The lower parts do provide some rock, such as Brown Crag, but these are generally outcrops rather than true crags.A great steep-sided hollow is gouged out of the eastern face, just north of the summit.

[4] It continued in use until the night of 29 October 1927 when the Kepple Cove dam burst during a heavy storm, leaving an 80 ft (24 m) wide gap in the earthworks.

A water leat passing beneath the north face of Catstye Cam to Red Tarn Beck can still be traced although it is now in ruins.

[4][5] Water from Brown and Kepple Coves unites with the outflow of Helvellyn's Red Tarn to form Glenridding Beck, flowing on through the village to Ullswater.

The western slopes of White Side are bounded by Helvellyn and Brund Gills, both of which originally flowed north to the Vale of St John.

With the construction of the Thirlmere reservoir scheme in 1884 these streams were diverted to feed the lake a cutting being made through the low ridge which runs parallel to the shore.

[1] The summit bears a small cairn in a sea of grass with the main ridge path crossing the highest point.