Helvellyn Red Tarn Face

A great line down the snowbowl above red tarn. Can be steep at the top. The part of the snow bowl nearest the summit is generally less corniced and therefore has easier access. Watch out for climbers doing the grade 1 snow plod up the face. Either side of the bowl is guarded by buttresses, take care in poor weather to avoid traversing to far left or right when dropping it at the top. If you do you will end up above some nice winter climbs (viking buttress or pear buttress) but these are best ascended rather than descended. Hard to grade on any existing scale. To this end i invented "lakeland adventure ski grades". https://sites.google.com/site/skitourlakes/ This gets 7R. See the site for an explaination. In swiss skitouring grades it would have to be SS+/ES if done by swirral edge or striding edge as this is classed as a grade 1 winter climb but being short and low it isn't really like any other SS+ i have ever skied. Lakeland skiing is a mixture of hillwalking, mountaineering, and snow sliding which in most countries would be considered pointless as they have better/higher hills close by. Try to think of it as a multi-activity adventure day rather than a ski tour. Top can be near vertical depending on the size of the cornice. One on the face it rarely feels steeper than 40-45 degrees and mellow as you get lower. Snow conditions are usually terrible, varying from ice to windpack slab to breakable crust in 100m. Late in the day in early spring can give nice spring snow or just after a snow shower. Best option is to watch the film https://vimeo.com/127600056 While it is probably skiable for about 4 months of the year. There are probabaly only a handful of days which will give pleasant conditions.