The Langdale Enchainment

A truly emotional day, both physically and mentally.  A roller coaster ride through some of the most wonderful rock routes around the Langdale horseshoe.

A total of 12 crags including White Ghyll, Pavey Arc, Raven Crag, Gimmer and Black Crag and 156 routes totaling 256 pitches from Diff up to E2 5c.  A mind–blowing adventure, solo and unsupported, just my running kit and rock shoes and a whole lot of Lake District sun and hot rock, woop, woop!

Sixteen and a half hours after setting off on Walthwaite, here I am topping out on Long Crag on Pike O’Blisco in the beautiful Lake District evening sun, every single move on every single route for the past 256 pitches has been a winner!  Only now has it struck me, how unforgiving the journey could have been if I for one second had dropped my guard, or lapsed in my concentration.  But at the same time I am overwhelmed how truly remarkable this landscape is.  I love this place and feel so privileged to have been able to complete this adventure with the sun on my back and to have unlocked all the little hidden secrets of every route.

For now, I just lay here, a patch of grass on Pike O’Blisco.  I stare up at the darkening sky and everything is still.  It’s these moments that define existence; it’s these moments that life becomes so intense that I could almost burst!

Jöttnar’s Mark Thomas - Walthwaite to Pike O’Blisco, 256 pitches of Langdale rock in 16 and-a-half hours, solo and unsupported from Diff to E2 5c.