Whiteside

The Whiteside ridge from Grasmoor

Height: 707m (2,320ft)

Prominence: 15m (49ft)

Region: North Western Fells

Classifications: Nuttall, Wainwright, Birkett

Summit feature: Large platform & trig pillar

Times climbed: 1

Related trip report: 
Whiteless Pike, Grasmoor, Hopegill Head & Whiteside - 27/09/2015

Whiteside's summit looking back to Hopegill Head

What Wainwright said:

"As travellers make their way up the Vale of Lorton, eager for sight of the thrilling Buttermere skyline, their enthusiasm is kept in check by the successive buttresses of Whiteside, which descend steeply into the valley. These steep acclivities are rough and stony".

Whiteside stands at the western end of the Grisedale Pike - Hopegill Head ridge overlooking Crummock Water.

Whiteside forms a shallow crescent, concave to the south and fringed on that face by the great wall of Gasgale Crags. These drop 500 ft direct from the summit ridge into the valley below. The eastern end of the fell connects to Hopegill Head without any great loss of height, while the western end of the ridge descends steeply over Whiteside End to the Vale of Lorton.

Whiteside has three summits: the "Wainwright" top stands at the Crummock Water end of the ridge and has a height of 707 metres. Wainwright accepted that it was not the highest point, but chose it as the summit in his Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells. This western top does have sufficient prominence to be classified as a Nuttall. Wainwright described the true summit as the "East top", this being 400 metres further along the ridge to Hopegill Head and substantially higher at 719m. The Nuttalls describe the true summit as "Whiteside East Top" and the lower "Wainwright" summit as "Whiteside".

The ridge walk between Whiteside and Hopegill Head is ranked as one of the best in the district and the summit harbours a fine vista of West Cumberland, the Solway Firth and the hills of Scotland.

Return to Lake District – North Western Fells