Damparse Crag, Upper Mosedale

This area is best reached by following the left-hand path up the valley from Wasdale Head, and continuing past a prominent split boulder (the Y Boulder). A few hundred metres past this landmark, cross onto the right side of the main beck to avoid marshy ground. Soon the crags of the upper combe (Blackem Head) come into view. The light coloured slabs towards the head of the valley is Elliptical Crag. (This has been given the wrong grid reference in the guidebook). High to the left of this a series of outcrops lie just below the summit ridge, the highest point being the pronounced Summit Buttress. ­Below these crags, and slightly below and left of Elliptical Crag are two areas of rock separated by a deep, wet gully. The right-hand buttress is called Hanging Corner Crag, and the left-hand buttress is called Damparse Crag. The approach is 3km and takes 75 minutes.

This is a steep rounded pillar of clean, solid rock, with a spectacularly steep wall overlooking a large gully on the right (Damparse Gully, 90m VD, insecure grass pitches interspersed with scree). The base of this gully is always wet and it is this wetness around the bottom which gave the crag its name. The crag itself dries quickly. All the routes start from the foot of Damparse Gully.