Walking the Wainwrights at Home

Miss the mountains? Staying at home? Climbing the Wainwrights is great exercise, invigorating and good for the soul. How about walking the Wainwrights at home?

Walking the Wainwrights

I started to climb the 214 Wainwright fells in 2015 with my son Jack on Wansfell. Wansfell is a little hill in the Far Eastern Fells of the Lake District. It took a few hours up and down.

Walking every Wainwright is a significant achievement. Mostly, all we see on Facebook groups are photos on the summit announcing the conquest. The 214 Wainwright fells are more than that.

Everyone celebrates the summit, the achievement, but not everyone celebrates the stress that’s been shed, the physical release, the time alone, meditation, spiritual gain, weight loss, getting fit and the strengthening of your heart and lungs.

These benefits have never been so important, and with COVID-19 lockdown, they’ve never been so unavailable.

During my three years completing the 214 Wainwrights, I had amazing adventures, got fit again and lost three stone. I celebrated being alive, made great friends and wild camped on summits. I crossed rivers, battled snow-storms, slept in bothies and caves, became a Mountain Leader and started a hiking company.

Stay at home

Now, we’re told to stay at home. The Lake District National Park is closed for the first time since it, and the right to roam in it, was open to the public in 1952.

What do we do? Run around the field at the back of the house, or buy some dumbells?

Mountains at home

While we sit on the sofa eating Cheetos, unbeknownst to us, there are mountains in our homes.

Near the chimney sits Helvellyn. Just to the side stands Skiddaw. At the end of that corridor or through a door hides Scafell Pike.

Just over two metres tall, the tallest of mountains are waiting for you in your hallway.

The best chance of you climbing a mountain, without looking over your shoulder, is climbing your stairs. Even climbing Everest is possible up the fourteen steps that take you to bed every night. But who needs Everest when we have Great Mell Fell and Great Gable, Great Sca Fell and Scafell Pike.

We don’t know how long this Coronavirus Lockdown is going to keep us away from our beloved Wainwrights. I say, let’s start climbing our very own mountains, in our homes.

Get a copy

Wainwright’s Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells describes the Wainwright fells in great detail and shows you all of the ascents possible. There’s a description of each summit and attractions you can find when you explore.

Walking the Wainwrights at home

I have 14 stairs in my house, and each one of them is 205mm high (0.205 m). From the hallway to the landing is 2.87 m (14 x 0.205). That’s easy to work out.

Castle Crag, my favourite little Wainwright, according to Alfred Wainwright, is 700ft (213m) of ascent by Wainwright’s reckoning. So, ascending Castle Crag will take 74 flights of stairs.

At the other end of the spectrum, Scafell Pike from Wasdale, via Lord’s Rake, is 3000ft (914m) and that would take a whopping 318 flights!

You can work out the height of your stairs using the calculation above or just work off my table below (my stairs are quite average).

Taking on the challenge

Why not start today with Latrigg from the car park at only 24 flights and celebrate with your summit photo.

Catbells is only 133 flights, how long will that take you?

Record your Wainwrights at home

Over the whole lock-down, see how many Wainwrights you can summit. Can you make the 318 flights and summit Scafell Pike?

Why not get yourself a Wainwrights tick list and tick them off as you summit each one at home?

Some Wainwright at home suggestions

Share your summit photos

Post your summit selfies on the Walking The Wainwrights Facebook group and let us know how you’re getting on.

Walking The Wainwrights on Facebook

List of Wainwrights by height

This is the official list of the 214 Wainwrights summit height above sea level from the database of British and Irish hills.