Blake Rigg and Pike O'Blisco

Pike O'Blisco

Height705m (2,313ft)

Prominence177m (580ft)

RegionSouthern Fells

Climbed4 Times

Whether you know it as Pike of Blisco or the more colloquial Pike O'Blisco, this mountain is a peak that firmly embeds itself in the memory of any Lakeland walker. Sitting proudly as a massive, independent sentinel between the deep troughs of Great Langdale and Little Langdale, it stands entirely isolated from the surrounding ranges on all sides. This distinct separation gives it a magnificent, classic triangular profile that cuts an unmistakable shape against the Cumbrian sky.

"A mountain has added merit if its highest point can be seen from the valley below, instead of being hidden beyond receding upper slopes as is often the case. Such a mountain is Pike O'Blisco, with a tall columnar cairn plainly in view from the floor of Great Langdale." — Wainwright 1958, Book Three

As Alfred Wainwright rightly pointed out, the fell possesses the rare and wonderful attribute of being completely visible from the valley floor below. Unlike so many Lakeland giants whose true summits hide coyly behind a succession of receding upper ridges, Pike O'Blisco displays its high crown openly to anyone standing in the green pastures of Great Langdale. It behaves like a true landmark, greeting you the moment you arrive in the valley and offering an enticing, jagged invitation to ascend.

The twin summit of Pike O'Blisco

Reaching the high ground brings you onto a wonderfully dramatic, twin-peaked summit split by a neat little intermediate col. Each of these rocky outcrops is crowned by an exceptionally large, beautifully constructed stone cairn, giving the top a highly characterful and rugged silhouette. Pulling up a seat by these pillars treats you to a perspective that must be seen to be believed; the view drops down with breathtaking steepness before launching directly across the valley floor to the legendary, craggy profiles of the Langdale Pikes framing the opposite horizon.