded me of Mount Doom from The Lord of the Rings. Would it be my doom?
We traversed the area just above the mine and below the very full Leavers Water, which is at 413m.
From here on, the only way was up, and there was lots of up to go. Not far ahead is the first peak of the day, Swirl How at 802m.
We had a short rest just short of the peak (around 600m) to grab a quick snack and to add more layers of clothes, as we knew the wind was picking up and we would be exposed to the full force once we reached the peak.
The views were lovely, looking east into the wind.
As we got our breath back, some walkers moved past us on the way down from the peak. They all commented that the gusts at the top were extreme and that they couldn’t continue to The Old Man of Coniston.
At this point, several walkers decided not to continue, and the group split into the sane and the insane.
Inevitably, we joined the insane group and agreed to see what it was like at the top.
The next 200m was a bit of a scramble as you can see to the left.
The wind wasn’t bad and it was nice going up, but it wouldn’t be much fun trying to go down this.
So we continued to the top.
The ridge past Swirl How was nice and wide as you can see, but the wind. The wind was something else, perhaps around 60mph with frequent gusts of 40mph or more. Walking on the top was difficult, and in the gusts, moving at all was a serious effort.
We all quickly agreed that getting off the mountain should be a priority, so we gave up on the walk to the Old Man and switched to getting down safely.
Fortunately, after about a km in the extreme wind, our excellent guides found a track off the back of the mountain.
Our physical effort dropped considerably when we reached the lee of the hill, and the wind subsided.
By now, our legs were beginning to ache, and the hard, rocky steps were taking their toll. We had travelled around 10km by now and had another 6km to go.
As we dropped into the corrie that contained Goat Tarn, we were walking
directly into the gusting wind again. It was while walking down into the corrie that many people were blown off their feet and into the rocks. Having to use so much energy to walk downhill was quite an experience.
Nestling at the bottom of the corrie was Goat Tarn, spectacular with white horses and spray being ripped from the tips of the waves.
We got wet, but the wind blew us dry in mere seconds.
Passing the lake was a scramble as the path was flooded and the gusts were severe. Tired and in need of a beer and food, we walked on for another hour to the car park at Walna Scar. We walked for 6hr and 40 minutes and covered around 16km on the day.
Our experienced fell walking guide described the walk as spicy in places.
Was the pain worth it? Yes, it was quite an experience, and most importantly, we raised money for the ICR.
The total number of people walking on Friday was 116, and between all of us, we raised over £103,000.
I would like to thank everyone who sponsored the team on behalf of the ICR.
We are all impacted by cancer, and this was brought home to me the day after the walk when a good friend of 40 years died of mesothelioma.
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