The Lake District has the Wainwrights, Scotland has the Munros and now the Dales has 30 mountains of its own. Mountains are usually classed in Britain as being over 2,000 feet high and with a 100 foot drop on all sides.
There are many good reasons to climb the Dales 30:
- Some are well known such as Pen y Ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside (which form the 3 Peaks of Yorkshire challenge) but many gems are rarely visited. The Howgills are superb mountains near Sedbergh but it is rare to see anyone on them.
- The climbing itself is generally straightforward, paths lead to most of the summits, there are no particularly dangerous steep slopes but you must be able to read a map and use a compass as the weather may come in and some of the land is featureless.
- Climbing them will bring you to many of the quiet villages of the area that you may have never visited. Rather than rush up for the day take a weekend and stay in a lovely country pub with a couple of days walking up the mountains. Great at any time of the year.
- It provides a real focus and purpose to the walks, something many people like. With ‘only’ 30 mountains to climb it is a very doable challenge.
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For a list of the mountains or to buy the companion book for the Dales 30 visit the relevant page at Where2walk.
