Glaramara

Glaramara
Lake District National Park Show map of the Lake District Glaramara Location in Allerdale, Cumbria Show map of the former Allerdale Borough
Location	Cumbria, England
Parent range	Lake District, Southern Fells
OS grid	NY246104
Topo map	OS Landrangers 89,90, Explorer OL4

Glaramara is a fell in the English Lake District in Cumbria. It is a substantial fell that is part of a long ridge that stretches for over six kilometres (3+3⁄4 miles) from Stonethwaite in Borrowdale up to the important mountain pass of Esk Hause. The summit of Glaramara at 783 metres (2,569 ft) is the central point of this ridge, which separates the valleys of Langstrath and Grains Gill. However, the ridge has two additional fells, numerous subsidiary tops and several small tarns making its traverse an appealing and challenging walk.

Name

The fell’s unusual and pleasant-sounding name, previously only applied to the summit rocks, has now been accepted as the name for the whole fell. Like many fells of the district the name comes from a series of

Topography

Glaramara’s most striking feature is Combe Gill on its northern slopes, a classic example of a

The direct ascent of the fell is usually started from the Borrowdale road midway between Rosthwaite and Seatoller. From here it is possible to ascend on either of the ridges to the east or west of Combe Gill, the east ridge being the best because it allows for the climbing of Rosthwaite Fell and its subsidiary summit of Dovenest Top (632 metres, 2073 ft). On this route two other tops of Glaramara, Combe Door Top (676 metres, 2218 ft) and Combe Head (735 metres, 2411 ft), are passed over. Both of these are Nuttalls. Combe Head gives fine views down into Combe Gill and from here it is short climb to the twin summits of Glaramara.^[1][3]

Summits

The view from the top of the fell is very good. Glaramara’s position in the centre of the Lake District and its relative isolation from other fells by deep valleys gives a good all-round panorama with the view north down Borrowdale towards Skiddaw being especially fine. Most walkers will continue south along the ridge towards the next main fell of Allen Crags taking in three more subsidiary tops on the way. The first of these is Looking Steads (775 metres, 2543 ft) which has Nuttall status, the second is Glaramara South Top / Red Beck Top / Lincomb Head (721 metres, 2365 ft) which is a Hewitt and also a Nuttall (called Red Beck Top on the list) and finally High House Tarn Top (684 metres, 2244 ft) which is also a Nuttall.^[1][3]

Fell race

The fell is the scene of the annual Glaramara Fell Race which has taken place in April in the past but the 2006 event was switched to July. This is an eight-kilometre (five-mile) race from Glaramara Outdoor Centre near Seatoller to Glaramara’s summit with 640 metres (2,100 ft) of ascent. The winner of the race usually takes around 47 minutes to complete the course.^[4]

References