FELL top assessors with the Lake District National Park Authority’s Weatherline service have started their daily treks up Helvellyn.
Between now and April one of the national park’s three specialist fell top assessors will, on a daily basis, climb to the 950-metre high summit to assess snow and ground conditions and compile a daily report for outdoor enthusiasts.
And for the inaugural ascent of the season, the fell top assessors were joined by two members of the public who learned first-hand how to change their approach to walking once there is snow and ice on the fells.
Darryl Ramage and friend Lynne Morrison were the lucky winners of a national park competition, selected from more than 1,000 entries to accompany the fell top assessors on their season launch and take part in a private winter skills course.
Mr Ramage, from Dumbarton in Scotland, said: “We’re frequent walkers in the hills and mountains of Scotland and have been all over Europe on expeditions. From Germany to Poland to Slovenia to Italy but we’ve never been lucky enough to climb in the Lake District so we are realising a lifetime ambition today.
“We’ve been following Weatherline for the last couple of weeks and were celebrating the first fall of snow on the fells. It’s a fantastic resource to make sure you get an accurate idea of the weather and conditions on the fell tops.
“Although we are both quite experienced climbers, we are by no means experts, so we are absolutely delighted to be learning from the best today. We’ve picked up a lot of safety information and numerous hints and tips. It’s been great. We can’t wait to get back to the Lake District soon to put our new skills to good use.”
The vital Weatherline service, which has been running for 31 years, will give those heading to the mountains all the information they need about the conditions that day. Information is shared on a live Twitter feed by the fell top assessors during their mountain hike on @LakesWeather and online www.lakedistrictweatherline.co.uk.
Graham Uney, one of the LDNPA's fell top assessors, said: “This is now my fifth year as a fell top assessor and each season I have to pinch myself as I really do believe I’ve got one of the best jobs in the world."
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