New Fell Top Assessor Starts

There's a new man on the Weatherline fell top assessor team and his initial stint climbing Helvellyn on a daily basis has coincided with some of the harshest winter conditions for years.


New man Jason Taylor - above - is a former international travel group leader who now runs his own Lake District guiding company. Over the winter period, he'll take it in turns with fellow assessor Jon Bennett to climb Helvellyn every day to report on conditions for the National Park's Weatherline service.

So far he's encountered one metre deep snow drifts, avalanche hazards, wind chill giving an effective temperature of -16˚C on the tops and a dicky summit cornice with suspect fracture lines.

As usual the National Park is at pains to emphasise the dangers of winter hills. “Only those with full winter equipment and a lot of experience should be venturing on them,” says Jason, who reckons he's a natural for the job.

“I’ve led climbs in full winter conditions across the Lake District and Scotland, he says. "And got a big interest in weather patterns, particularly their effects in the mountains. Fell top assessing is the perfect job for me!
 
“I love everything to do with the great outdoors – walking, climbing, mountain and road biking, running; learning languages is the exception.
 
“Helvellyn is magnificent, wild, exhilarating and very special. To have Arctic conditions in my first week is just amazing.
 
“But there is a big sting in the tail. Mountains are very dangerous places right now. Unless you have the right experience, don’t go there. And if you do, be properly equipped and have the humility to know when to turn back.”

Weatherline is a brilliant winter conditions resource and can be found at  www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/weatherline or by calling 0844 846 2444.

More handy mountain weather resources in this article.