Pavey Ark

Infobox Mountain
Name = Pavey Ark
Photo = P1230070.jpg
Caption = Pavey Ark, seen from the shores of Stickle Tarn
Elevation = 700 m (2,297 ft)
Location = Cumbria, ENG
Range = Lake District, Central Fells
Prominence = "c."15 m
Parent peak = Thunacar Knott
Coordinates =
Topographic
OS "Explorer" OL6
Grid_ref_UK = NY285079
Listing = Wainwright, Nuttall
Translation =
Language =
Pronunciation =

Pavey Ark is a fell in the English county of Cumbria. It is one of the Langdale Pikes, lying to the north of Great Langdale, in the heart of the Lake District, immediately to the north-east of Harrison Stickle.

Topography

From the shores of Stickle Tarn, Pavey Ark gives the impression of being a rocky ridge. In fact this is misleading, and the north-western side is simply an undulating area of moorland, rising towards Thunacar Knott. The summit plateau is characterised by tarns, rocky outcrops and bilberry terraces.

Pavey Ark is the largest cliff in the Langdales, but faces east over Stickle Tarn and is less prominent from the floor of Great Langdale away to the south. The main face is a little over a quarter of a mile across and drops about 400 ft. To the south west it merges into the crags of Harrison Stickle, while the northern end peters out into the valley of Bright Beck. Stickle Tarn is wholly within the territory of the Ark, a corrie tarn which has been dammed to create additional capacity. The stone faced barage is low enough not to spoil the character of the pool, and the water is used for public consumption in the hotels and homes below. The tarn has a depth of around 50 ft. Blair, Don: "Exploring Lakeland Tarns": Lakeland Manor Press (2003): ISBN 0-9543-9041-5 ]

Geology

The face is an outcrop of the formation named for the fell, the Pavey Ark Member. This consists of pebbly sandstone and breccia and is set within the Seathwaite Fell Formation of volcaniclastic sandstone with interbeds of tuff, lapilli-tuff, breccia and conglomerate.British Geological Survey 1:50,000 series maps: Sheet 38: BGS (1998)]

Ascents

Pavey Ark is most often climbed from the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, located some 1 ¼ miles (2 km) to the south. The route follows Mill Gill up to Stickle Tarn, which can also be reached via a much less popular and more strenuous path following the Dungeon Ghyll ravines. From Stickle Tarn there is a choice of routes; one of the most popular is to follow a diagonal slit on Pavey Ark's craggy south-eastern face. This route is known as "Jack's Rake", and requires scrambling. Alternative, easier, ascents are available on either side of the main crag.

"Jack's Rake" is the most famous ascent of the Pavey Ark precipice. It is classified as a Grade 1 scramble, but it is within the capability of many walkers, though it does require a head for heights and is considerably harder in bad weather. The rake starts beneath the East Buttress at the precipice's eastern end, near a large cairn (with a tablet marked 'JWS 1900') immediately north of Stickle Tarn, and then climbs west across the face of the crag. The rake follows a natural groove in the precipice face and is clearly indicated by several Ash trees. Wainwright wrote that for fellwalkers Jack's Rake is "difficult and awkward", although there is "curiously little sense of exposure, for a comforting parapet of rock accompanies all the steeper parts of the ascent".cite book |author=Wainwright, A |title= A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Book 3 The Central Fells |publisher= Westmorland Gazette |year= 1958] The summit is a short walk from the top exit of the rake, which is also used as a descent route and by rockclimbers accessing the climbs on the cliff face.

As with "Lord's Rake" on Scafell Crag, the word 'rake' refers to a path across major precipices, originally used by climbers for access to rock climbs, but which can also be used by walkers.

Pavey Ark can also be ascended from Stickle Tarn via "Easy Gully", "North Rake" or by the path to Harrison Stickle. "Easy Gully" is a steep walk on scree between the crags at the eastern end of the precipice, starting from the same place as "Jack's Rake", and is blocked by large boulders near the top, where tough scrambling is required. "North Rake" (so named by Wainwright) starts from the path to High Raise at the very eastern end of the cliff and rises west over the top of the East Buttress. This is a much less exposed and strenuous walking route to the summit.

ummit and View

There is no cairn on the bare rock of the summit, set back a few yards from the edge and a little to the north of the exit from Jack's Rake. The view north west is perhaps spoilt by the long slopes of High Raise, but the Eastern and Southern Fells are well seenMark Richards: "The Central Fells": Collins (2003): ISBN 0-00-711365-X]

Rock climbs

The Pavey Ark crag is split by several large gullies and chimneys — Little Gully, Great Gully, Crescent Gully, Gwynne's Chimney and Rake End Chimney. Other climbs include Crescent Slabs, Arcturus, Cruel Sister, Mother Courage, Sixpence and Impact Day.

References