Looking for input from Lakes veterans please.

I’m doing the figure of 8 route up & down Helvellyn in three weeks for the 1st time. I’ve heard Sticks Pass descent to Glenridding has been sanatised. Is the Sticks Pass descent worth it or would we be better served by slogging back up to Helvellyn and descending Dollywagon Pike – Grisedale Tarn?

Our proposed route:

Start Glenridding – Grisedale (parallel to Grisedale Beck) push/carry up to Dollywagon Pike – Helvellyn.

Helvellyn – Great Dodd – Bruts Moss – Groove Beck to pick up Old Coach Road, West to Thirlmere.

On tarmac after Old Coach Road to Legburthwaite – Stanah – push/carry to top of Sticks Pass.

Sticks Pass descent to Glenridding.

Weather permitting we’re allowing 8 hours. Many thanks for any input.

We did sticks pass in April. It was brilliant.

That’s kinda epic ride.

Not been that way for 3 years, but I think it’s the Keppel Cove route to Glenridding that’s sanitised (although I vaguely recall the very top 100 meters or so at Sticks Pass being easy).

Quite a bit of hike-a-bike over a few tops, unless I missed some really obvious sneaky ways around them.

Sticks pass was excellent in March 2012 when I did it.

Be a big job sanitising Sticks pass – hard to imagine this has happened but I don’t know, not ridden it for a while.

I’m a Lakes tourist but done Helvellyn a couple of times – your route is epic but has the drawback of what looks like an undistinguished descent down to the Coach Rd (Climb back up via Sticks is a bstard as well). A more textbook way would be an M shape up the Coach Rd, Great Dodd, down Sticks pass to the mine then up Keppel Cove, across to Dollywagon and down. This would need people to be keen on tackling the Dollywagon descent, which is steep, steppy and hard. The next bit down Grizedale is v good though so prob worth it on balance.

Sticks pass is also R as F lower down but most riders would prob make progress. Dollywagon had me walking.

Sticks is great – will be an ace end to a long ride. Route sounds good, but at north end, go up Clough Head, then pick up the trail heading north west down to the quarries:
here.
You have to trend north near the bottom to meet the end of the coach road.

Wrong way round mate.

If your set on Sticks then :-

Park glenridding… Dockray, coach road, Bruts Moss (shudders), Great Dodd, Stybarrow Dodd, Descend Sticks, Climb Kepple Cove, Helvellyn, Nethermost, Dollywagon, Grisedale, Glenridding.

Proper day out!

*edit.. Garry beat me to it.

Thanks all for the info. Good to hear about Sticks Pass.

Don’t go up Dollywagon!