Back after a short trip away, and we’re in the middle of a heatwave! It’s sometimes hard to remember the cold winter days when the sun is beating down, so here are some images from a few years back to remind you of those happy, snowy days.
A touch of snow changes the whole feel of the place, but winters like this are becoming rare south of the Scottish Border.
This was a ski trip up Pen y Ghent in the Yorkshire Dales, some years ago. I had bailed out (you can see my ski tracks higher on the left) when I saw the avalanche debris running down the slope, with some dodgy looking cornices above. Still, a day out is a day out!
The sun was starting to dip as I headed home, giving Pen y Ghent a warm glow.
If you like any of the images, feel free to share or use – just give me a mention, that would be cool.
All images © Paul Shorrock
As I , a Northern lass in Kent, sit sweltering through the current heatwave, I cannot tell you how delightful these images are to see. Think I’ve confirmed I’m an autumn/winter person!
Haha, that’s two of us then 🙂
Great ones of Penyghent! Are you sure it had cornices and avalanches though? The avalanche tracks look like one day when I was up there with a lot of touristy-unspiked people and when I got to the that section of the hill (which was totally banked out with thick snow), several of them ended up sliding sideways all the way down that face to the foot of it – not the descent they were aiming for but pretty funny!
Yeah, definitely avalanche debris, caused by a narrow section of cornice collapse. The problem on that day was that there was a much larger section of cornice teetering above my planned route, so that was that as they say. Whoever ‘they’ are
I’ve honestly never seen a cornice in Yorkshire!
I’ve tried to add an image of the Pen y Ghent cornices to the comment, but I don’t know if it’s going to work. If not, try following the link below.
The most lethal avalanche in the UK was in December 1836 at Lewes in Sussex, when a huge cornice on a 160 metre hill collapsed, killing eight people. Funny stuff snow!
https://hillcraftguidedwalking.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Cornices-on-Pen-y-Ghent-Crag-with-evidence-of-some-avalanche-debris.jpg
Great pictures.
Cheers John