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Dove Crag (376 109) Alt. 580 m North East Facing

Phil Wake Impailed below Dove Crag. Breaking news from the Lake District is that the long sought after arête below Dove Crag has fallen. Surveillance indicated that a raiding party from the south was heading up to do the business. Locals arranged a stake below the crag overnight looking for lights up in the Priest Hole. Phil Wake was warming up at 7am and Impailed V7 was his not long after. More news as we get it...  Reported 20th August 2005

Phil Wake about to be Impailed V7 below Dove Crag.

Photos (C) Al Wilson.

Pail Attitude. Steve Crowe opening up boulders below Dove Crag with Pail Attitude (V5?) in 2003

Steve Crowe on Pail Attitude (V5?)  August 2003

2003 was the Summer of Dove
Dove Crag is perhaps best known as the home of the Hard Rock classic Extol (E2 5b) and Don Whillans other “product of the Rock and Ice years”, Dovedale Groove (E1 5b) however this year the main activity was on the other side of the crag on the formidable North Buttress. It may seem like a distant memory now but the summer of 2003 saw unprecedented activity on Dove with the crag staying dry for an extended period throughout the summer. Early activity included Karin Magog arriving at the crag in June and proceeding to onsight Fast and Furious with the Flying Fissure Finish (E5 6b) and Fear and Fascination (E5 6a) on the same day. Both are graded E5 in the current guide but the latter is considered by many to be E6 since the demise of the crucial hex placement. Karin followed this up with flashes of the classic Bucket City (E6 6b) and then the sustained Pail Face (E6 6b). Meanwhile as Karin and I worked through the existing routes on the crag more were being added by the Keswick boys! The first new route Fetish for Fear E7 6b was added in July and was originally thought to be E8 because of the serious lack of decent protection but has settled down to a more amenable but still scary E7. This was lead by both Chris Hope then Duncan Booth and seconded by Alan Wilson and Jimmy Bereridge. Later in July, Alan Wilson and Chris Hope added (both led) the desperate Dusk till Dawn (E7 6b) an awesome undertaking that tackles the headwall above Vlad the Impailer, which had Chris screaming “Oh my God, that is unbelievable” as the difficulty eventually eased near the top. The impressive headwall was originally lead starting on the left as for Bucket Dynasty but has subsequently also been climbed as a variation finish to Vlad the Impailer as Vlad to Dusk (E7 6b), either way it warrants pumpy F7c+ climbing on spaced protection. Not wanting to miss out on the new route activity Karin and I both led a rising traverse that sweeps across the North Buttress to give The Brasov Incident E6 6b. This line starts on the left as for Bucket Dynasty then traverses beneath the bulge to gain the prominent spike on Fear and Fascination, following this until it is possible to step right onto Fast and Furious just below its crux. From here continue rightwards where there is a choice of finishes either take to the Flying Fissure or step right onto Outside Edge (E5 6b in its own right) for one last lunge in a truly spectacular position. The Brasov Incident was repeated by Ian Cummins, who confirmed the grade along with its three star status, commenting on how “interesting” the last few moves up the Outside Edge were!

The on form Alan Wilson and myself made the most of a mid week trip up to Dove Crag to make the second and third ascents of Vlad the Impailer (E7 6b) thirteen years to the month since it was first climbed by Martin Berzins and Neil Foster in 1990. Karin Magog turned up later the same week to make the fourth ascent. As the word got out Dave Birkett arrived on the scene late in August to see what all the fuss was about and began a awesome sweep of the crag onsighting everything he touched including an ground up onsight ascent of Fear of Failure rated E8 6c by James McHaffie when he made the first ascent in 2002 and confirmed by Chris Hope who made the second ascent after a brief inspection only a week earlier. A more in-depth overview of Dove Crag was featured in the December 2003 issue of Climber the full text is here.
 

A short history of climbing on Dove Crag

North Buttress Route Details

Dove Crag Photodiagram

Dove Crag Mini Guide PDF

To be used with the FRCC guide to Eastern Fells

Who was Vlad the Impailer?
 

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