Would you like to be a published author, see your name on the spine of a book alongside Wainwright and Butterfield, and claim a first ascent in the process? Sure, they’ve spent decades documenting every walk and climb in the country. But forget walking. And forget climbing too: UK scrambling is so under-exploited that new guidebook pages are practically writing themselves…

Scrambles are not as meticulously documented as climbing routes; very few are given names and their more ambiguous nature leaves a lot of the route-finding to your imagination. There are many who would say Steve Ashton invented the scrambling guide genre with his book on Snowdonia, published only 25 years ago. Skye’s first scrambling guide came out shortly after, in 1983, and Glen Coe’s in 1985. Compare that with the first climbing guides which date back to the late 1800s.

Jon Sparks knows all about discovering new routes and authoring guidebooks. He’s penned nine of his own including the hugely popular Scrambles in the Lake District and the upcoming Scrambles and Easy Climbs in Snowdonia. His latest guidebook hits the shelves this month but he’s the first to admit that it’s not at all exhaustive. “This book is really meant to be the ‘best of Snowdonia’,” he says. 

“Scrambling guidebooks are only just starting to grow in popularity but they’ll soon catch up with their climbing counterparts,” Jon said. “The Moelwyns won’t be far behind.” 

A first ascent will always begin with a map and a stack of guidebooks. The best way to avoid the zeitgeist is to find out where everyone else has already been and go elsewhere.

It’s impossible to know if a particular patch of rock has seen the sole of a boot before, and documenting a route for the very first time doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not been climbed, but this goes for any mountain anywhere. There will still always be an exciting sense of discovery in putting the pieces together yourself, knowing it hasn’t been spelled out by anyone else. 

Discovering a good scramble is like putting together a good jigsaw: one section dovetails nicely into the next, but the challenge remains. And of course there are difficult bits, but once you find the right piece the area around it tends to fall into place. Now you could take all that hard work and scrap it so the next person has to figure the route out for themselves. But I reckon you should put your name on it, write page 1 at the bottom and start work on page 2 of your very own guidebook.

Where to find a first ascent of your own:

England Believe it or not, there is still plenty of potential in the Lake District. Scrambles in the Lake District author Jon Sparks recommends the upper part of Eskdale – it’s full of rock, most of which has not been recorded yet. In general, it’s worth targeting your search around climbing terrain: many climbers’ descent routes are often exciting scrambling routes in their own right.

Wales There is still plenty to go at in the Moelwyns, and the further south you go, the better – the Rhinogs and the Aran range have huge potential. Don’t discount the north though:  there are new routes to be had in the Carneddau but they’ll take a lot more finding.

Scotland Ask what has been explored rather than what hasn’t: the former is a far shorter list! The Cairngorms, Torridon or the Great Wilderness are all good bets, or try the Outer Hebrides or the Isle of Harris.