The event is to take place over four days in September at some of the Lake District’s most dramatic locations.

Cyclists will be challenged to ride up The Struggle – the notorious one-in-four 1,489-feet climb to Kirkstone Pass – and there will be major trail and fell runs as well as an open water swim and bushcraft foraging walks.

Besides all the outdoor events, there will also be plenty going on under cover, including photographic exhibitions and a film festival, along with talks from guest speakers such as mountaineers Sir Chris Bonington and Doug Scott.

Ambleside Outdoor Festival starts on Thursday September 16 and will feature dozens of events at different locations in, around and near the central Lakeland town through to Sunday September 19.

Ambleside Outdoor Festival organiser Chloe Booth, of Kendal-based Adventure Challenge Solutions, said: “Ambleside is right at the very heart of the Lake District but has never had an outdoor festival of its own – until now. Thanks to the tremendous support we have received from sponsors and other backers, we have been able to pull together a very varied list of events which should appeal to a wide range of people of all ages and interests.”

The major events include: The Great Langdale Trail Run (10am Sat) L Kirkstone Struggle Hill Climb Time Trial (2pm Sat) L Ambleside Fell Run (9am Sun) L Ambleside Openwater Swim at Waterhead (3pm Sun) Other headline appearances will be made by British climbing champion Drew Haigh and pro mountain bike rider Paul Errington.

The festival will also feature an open day, book launch and photographic exhibition to mark the 40th anniversary of the Langdale and Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team. An exhibition of photographs called The Crux will be held at the Parish Centre in Ambleside by The Mountain Heritage Trust, as well as films at Zeffirellis.

Among the other scheduled activities are: guided outdoor climbs and walks, guided mountain bike rides, paddle board practice sessions, stretcher lower demonstrations by Ambleside and Langdale Mountain Rescue Team, gorge scrambling, orienteering taster sessions for children, bike maintenance clinics and a charity bin the boots day!

For further information, go to www.amblesideoutdoorfestival.co.uk or ring 07919 368050

Langdale and Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team spent more than an hour and a half evacuating the group – who were travelling to a Barrow AFC match – on Kirkstone Pass.

The Hummer stretch limo became stuck at the summit, at around 10pm, after the driver had followed a satellite navigation system which failed to warn him of the snow. LAMRT leader Nick Owen said: “It was a huge limo. It was a bit of an effort to do a three point turn in our Land Rover up there so how they thought they could get a limo up there I don’t know.”

Ambleside was completely cut off from the outside world for a day or so, although with the weather as it was you weren’t really inspired to go anywhere!

For our guests on the Bridge holiday, who were here at the time,  it is certainly one they won’t forget in a hurry –  although by the time they came to leave on the Friday morning, travel out of Ambleside was possible via the scenic route ( the Kirkstone Pass) as the A591 between Windermere and Ambleside was closed. Most of our guests rang us to let us know that they had managed to get to the M6 safely.

Sadly, the popular Christmas Light Procession in Ambleside had to be cancelled at the last minute due to the weather – such as shame with all  the work that had gone into the planning and organisation. However, the lights are on and Ambleside is looking very festive so do come and have a look.

The Met Office say that we have had 3 times the normal monthly rainfall during November – in fact more rain than some places have in a year! So there should be no problem now for the rest of the year as we’ve had our share …….

For more photos, follow this link:  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023063&id=1419709802#/album.php?aid=2023063&id=1419709802

Cheered on by devoted fans, Izzard, who has christened his mission Eddie Iz Running, ran from Kendal to Ullswater hot on the heels of an ice cream van labelled Eddie’s Ices. His journey saw him conquer Kirkstone Pass, or as the comedian’s online Twitter page puts it “a bloody big hill,” and culminated with a stand-up performance at Keswick’s Theatre by the Lake.

Izzard’s challenge is to run 1,100 miles in seven weeks and on average he completes 30 miles a day, six days per week.