Start point: Patterdale (NY 394 160)
Patterdale – Hole-in-the Wall – Striding Edge – Helvellyn – Swirral Edge – Catstycam – Birkhouse Moor – Patterdale
Distance: 7.8 miles Total Ascent: 925 metres Time Taken: 5 hours 30 minutes
Weather: Snowy with blue skies and a light breeze – perfect. 4°C
Wow, what a day today – bright blue skies and crisp white snow made for perfect walking conditions to Helvellyn via Striding Edge and Swirral Edge. Today I was joined by regular contributor to this site, Andy Lang; on the walk we bumped into Graham Thompson and the Trail magazine team doing a feature on Striding Edge and then Andrew Leaney on the summit of Helvellyn. Up on Catstycam we were alone and it didn’t look as though many had trod there today – only a couple of sets of footprints!
![Casper_Sean_Angus[1]](https://www.stridingedge.net/wp-content/gallery/2007-01-25-striding-edge/Casper_Sean_Angus1.jpg "Casper_Sean_Angus[1]")