Lambrigg Fell - G/LD-046 SOTA (2022)

Summits on the Air Activation Report

Activation Date: Friday 25th March, 2022.
Activator(s): Richard M1HAX.
Summit: Lambrigg Fell, Lake District, England.
Summit ID: SOTA reference G/LD-046 (1 point).
Summit Height: 340m elevation, 159m prominence.
Summit Location: Lat./Long. 54.34149, -2.63702. Maidenhead Grid IO84qi.
Distance: 3.6km travelled with 90m of ascent.
Difficulty: SAC Grade T1.^(?)
Elapsed Time: 1hr 10m (including operating).
Weather: 20°C, gentle breeze, sunny.
Radio Equipment: Yaesu FTM100D, MFJ-1714, Zippy 4200mAh 4S LiFePo4.
Callsign Used: M1HAX/P.
Contacts: 5 (2m FM).

Trip Notes

Lambrigg Fell is a modest hill in Cumbria’s eastern Lake District, standing at 340 metres in elevation. Though overshadowed by the Lake District’s more famous peaks, this unassuming summit offers excellent views across the surrounding countryside and is notable for the wind farm that occupies part of its slopes. Its accessibility makes it a perfect quick hill walk and activation for SOTA enthusiasts traveling on the M6 motorway.

Having spent the previous day in winter conditions on Britain’s highest mountain, I found myself heading south from Scotland after my climbing partner had departed for the Alps. Rather than continuing with my original plan to visit an indoor ice climbing centre near Fort William, I decided to break up my journey home with this convenient Lake District activation.

I exited the M6 at junction 37 and found ample parking space near a quarry just a few minutes from the motorway. This accessibility is one of Lambrigg Fell’s main advantages as a SOTA destination, perfect for those seeking a quick activation while passing through the area.

The ascent from the parking area is straightforward and relatively short. Unlike many Lake District fells, there aren’t well-defined paths to the summit - it’s more a case of finding your own route across the open, grassy slopes. I’ll admit my route was somewhat circuitous as I divided my attention between navigation, using my phone, and taking photographs of the pleasant surroundings.

The weather conditions were remarkably different from the previous day on Ben Nevis - warm sunshine and gentle breezes replaced the snow and whiteout conditions of Scotland. At around 20C, it felt unusually hot for March in the Lake District, making for a pleasant, almost summer-like hike.

After about 30 minutes of walking, I reached the summit area. Taking care to identify the actual high point by consulting my map (important for staying within the SOTA activation zone), I set up my portable radio station consisting of the Yaesu FTM100D and MFJ-1714 antenna. Operating conditions were excellent, and I completed five QSOs on 2 metres FM in about ten minutes. It was particularly enjoyable to contact stations G6AEK and G6LKB, whom I had spoken with earlier in the week on my journey northward to Scotland.

After the successful activation, I packed up my equipment and descended via a route past several of the wind turbines that characterize this hill. The entire outing took just over an hour, making it one of my quicker SOTA activations.

This modest one-point summit provided a fitting conclusion to a productive week of SOTA activities that had included ten summit activations, 57 points, and nearly 6,000 metres of cumulative ascent across various hills in three countries.

Photos

Below are some photographs taken during my activation of Lambrigg Fell on Friday 25th March, 2022.

Walking Route for Lambrigg Fell

The interactive map below shows my GPS track taken to the SOTA activation zone for Lambrigg Fell. The G/LD-046 summit area is marked on the map with a blue pin icon.

You can download the route shown above as a GPX file suitable for use with most GPS devices. This file is provided for information only, to support your own walk planning and research (it may contain navigation errors, detours and/or safety hazards). The route downloads provided here are governed by the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.

Station Log

I logged the following 5 amateur radio contacts operating as M1HAX/P from G/LD-046 Lambrigg Fell on Friday 25th March, 2022 (all times shown are UTC):

In the notes field I will usually log the other operator’s name and the signal report they provided. In accordance with the Summits on the Air rules, I do not make a log entry where a complete exchange of callsigns and signal reports was unsuccessful.

Additional Information

The following resources may be helpful to walkers, mountaineers and SOTA activators interested in Lambrigg Fell:

• Sotl.as Summit Page for G/LD-046 Lambrigg Fell.
• Hill Bagging UK Summit Page for Lambrigg Fell.
• Google Maps Page for Lambrigg Fell.
• Wikipedia entry for Lambrigg Fell.
• 360° Panorama near summit of G/LD-046 Lambrigg Fell.

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