Eagle Crag

The summit of Eagle Crag. Sergeant’s Crag is in the middle distance, High Raise in the background.

Height: Wainwright’s approximation of 1650’ is clearly too low: the revised edition acknowledges this. But there remains no official ‘spot height’ on the summit of the fell (and note that the fell itself is technically nameless: on the OS map, the words ‘Eagle Crag’ clearly refer to the crag, not the fell itself). Chris Jesty acknowledges that the height must be ‘at least’ 1700’, and Memory-Map, which usually underestimates altitudes a bit, let me get up to 1704’.

Volume: Book 3 (The Central Fells).

Date climbed: First visit: 10th November 2012 (walk 68). Second visit: 26th July 2021 (walk 192).

Eagle Crag, from Stonethwaite. The route up the face will be easy to trace on this photo for anyone who owns Wainwright’s volume 3.

Bagged as number: First round: 211 of 330. [ << Hen Comb (210)  (212) Sergeant’s Crag >> ]

Second round: 281 of 330. [ << Sergeant’s Crag (280) (282) Faulds Brow >> ]

Route of ascent and descent: First visit: Ascended from Stonethwaite, straight up the face of the fell (Wainwright’s ‘Route A’). Left on the ridge to Sergeant’s Crag.

Second visit: Came over from Sergeant’s Crag. Descended to Greenup Gill, and eventually to Rosthwaite.

What Mr Wainwright says (from page 2 of his chapter): “The mass of elevated ground of which the principal summit is High Raise, although gently contoured on the upper plateaux and along the ridge, is sturdily buttressed around the flanks: in Eagle Crag it has a giant cornerstone so splendidly situated, so nobly proportioned, and of so arresting an appearance that it is, to the eye of the artist and the mountaineer, a far worthier object than the parent fell rising behind. Eagle Crag soars high above the confluence of the valleys of Langstrath and Greenup, its steep cliffs climbing in tiers from bracken slopes to the neat, tapering crest. This is a beautiful fell, often admired, seldom ascended.”

Sergeant’s Crag and, to the right, in shadow, Eagle Crag, looking a totally different shape from this angle. Picture taken on walk 45, 7th October 2011 – and, of course, the banner image at the top of this site.

What I say: I thoroughly enjoyed the ascent of Eagle Crag. Once the initial haul up by the old wall was done, and the stile crossed, everything from there on up – the short gully, the crag itself, the terraces, the summit, and the view (particularly of Sergeant’s Crag and Langstrath) – are all well worth the bother. I see no reason why this ascent can’t be enjoyed by everyone: there are two short stretches of mild scrambling which probably put it out of the reach of anyone under the age of 7 but now I’ve done it I would feel safe taking Joe up there next time. It is certainly less difficult than it looks from below, and certainly easier than, say, Mellbreak, which is otherwise comparable in size and gradient.

The summit is also a neat little spot (though I’m not sure I would class it as ‘top 6’, as Wainwright does); and generally the fell is very photogenic. I can’t see you need to ask for much more than that. Highly recommended.

[ << Dunnerdale Fells     Eel Crag >> ]

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