Scafell - Keswick Brother's Climb

The Keswick Brothers were some of the key early rock climbing pioneers. What is particularly important about them is fact they travelled with an camera making them some of the first people to capture rock climbing imagery. They set first accents up and down the UK including their first climb on Scafell Crag in 1897. Keswick Brother’s Climb takes a shorter line up the left side of the buttress over easy ground and up the grooved slab. If you have ever wondered why Very Difficult climbs are generally easy, you need to understand the adjectival grading system used in Britain comes from the 1800’s. Climbers in that period didn’t have cams or even nuts. They didn’t have Kernmantle dynamic ropes or dedicated sticky rubber climbing shoes. In fact this climb was graded over 20 years before the carabiner was invented!

The Route Topography

This is the route Keswick Brother's Climb on Scafell in Cumbria, England. It represents 74m of Rhyolite rock climbing, usually over 3 pitches, of a max grade of VD 3c. Clicking the image will load the full screen high resolution Keswick Brother's Climb climb topo.

Original Image: John Fleetwood

Approach & Descent Information

Approach: Best approached from Wasdale where there are a couple of big car parks. Allow an hour to hike uphill to the crag. The route Leads most of the way to Scarfell Pike, but once the Scarfell Crag comes into sight, take a right less used fork in the path to the crag. Access to the starting terrace is gained via a path on the right of the crag.

Descent: There are multiple options for decent on each end of the crag and require steep scrambling and/or and abseil.

See Scafell on the climb map Open climb location in Google Maps