I set off from Swirls car park at around 8am and headed up the steep path to Lower Man. At around 750m at NY330158 I encountered deep snow with icy patches beneath, crampons were required and ice axe to hand. Once on the summit of Lower Man the path was clear of deep snow but had many patches of ice and snow along the way, which increased as I neared the summit. Also there were large cornices along the Eastern edges which were beginning to crack. I pushed on to the summit cairn of Helvellyn and had lunch there. There was rime ice on the summit. The wind was quite cold but not too strong. I headed back to Lower Man but for safety reasons I decided to head towards Whiteside Bank, which again had large patches of ice and made my way across pathless, snow-free ground to the North of Lower Man to rejoin the path at NY327165.
I set off from Swirls car park at around 8am and headed up the steep path to Lower Man. At around 750m at NY330158 I encountered deep snow with icy patches beneath, crampons were required and ice axe to hand. Once on the summit of Lower Man the path was clear of deep snow but had many patches of ice and snow along the way, which increased as I neared the summit. Also there were large cornices along the Eastern edges which were beginning to crack. I pushed on to the summit cairn of Helvellyn and had lunch there. There was rime ice on the summit. The wind was quite cold but not too strong. I headed back to Lower Man but for safety reasons I decided to head towards Whiteside Bank, which again had large patches of ice and made my way across pathless, snow-free ground to the North of Lower Man to rejoin the path at NY327165.
