Lartington High Moor and Bowes Moor

Some time ago, having not skied in this area, I surmised that: "starting on a bridleway from the high point (290m) of the Bowes/Cotherstone road, climb west, crossing the Pennine Way (western alternative) and gaining the untracked moor at 420m. The rather ill-defined ridge then leads west to a very flat and featureless area before climbs to either Beldoo Moss (482m) or Great Knipe (515m) overlooking Maiden Castle."

The Bowes/Cotherstone road is not kept open with the same reliability as the A66, so for the 2003 season, I looked at tours from the main road leading onto this same area of moor (with the advantage of a higher starting point). At the point where the Pennine Way (western alternative) crosses the A66 at Pasture End (NY 954 128) is a layby on the eastbound carriageway (very soon after the turn to the Otter Trust) which can be reached from the westbound, by a crossing through the central reservation a few tens of metres to its west (or, if you miss this, a U-turn at the Otter Trust). 200m east of the layby is a gate and stile onto the open fell.

A short tour well worth doing when the ground is well frozen is to follow the Pennine Way (fairly well defined and visible, even under snow) up to Ravock Castle, then down to a footbridge over the beck in Sled dale (NY 947 147). From here the path is less obvious, but route finding is easy by keeping within 20m or so of the wall ascending the fellside over a series of false summits. When, just at the top, where the view north opens up to Balderhead reservoir, there is a gate in the wall to the right, a pleasant bridleway leads east (NY 942 160). Alternatively, 50m further north, a gate or stile can be crossed and the Pennine Way followed down to the road.

The bridleway east leads at a gentle angle ideal for kick and glide at first and for a gentle schuss further on. A shallow valley develops on your right, and some way before the bridleway reaches a gate (at NY 968 163), the Pennine Way (eastern alternative) goes off into the valley. It is not at all well-defined, so zig-zag down slopes generally south, crossing the steep, but not very deep incised valley of Hazelgill Beck. Up the far side, continue towards a farm house with a very steep-pitched roof. To its right a track goes through a gate, but first, and more problematical, it goes through a ford (NY 968 154). This is shallow, but the harder the ground is frozen, the less water you will have to deal with. I crossed it with skis on, to give me a bit more height above the stream bed and avoid stepping into any odd deep holes, but if there is a substantial flow, skis would be better removed as they do tend to drag your feet away.

Through the gate, the track leads up, then curves left until it reaches the road at West Stoney Keld (an alternative access point if it has been cleared). Just before this is a metal barrier across a track leading right, signposted "Bridleway: Pasture End 2m". The track is followed until the wall on its left turns up the hill. A path then ascends the moor, initially very poorly defined, but becoming clearer, with the occasional marker post or yellow footpath sign on a rock. The ascent is mostly very gentle, and snow conditions on my ascent were better than on the first part of this route. For some time before the end, the noise of traffic on the A66 sounds much nearer than it is. The route of ascent is rejoined just at a wall-corner at the top of a gentle schuss down the gate onto the A66.

Variations: At the footbridge (NY 947 147), a path leads east, with pretty good snow conditions (compared with the open moor) on my visit. This cuts directly across to West Stoney Keld, and thus avoids the ford, but also avoids the good views from the main ridge attained by doing the full route as described above. There are other paths higher on the hillside above Sled Dale, one departing at Ravock Castle, and one just before the Pennine Way crosses Duckett Syke. These are much less obvious on the ground where they leave the Pennine Way, but should have better views and the one from Duckett Syke leads to a well-defined track within a fairly short distance.

Continuing north from NY 942 161 and down to the road enables one to ski next to the road (which has very little traffic at any time of the year, let alone when there is enough snow to ski), or to join the eastern alternative Pennine Way path to the north of the road. Both ways rejoin, and this bit of Pennine Way can be followed up the hill from NY 948 178 past Goldsborough to the other end of the bridleway along the ridge. This variation involves substantially more ascent and I haven't had the opportunity to ski it myself.

The area to the south of Stainmore, north of Tan Hill, looks as though it should provide a similar experience.

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