One of the Fell Top Assessors has celebrated his 751st ascent of Helvellyn.
Jon Bennett, from Ambleside, is hanging up his boots for the national park after providing vital ground condition reports for walkers for 16 years.
Working alongside Zac Poulton and Wes Hunter, the trio have previously taken it in turns to climb the mountain every day from December to March.
They brave everything from rain to snow and wind chill as low as minus 23°C in order to record temperature, snow depth, wind speed, underfoot conditions and assess risks, including potential avalanches.
Their findings are then published onto Weatherline – the Lake District National Park’s weather service. It offers insight into fell top conditions which is combined with the Met Office’s weather forecast specially for walkers.
Jon first got involved with the team through spotting a job vacancy after using the Weatherline service personally for years prior.
He said: “I was delighted to be offered the interview and amazed to be offered the job to be honest. I didn’t expect to get it because I didn’t have any specific outdoor qualifications, just the general skills and abilities to be able to do it.
“It’s amazing how time flies, this is my 16th season and I actually find that more difficult to believe than the ascents I’ve done. I’ve done 751 ascents for the national park and probably over 800 with times I’ve gone up for leisure.
“To be frank, you never get tired of seeing the view from the top as you don’t always get to see the view from the top, it’s the different weather conditions every day that make it superb.
“It’s very rare you get identical conditions, they do very much so change each day, so it never gets boring.”
Jon said that his favourite experience summiting Helvellyn involved witnessing a Brocken spectre – where a rainbow halo is cast around a person’s shadow in mid air upon cloud.
He added: “When you’re walking above the cloud it’s a fantastic thing anyway but the icing on the cake is when you get the sun casting your shadow beneath you and you actually see a halo around your head or your whole body. You never get tired of seeing those.
“I remember a particularly amazing day when a Brocken spectre was literally following me as I was walking the whole length of striding edge covered in ice, as opposed to it being a fleeting experience.
“The general cloud inversions are also brilliant when everyone is in the valley thinking it’s a crap day but you’re above the cloud in the bright sunshine looking down. It’s like a view from an aeroplane.”
Over his time spent summitting the mountain for the national park, Jon said he had picked up three life-saving pieces of advice for walkers.
“It’s a general piece of advice really, but always know when to turn back. It’s great to push yourself but it’s about knowing that fine line of when it’s not safe and sensible to continue.
“I think a lot of people also aren’t thinking about what happens if they slip and how will they stop themselves sliding down when they’re going up snowy slopes without ice axes and crampons. It’s not about scaring yourself, it’s just about having that imagination to think what happens if I do slip.
“The other thing people forget to take up in the winter months is torches. It only takes a little bit to be delayed coming down a fell and it should always be in a rucksack in my opinion
“Spare clothing is also vital – you also see a lot of people walking up with skimpy rucksacks or no rucksacks at all and its again all it takes is a sprained ankle or worse. You can’t get down quick and you can get cold very very quickly without that extra something.”
The Fell Top Assessors primarily focus on Helvellyn due to its huge popularity – with ridges like striding and swirral edge – and its large east facing headwall that gets more snow and ice.
Jon said: “Not many people are aware that when you can’t see the tops with cloud, conditions up there can be very different under foot.
“What might be a grassy slope in summer when covered in snow that melts and then freezes can create a vertical icy slope for people to contend with.
“You can get small snow slides even in the Lake District and we have seen small snow cornices and big snow overhangs.
“So people coming up from the Westerly side can be coming up distracted by the euphoric view not realising they’re stepping on frozen water over a great big drop.
“But it’s all about giving people the knowledge to be safe in the fells, some people love the snow and want to go play and experience it while others want the guidance to do safe walks beneath it.
“We’re not fell top policemen by any means, but we do give advice to people when needed.”
Jon added that while he’s retiring from his role, he doesn’t plan to stop getting out on the fells – or using Weatherline.
He said: “I really believe in the service we’re offering and that’s been substantiated from comments when meeting people on the fells who have shaken our hands and thanked us for the service we provide.
“I’ve definitely got a lot of pleasure, motivation and to be honest pride doing it for this length of time. I’ve met some really lovely people on the fells doing it as well, not least my colleagues.”
