Kentmere Valley Bouldering

The narrow, fertile and easily accessible valley of Kentmere spans just over three miles and is only a short hop from the automotive corridors of the M6. As long as human kind has had a foothold in Lakeland, Kentmere appears to have hosted some form of community. One doesn’t have to look far to find the remnants of cultures long since deceased, obvious examples include the Gallic influenced architecture of the village church; whose resident Yew tree is said to date back to the time of William the Conqueror - making it almost 1000 years old! The valley name implies the residency of a lake, unfortunately however only a small millpond and marshy sump are left as a reminder of Lakeland's forgotten mere. The sizable lagoon that once graced the valley was drained in 1840 to increase grazing land and as an added bonus rich deposits of diatomaceous earth (used as a thermal insulator, filtration medium or stabilizing agent in dynamite) were discovered in the lakebed. A works site was built to process the product but closed down when supplies ran out in the later parts of the twentieth century. Even an arm of the mighty Roman Empire once called the valley home, and the structure now known as Tongue house – which resides at the far end of the valley – was built on the site of an original Roman guard house.

Unusually for modern times the pace of life in Kentmere seems to have slowed with the march of time, undoubtedly due to the demise of industry, mining and of course the decreasing importance of pastoral farming. This apparent temporal slow down makes the valley an ideal destination for those boulderers looking for peace and quiet, although be warned, unlike many Lakeland valleys, Kentmere has not evolved around tourism and as such there is a distinct lack of both general amenities and parking.

Whilst Kentmere might not be the first place you think of when looking for a days bloc sport in Lakeland, with the likes of the Langdale boulders, Carrock Fell and the Bowderstone springing more readily to mind, it may surprise you to learn that the Kentmere valley hosts the greatest number of recorded problems in Lakeland (over 130). This coupled with its accessibility, beautiful settings and the varied nature of the climbing - with grades ranging from Font3 to Font8c on a combination of slabs, walls and overhangs - make for one of the most diversely enjoyable areas in country.

Area Layout (from parking)


It would have to be said that Kentmere has never been rich in climbing history or nostalgia with its crags being on the whole scrappy and broken in nature, and a far cry from their nearby Langdale counterparts. In spite of this the valleys boulder quota is of a much higher standard and the rock (rhyolite) is generally solid, clean and offers superb levels of friction. The most well known and obvious sector is the Brock Stone, situated in a field behind the village. Badger Rock as it is more commonly known - getting its name from the local wildlife population - has been climbed on since the original pioneers set forth in developing the vast potential of southern Lakeland and has featured in the FRCC guide for many years. The access to Badger Rock was renegotiated in 2004 by the BMC and climbing is now permitted at all times, although no dogs are permitted in the field.

Further recorded development of the valley's bouldering had to wait until the late nineteen nineties when the now infamous Si O'Conor (pictured below on Little Women 8a+) recorded problems in the boulder strewn gully opposite Badger Rock; this area has come to be known as Little Font. The easier and more obvious lines within this sector had been climbed for years by locals and visitors alike but never recorded in detail. Si O’Conor not only documented the area he also recorded a number of previously unclimbed test pieces, including the excellent The Karma of Trees Font7c and the brutal Bright New Colour Font8a+.


It was at this point I became acquainted with the delights of Kentmere. After spotting Si O’Conor’s topo on the FRCC website I felt sure that there was not only good sport to be had but also the possibility of new lines.

The original two Little Font topo’s (both produced by Si O’Conor) were confusing to say the least and this may have added to the area originally being dismissed as poor. Seeing the obvious potential I decided to persevere and produced the first incarnation of the Kentmere bouldering topo for the website LakesBloc.co.uk. On subsequent visits I filled in a few gaps, climbing the awesome and technical Font6c+ arête Negative Reality Inversion and the powerful and perplexing Bass Line Venom Font7b. John Gaskins - at the time at the peak of his powers - also found time to break away from his ongoing crusade to climb every heinously difficult roof and wall project in the south Lakes, to repeat and confirm the difficulty of many of the harder problems on the mighty Giant Stone. More recently John also added Shadow Play (Font8c) to the front face of the Giant Stone which is undoubtedly one of the hardest pieces of rock climbing on the planet!

Jordan Buys on the Giant Stone classic Tourniquet Font8a+, this was the first re-ascent since the demise of a foothold.


Being a keen developer of new areas, as well as up for the occasional wild goose chase, I surmised that if boulders were located at one end of the valley then logic dictated (well it did in my mind) that there were more boulders elsewhere in the vicinity. This led me to discover the Tongue Scar boulders, which are located near the reservoir at the far end of the valley. The crag of Tongue Scar is featured in the 1992 edition of the FRCC Buttermere and Eastern crags guide although it's hardly worth the twenty-minute walk. In contrast the boulders that lie at the foot of the crag offer a good spread of low to mid graded problems generally with grassy landings in a lovely setting. Unfortunately however despite the attempts of the FRCC and others the crag and boulders below were subsequently banned for climbing purposes by the local farmer/land owner, so please DON’T go there.

With the disappointment of the withdrawal of access to the Tongue Scar circuit a vague tip-off, from south Lakes veteran Dave Bates, gave promise of a large virgin block lying further up the Garburn Pass. As it turned out the tip-off lead to the development of what became one of the best individual blocks in Lakeland.

The Garburn Pass is the major bridleway linking Kentmere to Troutbeck. It leads up the western slopes of the valley directly out of Kentmere village and is well known to the local mountain biking and fell running fraternity as a gateway to great days out. With both Little Font and Badger Rock flanking the pass it was an obvious next step to take the three quarter of a mile stroll up the bridleway to pastures new. The next chance I got I set off up the pass and sure enough after a twenty minute walk a cracking (literally) square-cut boulder appeared to the left of the track. At the time (mid-summer) the bracken was high and the weather humid thus making for a midge haven, so a mental note was made to return the following spring. The following March arrived accompanied by some magical crisp clear weather, so off I set armed with note pad and pen, an arsenal of brushes and a gut full of enthusiasm. Over a number of visits I set to work cleaning and climbing all the lines with the able assistance of local stalwarts Andy Butler and John Gaskins, this led to the creation of over twenty lines including some of the best mid to hard grade problems of their style in the Lakes. Image right: Chris Chapman on Bass Line Venom Font7b, Little Font.

Finally the most recent development in the valley occurred in May of 2003, on the hillside directly opposite The Garburn Pass boulder. This sector became known as The Valley of the Kings due to the use of ancient northern king’s titles for the names of many of the problems. Despite looking a little sparse on potential from the Garburn Pass a closer (and steeper) inspection led to the discovery of a grassy plateau in a slight dip further up the hillside and almost completely hidden from view. The plateau contains on large block (the Patio Boulder) and a number a smaller boulders, which combined with the five more visible boulders on the eastern slopes make the basis of a viable circuit containing in the region of thirty problems ranging from Font3 to Font7c (although the majority are in the lower grades) with good grassy landings and superb panoramic views. For a good place to start head for the Patio Boulder and avoid boulders 1 and 6 after rain, as the landings can be remain boggy. A visit to this area is best combined with a tour of the Garburn Pass boulder. Image right: Release the Pressure Font6b+, Garburn Pass boulder.


Cwrast the Ragged Font6c+, Valley of the Kings.


Summarising, if visiting the valley for the first time and climbing in the lower grades I would suggest a visit to Badger Rock with a possible excursion up to the Valley of the Kings if you fancy some quality esoterica. However the best climbing in the valley is in the mid to higher grades, I'd therefore recommend an initial cherry picking session of the best problems at Little Font (see guide descriptions/star ratings), then make a beeline to the Garburn Pass boulder. If time and skin permit then check out some of the crimpy traverses and walls on the Brock Stone’s southern face.

Below is a short (low quality) video clip of bouldering in Kentmere.

Guides
For further details on Kentmere bouldering either check out the Rockfax Lakes Bouldering guide which contains an extensive section on the valley.

Alternatively you can download the NEW (published Feb 2008) LakesBloc guide for free: "Kentmere Valley Bouldering".

The LakesBloc guide is a 2.8mb PDF for which you will need Adobe Reader to view it. If necessary you can download Adobe Reader free here.