What I found surprising was how long before actual sunrise it starts to become light. I think it's just more noticeable when you've become accustomed to the dark. We were heading up towards Bleaklow Stones when it started to improve, but we did get one of the early start slots.
Myself and Nik did some wild weather training on Kinder today. Crumbs it can get rough up there in Winter. Add some darkness and tricky navigation and it's a fairly serious challenge. Here's hoping.