Pavey Ark

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Pavey Ark
Pavey Ark, seen from the shores of Stickle Tarn
Elevation	700 m (2,297 ft)
Location	Cumbria, England
Range	Lake District
Prominence	c.15 m
Topo map	OS Explorer OL6
OS grid reference	NY285079
Listing	Wainwright, Nuttall

Pavey Ark is a fell in the English county of Cumbria. It is one of the Langdale Pikes, lying to the north of Great Langdale, in the heart of the Lake District, immediately to the north-east of Harrison Stickle.

From the shores of Stickle Tarn, Pavey Ark gives the impression of being a rocky ridge. In fact this is misleading, and the north-western side is simply an undulating area of moorland, rising towards Thunacar Knott. The summit plateau is characterised by tarns, rocky outcrops and bilberry terraces.

[edit] Ascents

Looking south-east from Jack's Rake

Pavey Ark is most often climbed from the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, located some 2 km to the south. The route follows Mill Gill up to Stickle Tarn, which can also be reached via a much less popular and more strenuous path following the Dungeon Ghyll ravines. From Stickle Tarn there is a choice of routes; one of the most popular is to follow a diagonal slit on Pavey Ark's craggy south-eastern face. This route is known as Jack's Rake, and requires scrambling. Alternative, easier, ascents are available on either side of the main crag.

Jack's Rake is the most famous ascent of the Pavey Ark precipice. It is classified as a Grade 1 scramble, but it is within the capability of many walkers. The rake starts beneath the East Buttress at the precipice's eastern end, near a large cairn (with a tablet marked 'JWS 1900') immediately north of Stickle Tarn, and then climbs west across the face of the crag. The rake follows a natural groove in the precipice face and is clearly indicated by several Ash trees. Wainwright wrote that for fellwalkers Jack's Rake is "difficult and awkward", although there is "curiously little sense of exposure, for a comforting parapet of rock accompanies all the steeper parts of the ascent".^[1] The summit is a short walk from the top exit of the rake, which is also used as a descent route and by rockclimbers accessing the climbs on the cliff face.

As with Lord's Rake on Scafell Crag, the word 'rake' refers to a path across major precipices, originally used by climbers for access to rock climbs, but which can also be used by walkers.

Pavey Ark can also be ascended from Stickle Tarn via Easy Gully, North Rake or by the path to Harrison Stickle. Easy Gully is a steep walk on scree between the crags at the eastern end of the precipice, starting from the same place as Jack's Rake, and is blocked by large boulders near the top, where tough scrambling is required. North Rake (so named by Wainwright) starts from the path to High Raise at the very eastern end of the cliff and rises west over the top of the East Buttress. This is a much less exposed and strenuous walking route to the summit.

[edit] Rock climbs

The Pavey Ark crag is split by several large gullies and chimneys — Little Gully, Great Gully, Crescent Gully, Gwynne's Chimney and Rake End Chimney. Other climbs include Crescent Slabs, Arcturus, Cruel Sister, Mother Courage, Sixpence and Impact Day.