Location

N Lakes - Blencathra

Details

An excellent and very demanding site. Blease Fell is a large grass covered mountain that rises up from the Glenderaterra Beck on to the west and Threlkeld to the south. The site is notorious for generating massive lift and once airborne there is the possibility of soaring the whole Blencathra range and jumping across the gap to Jenkin Hill and then onto Skiddaw. The lift often extends well in front of the hill and it is not uncommon to have to fly out past the A66(T) before finding sink. Thermals are commonplace.

Site Officer

Gordie Oliver : 07830 281986

Postcode for Sat Nav Systems (read the Health Warning!)

CA12 4SG

Blencathra Centre. Make sure that you take the right fork when within 200 metres of the post code location

Getting There

Approach by exiting the A66(T) at Threlkeld and proceed up through the village taking the steep road north towards the Blencathra Centre. Park in the car park at the end of the road just above and beyond the centre. The parking area can become very busy. Try to avoid covering the track as this is often used as a landing area!

Getting to takeoff

It is a steep carry up the path from the car park until you clear the bracken line. The slope then eases and then leads to large areas to take off from.

XC potential

Excellent potential both downwind and, in the right conditions, for achieving large 'triangle' flights. Avoid the west side of Dodd Fell from April to end of August as this is a well known Osprey nesting area.

Permission to use site

Arrange by Northern Sites Officer

IMPORTANT - Restrictions on use

The wind sock has been removed. No landing fields are available below the fell wall apart from the football pitch.

Paragliding

Probably the most demanding site in the North Lakes area. The flying and the lift generated can be very intimidating. It is not uncommon to take off and spend the next hour in big ears before getting below take off. It is advised that pilots have at least 50 hours experience and are comfortable in strong thermals before visiting this site.

Hang Gliding

A killer carry. Recommended landing in large empty fields south of the A66(T).

Additional Safety Notes

Extreme care must be taken on breezy days as being blown back is not an option! Many fields below the fell wall contain power lines and also slope considerably. Great care must be taken whilst landing. If the bottom landing field is not available then pilots either slope land and carry down or land on the small track leading north west out of the car park. This is very demanding and it has been the source of many accidents.

Resources

Don't click on flight logs, download to your PC first (right click and 'Save Link As')

Type	Click to Follow Link	Notes
Flash Earth - Car Park
Flash Earth - Landing
Flash Earth - Take Off
Google Earth - Car Park
Multi Map - Take Off

Follow the links for further details of a site. For flights you will probably need to right click and save the link to your PC before opening Google Earth.
Google Earth links rely on Google Earth being installed on your system. Google Earth provides pan and tilt faciity. You can also upload your flights to GE - use GPS Dump (Links Page) to convert a variety of GPS file formats to a GE kml file
Flash Earth is an alternative to Google Earth but provides a top down view only. To view in Flash Earth, click on the instruction text to clear it - the cross is the spot

A selection of photos showing key aspects of the site. If you have a good photo showing take off and landing areas, then send it to the webmaster. Aerial shots showing the landing area are especially welcome.

An aerial view of Blease Fell looking NW. Take of is the area above the bracken line in the centre of the picture. Photo reproduced with the permission of the copyright owner, Andrew McMahon. More pictures can be found on his web site.

A general view of Blencathra from SW. Blease Fell is the grassy western flank of the mountain, dominating the centre left of the photo.

Looking down on the take off area. On the left of the picture, 2 wings have landed on the side of the walk up track which continues down through the bracken. To the left of the flying wing, the walk up track continues up to the ruined building in the foreground. This is on a "shelf" which marks the general take off area. Photo by John Hamlett

The restricted landing area near the car park on Blease Fell. Informed opinion is that there are 3 hazards 1) The trees causing rotor 2) Picnicing families in the summer 3) The resticted area

A good view of the football field on the south side of the A66 and SE of Threkeld. Photo by Dave Horne

 

Site Records

This page shows records for this site. Some of the older records are not very detailed. More recent records may have an igc file available You can right click and download this to your PC. You can then use IGC Flight replay to view the flight.

Paragliding

FAI Triangle
Distance :	35.1km
Date :	12/04/2009
Pilot :	Phil Wallbank
Notes :	Turn-points near Siddaw, Great Dodd on Hellvellyn ridge and Mungrisdale village. Glider Gradient Aspen
Turnpoint Flight
Distance :	108.9km
Date :	11/07/2009
Pilot :	Mike Cavanagh
Notes :	The flight that broke the 100km straight line record from a Cumbrian flying site. The flight took 3 hrs 20 mins from Blease to Crawford in the Clyde valley.
IGC File :	Right click to download

Hang Gliding

No records for this site