Looking towards Helvellyn from Place Fell, Patterdale, Cumbria, England

A sunlit January hike granted me a lot of views of snow-topped brown fells and I only can imagine how this white coating would have made the likes of Striding Edge and Swirral Edge. Of course, you could look at the Lake District Weatherline photo gallery while the Fell Top Assessors are doing their daily winter ascents onto the top of Helvellyn to get a sense of what the conditions really are like. My own exposure to full winter conditions may have been increased by the winters of 2009/2010 and 2010/2011, but I will take a less adventurous line if it is there and so it was on Place Fell when I captured the above scene. The white tops of Catstye Cam, Helvellyn and others round about are a little hidden by lesser fells like Birkhouse Moor, yet any visible whiteness over serves to remind us how hill tops are snow covered during winter when lower slopes are left uncoated. While some may want everywhere in a white winter coat, there can be delight in a partial covering too.