Helvellyn, at 950 metres (3,117 feet) above sea-level, is the third highest mountain in the English Lake District.
The peak is the highest on the north-south ridge situated between
the Thirlmere valley to the west, and Patterdale to the east.
The eastern side of the fell is geographically the most dramatic.
Two sharp spurs lead off the summit, Striding Edge and Swirral Edge,
either side of Red Tarn. The knife-edge Striding Edge provides one of the best-known scrambles in lakeland, while the Swirral Edge ridge leads to the conical summit of Catstye Cam.
The western slopes are relatively shallow, and partially forested.
The somewhat flat summit made the first British mountain-top landing of a
plane possible, when John Leeming and Bert Hinkler successfully landed and
took off again, in 1926.