As another winter season in the mountains comes to a close you’d be wrong in thinking that all ideas of skiing had been forgotten for another year. Yesterday I received a tweet from Richard Leafe CEO of the Lake District National Park, boasting of the best conditions of the season for skiing in the Lake District. Forget the Alps, it’s time to make first tracks in Cumbria.
Great skiing conditions on Helvellyn yesterday. @RaiseSkiing pic.twitter.com/MnmFxIzmBR
— Richard Leafe (@LakesChief) May 1, 2016
I first met Richard back in April on Good Friday when I stumbled across a group of skiings descending down the face of Helvellyn. When I reported for The Telegraph that you CAN ski in the Lake District my work colleagues really couldn’t believe it, so I caught up with Richard to see if we really can compare the fells of the Lake District to the slopes of the Alps.
Read my article for Telegraph Ski and Snowboard (my day job for those who don’t know) here.
“Skiing in the Lakes means a lot to me and I think it’s a real hidden gem,” said Richard.
“You have to grab it while you can but when conditions are good it offers great great skiing and touring on a varied range of terrain. Perfecting the skills to ski on grass does help though!”
“The conditions vary a lot from day to day and that’s one of the reasons why we here at the Park Authority employ a Fell Top Assessor to report on the conditions on Helvellyn every day of the winter. Two guys share the task of going to summit every day and post a report on our website.”
“It’s a great place to look to decide if skiing is possible, along with the webcam on the ski club site. Otherwise, it’s like many mountain areas, word of mouth and social media between a small group of keen skiers keeps us updated on where conditions are good.”
Skiing in the Lake District isn’t a new thing, the Lake District Ski Club was founded in 1936 by a group of volunteers and operates a 360m button lift, which replaced a tow rope in 1989, on Raise (883m) – the peak next to Helvellyn.
“There’s a great tradition of skiing in the Lake District and the Ski Club dates back to 1936. It’s an honour for me to be the current President of a great cub, run by dedicated volunteers,” said Richard.
Accessed from the village of Glenridding on Ullswater lake, Raise has nine ungroomed pistes, the longest measuring almost a mile, and provides access to the surrounding peaks including Helvellyn (950m) and Catstycam (890m).
With winter refusing to let go to Spring just yet in the Lake District the ski club are still able to enjoy fresh snow on the Cumbrian pistes in May. Will you be packing your ski kit next time you head to the Lake District? I definitely can’t wait to give it a go!
LUCY
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LUCY IN THE LAKES 
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