I drove Wrynose and Hardnott from Amblside to Wastwater 2 weeks ago. The last time a did it was decades back, from Wastwater to Amblside. Back then I was the passenger in a 1980-ish Vauxhall Cavalier; it was at night and, at the top, in fog. We could see about 2 metres in front with the headlights glaring off the fog. Thankfully, we only met one other car coming the other way. So, 2 weeks back was the first time I actually saw the wonderful surrounding landscape and I thought - how the hell did we do this at night and in the fog!?
You sir, have balls the size of small planets. I've done that in summer in rain and nearly crapped myself at the lack of grip. Video's never do justice to how steep this road actually is, but you do pretty damn well.. Hat's off to for pulling that one off :-D
Well driven! For non-brits looking and thinking it's just 1" of snow: you don't know how slippery wet British snow is! This was more scary than most traverses of Black Bear pass look, albeit in a different way. Kudos to the Bongo as we'll...
I used to drive over hardknot 3 times a week for work in the 1980's The best timings i ever got was in a Citroën visa GTI the scariest time was in winter similar to this in a Peugeot 305 van with a Peugeot 2.3 diesel engine in the back....i net you where relieved when you reached the roman fort area and startrled your decent...respect
I unlike some have no issue whatsoever driving the Wrynose and Hardknott passes and have done it many times including bicycle motorbike and car. i do however have to say, even attempting it in those conditions, you want your bumps feeling.😂 I am astounded you made it through. had 2 0r 3 vehicles been before you and compacted that snow you wouldn't have stood a chance.
Bloody hell, how have you not got more views on this, it’s insane 😂 We’ll done though, shame there was no sound. I’m visiting there on my motorbike this summer, so no snow and no fog but I would love to see this again sometime with some commentary. Maybe I’ll brave it myself 😬
Just been over from ambleside in a lwb sprinter camper, in the rain Won't be doing it again!! Only 3 wheels in contact with the road some of the time. Did it 8 years ago in a bongo which was much easier. Eskdake to ambleside much easier imo. Wasn't helped by a grumpy git putting bollards up outside his house to prevent people passing outside his house. Crazy video, not sure it's a good idea in the snow. Glad you shared it :)
I did this a few years ago & it still gives me nightmares , we were in Eskdale & it was bucketing down ,loads of bridges were out & roads closed it would have been a massive detour to get back to the M6 to Penrith & to our hotel in Patterdale , i said to her we could go over the tops ,not realising that as we climbed that rain was turning to snow & once half way up it was far to dangerous to turn around & go back down, as we hit the summit in my old VW front wheel drive caddy van & there was 150mm of snow , it was dark & i couldn't see the road it had gone, i said to the wife WTF do we do now , sitting there knowing there wasn't any farms or houses it was frightening , After about 10 minutes or so i saw headlights in the distance & a young couple in a VW golf came up & over the top ,allowing me to crawl down the pass in his tyre marks,the snow was not as bad at the bottom so it was easy enough to get to Ambleside via Little Langdale only to find the main road from Ambleside to Penrith Closed , Only choice was to attempt the Kirkstone pass via "The Struggle" it was horrible & snowing all the way now ,when you get to the end of the struggle there is a very steep climb to the Kirkstone Inn there was a VW camper attempting it in front of me , i gave him a 400 yard start & then floored it as i got near to him i could see he was sliding , knowing i only had one shot at it i floored it & went round him just making it by melting the ice with my spinning tyres ,after that it was a crawl down to Brotherswater using the kerb as a brake & onetime the grass verge ,once we got to the Brotherswater pub it was time for a few real ales & the log fire to calm our shattered nerves,ps i wrote this before i watched your clip & i was just like your mate , i used the gearbox (i think second gear might have even been first ?) nearly all if not all the way down i was terrified of touching the brakes
How the living daylights you made that pass, I just don't know 🤣🤣🤣🤣Top respect! I did the pass and Wild Camped there last week and I found it hairy in my diesel corsa! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I’ve done this in showers in pretty good conditions in Range Rover p38 97 model and had to raise the suspension to stop the tyres from catching the arches in the bends
This is a re-post, no idea what happened to the original but it had about 25,000 views on it and a load of comments. Fortunately I've got a copy of the comments, which are mostly very amusing!
I have cycled,Motorcycled And driven over there many times(including in my Mazda Bongo) but never in those conditions-a bit irresponsible maybe but hats off for completing the drive in a trouble free manner Could so easily have gone the other way to give campervan drivers the bad name they sometimes deserve
The camera does not give an accurate picture of the steepness of this road, it’s bloody steep 1 in 3 in places I drove this in the dry in a Land Rover Defender and I can tell you driving it in the snow would be a no no, if you make it all the way up which is by no means guaranteed then you have to go down the other side and braking in the snow is no fun without winter tyres. Kudos to you for doing it.
As the driver of the Mazda, I can tell you there were a LOT of exclamations from my two passengers!
I drove Wrynose and Hardnott from Amblside to Wastwater 2 weeks ago. The last time a did it was decades back, from Wastwater to Amblside. Back then I was the passenger in a 1980-ish Vauxhall Cavalier; it was at night and, at the top, in fog. We could see about 2 metres in front with the headlights glaring off the fog. Thankfully, we only met one other car coming the other way. So, 2 weeks back was the first time I actually saw the wonderful surrounding landscape and I thought - how the hell did we do this at night and in the fog!?
You sir, have balls the size of small planets. I've done that in summer in rain and nearly crapped myself at the lack of grip. Video's never do justice to how steep this road actually is, but you do pretty damn well.. Hat's off to for pulling that one off :-D
Anyone going over there in snow is insane. Scary enough on a summers day 😱
Great driving skills from both drivers. Very hair raising to watch! Well done.
Well driven! For non-brits looking and thinking it's just 1" of snow: you don't know how slippery wet British snow is! This was more scary than most traverses of Black Bear pass look, albeit in a different way. Kudos to the Bongo as we'll...
I used to drive over hardknot 3 times a week for work in the 1980's
The best timings i ever got was in a Citroën visa GTI the scariest time was in winter similar to this in a Peugeot 305 van with a Peugeot 2.3 diesel engine in the back....i net you where relieved when you reached the roman fort area and startrled your decent...respect
Did Hardknott Pass in our 2.5td Bongo a few years ago. Beautiful place and the Bongo just sailed up the hills. No snow though!
I unlike some have no issue whatsoever driving the Wrynose and Hardknott passes and have done it many times including bicycle motorbike and car. i do however have to say, even attempting it in those conditions, you want your bumps feeling.😂 I am astounded you made it through. had 2 0r 3 vehicles been before you and compacted that snow you wouldn't have stood a chance.
Bloody hell, how have you not got more views on this, it’s insane 😂 We’ll done though, shame there was no sound. I’m visiting there on my motorbike this summer, so no snow and no fog but I would love to see this again sometime with some commentary. Maybe I’ll brave it myself 😬
Fabulous video. Really heart-in-mouth stuff at times! Shame there was no audio to record the exclamations!
Well driven ! Done this twice on a motorcycle and a mitsubishi lancer ( dry road ! ) you have to attack the climbs or they'll get you
Wowsers! My heart was beating hard just watching that!
Not even with no snow!! No, no, no, nopety no!
Just been over from ambleside in a lwb sprinter camper, in the rain Won't be doing it again!! Only 3 wheels in contact with the road some of the time. Did it 8 years ago in a bongo which was much easier. Eskdake to ambleside much easier imo. Wasn't helped by a grumpy git putting bollards up outside his house to prevent people passing outside his house. Crazy video, not sure it's a good idea in the snow. Glad you shared it :)
Irresponsible in the extreme.....and it isn't as if the sign didn't warn you!
Absolutely bonkers. Braver man than I
I did this a few years ago & it still gives me nightmares , we were in Eskdale & it was bucketing down ,loads of bridges were out & roads closed it would have been a massive detour to get back to the M6 to Penrith & to our hotel in Patterdale , i said to her we could go over the tops ,not realising that as we climbed that rain was turning to snow & once half way up it was far to dangerous to turn around & go back down, as we hit the summit in my old VW front wheel drive caddy van & there was 150mm of snow , it was dark & i couldn't see the road it had gone, i said to the wife WTF do we do now , sitting there knowing there wasn't any farms or houses it was frightening , After about 10 minutes or so i saw headlights in the distance & a young couple in a VW golf came up & over the top ,allowing me to crawl down the pass in his tyre marks,the snow was not as bad at the bottom so it was easy enough to get to Ambleside via Little Langdale only to find the main road from Ambleside to Penrith Closed , Only choice was to attempt the Kirkstone pass via "The Struggle" it was horrible & snowing all the way now ,when you get to the end of the struggle there is a very steep climb to the Kirkstone Inn there was a VW camper attempting it in front of me , i gave him a 400 yard start & then floored it as i got near to him i could see he was sliding , knowing i only had one shot at it i floored it & went round him just making it by melting the ice with my spinning tyres ,after that it was a crawl down to Brotherswater using the kerb as a brake & onetime the grass verge ,once we got to the Brotherswater pub it was time for a few real ales & the log fire to calm our shattered nerves,ps i wrote this before i watched your clip & i was just like your mate , i used the gearbox (i think second gear might have even been first ?) nearly all if not all the way down i was terrified of touching the brakes
Temperature at top looks like about +2 to. 2.5 c. If it had been about - 3 c it would have been very different.
Good God I can't believe you did that. I did it twice in daylight in a little 2 wheel drive in 1995 and was terrified
ive done Hardknott in the rain in my jag and it was one of the most terrrifying things ive ever done.
How the living daylights you made that pass, I just don't know 🤣🤣🤣🤣Top respect! I did the pass and Wild Camped there last week and I found it hairy in my diesel corsa! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Oh my god. Why would you do that?
Why not?
I’ve done this in showers in pretty good conditions in Range Rover p38 97 model and had to raise the suspension to stop the tyres from catching the arches in the bends
Why would you attempt this??
Pretty dangerous if you ask me...
This is a re-post, no idea what happened to the original but it had about 25,000 views on it and a load of comments. Fortunately I've got a copy of the comments, which are mostly very amusing!
Why?
I have cycled,Motorcycled And driven over there many times(including in my Mazda Bongo) but never in those conditions-a bit irresponsible maybe but hats off for completing the drive in a trouble free manner Could so easily have gone the other way to give campervan drivers the bad name they sometimes deserve
Pretty brave !
The camera does not give an accurate picture of the steepness of this road, it’s bloody steep 1 in 3 in places I drove this in the dry in a Land Rover Defender and I can tell you driving it in the snow would be a no no, if you make it all the way up which is by no means guaranteed then you have to go down the other side and braking in the snow is no fun without winter tyres. Kudos to you for doing it.
Well done for making it but not sure this was a good idea. I bottled hardnott on a summer's day.🤣
I would not want to do that without winter tyres even with 4motion
I did it in a Mini cooper s on a nice sunny day and that was hard enough..Never again.
WOT! No lights showing?……….ah there they are.
my bongo's were warmer than my vw's
I knew the road well almost 70 years ago, it's very dangerous in winter and vehicles are not rea;;y supposed to do the trip then
What tires was you using?
Four rubber ones
A foolish jaunt imo, but each to their own, could have ended badly
It’s you had a freinde
I will stick with my Subaru for this.
would have loved to hear the language......
One did it for 8k another 80k....🤷🤣
Only idiots would try that !