Saturday 1 July 2000

Slight Side

Slight Side at the end of Scafell's descending ridge
Height: 762m (2,500ft)
Prominence: 14m (46ft)
Region: Southern Fells
Classifications: Wainwright, Birkett
Summit feature: Small cairn on outcrop
Times climbed: 3
Related trip reports:
Scafell Pike & Scafell via Pen & Lord's Rake - 01/07/2018
An Eskdale Round - 06/08/2016
Scafell & Slight Side via Lord's Rake and the West Wall Traverse - 26/05/2015
Slight Side's nice rocky summit
What Wainwright said:

"The mile-long south ridge of Scafell descends loftily to an abrupt terminus at a barrier of rock, which rises to a neat peak, Slight Side, and, then to the east, falls sharply to Eskdale". 

Slight Side lies at the southwestern edge of the Scafell Massif, a four kilometre long crescent of high ground which includes the highest ground in England.

The fells name derives from the Old Norse 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.

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”.

Return to Lake District – Southern Fells

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