Slight Side is a
fell in the English
Lake District
The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...
it stands 25 kilometres east southeast of the town of
Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...
and reaches a height of 762 m (2,499 ft). Slight Side lies at the south western edge of the
Scafell Massif, a four-kilometre-long crescent of high ground which includes the highest ground in England. The fells names derives from the
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
language and means ''"The mountain shieling with the level pastures"'', it is a combination of the Norse words "sletta" and "saetr". With a shieling meaning a shepherds hut or a mountain pasture used in the summer.
Topography
When viewed from the valley of
Eskdale the fell is seen as a distinct peak but in reality it is just the terminal point on
Scafell’s southern ridge before it descends steeply to Eskdale. It only has 14 metres of
topographic prominence
In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...
between itself and Scafell (the col is at 748 metres) and therefore narrowly fails to qualify as a
Nuttall Nuttall may refer to:
People
* Nuttall (name)
* Nuttall baronets
Nature
* Nuttall's oak, a fast-growing large deciduous oak tree native to North America
* Nuttall's woodpecker, a species of woodpecker found in oak woodlands of California
* Nutta ...
hill or a
Hewitt and it is left to
Alfred Wainwright to give Slight Side the status of a separate fell in his
Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells.
Slight Side is steep and craggy on all sides except to the north where the ridge runs to Scafell. The eastern flank falls to the valley of the infant
River Esk while the slopes to the west descend across Eskdale Fell towards Burnmoor Tarn. Horn Crag stands to the south of the summit overlooking Eskdale. Just under a kilometre to the north past the 748m col is Long Green which is the summit of Cam Spout crags. When viewed from a distance (see picture) or even when walking, Long Green can be mistaken for the summit of Slight Side. Cam Spout Crag is a rock climbing location, although not a particularly busy one, with 12 climbs including Cam Spout Buttress and Eskdale Grooves.
Ascents
One possible ascent of Slight Side is from Eskdale and this is often completed in conjunction with Scafell, and possibly
Scafell Pike as well. The ascent may be started at the hamlet of
Boot
A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is cle ...
. It takes the path which passes Eel Tarn and Stony Tarn before crossing bouldery ground to climb the broad ridge to the summit. Scafell stands two kilometres to the north and is reached by a vertical ascent of 230 metres. The fell can be
bagged with little effort while descending to Eskdale from Scafell by the southern ridge.
Summit
The summit of Slight Side is a fine rocky peak and is listed by Alfred Wainwright as one of the six best summits in the Lake District, calling it ''“rocky, shapely and well defined and can be attained only by a rough final scramble”''. The highlight of the view from the summit is the vista westward towards the sea.
References
* Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Southern Fells, Alfred Wainwright
* Complete Lakeland Fells, Bill Birkett
* The Mountains of England and Wales, John and Anne Nuttall
Place names of the Lake District
External links
{{Southern Fells
Fells of the Lake District
Borough of Copeland