Bouldering: Langdale Boulders, The Lake District

Ali, my housemate, and myself thought we’d get an early start last Sunday seeing as the sun was up and it was relatively warm. By 9.30am we had a lovely drive past Windermere and great views of the Lake and the Langdale Pikes. We drove through the leafy country lanes past Chapel Stile and just past the village we arrived at a layby (on the right) and a gate on the left, which leads to the Langdale Boulders.

The first thing we noticed was the stunning position, following the short grassy path down and to the right the view of two small but perfectly formed boulders were standing proud with a stunning background of the Langdale valley and mountains in the background.

I found the bouldering hard on first acquaintance and I think the grades are pretty tough. The rock is Lakelands best with very rough rock and excellent friction. The great thing about these boulders are the variety of styles from short crimpy walls, long pumpy traverses to steep cracks. There is a good range of grades to suit all abilities from V0 to V11.

To be honest it’s probably the second time this year I’ve been bouldering so I probably wasn’t at my best although I had a good go. The problems I did do were all top quality and I’d particularly recommend: Problem 9 (V0) A short crack on the lower boulder, Problem 19 (V0) Crack on the upper boulder, great holds and jams and I had fun trying to work out Problem 20 (V5) a classic crimpy traverse, which I almost got but my fingers were running out of skin!

There are so many more problems such as: The Pocket (V5), V6 Traverse (V6!) and The Crack (V0+). It is worth visiting for an evening trip or a laid back day’s bouldering if your fingers can take it and personally I can’t wait to go back!

Langdale Boulders
Grid Ref: NY315058
Guide Book: Rockfax Lakes Bouldering, 2006