Ramsay Reccy - Eastern Section

Last week myself and Neil decided to reschedule our attempt on the Ramsay to allow us more time to recover from races we had done and also get some more reccies in. Now it looks like we will attempt in mid July starting at 11:am in a clockwise direction. We had thought about a night time start as the first section will be slow anyway. What goes against that theory is that you start already tired so we have decided on a more conventional time. It has also been decided to use the 'Alec Keith' variation. This basically has you starting from higher up Glen Nevis and so you get a warm up on the road before the Ben, which is, unsurprisingly, the highest climb of the round. As this means doing the Loch Treig to Mamore section in the dark we headed out yesterday to check this section out.

Typically I didn't have my camera as the weather was perfect and the views even better. It was a pretty tough run, but checking the splits later that evening I was pleased to see that we were knocking a huge amount of time off the schedule on the climbs. Next time we can afford to take it much easier! I have been struggling with a cold too so I am even more excited that the day out didn't make it any worse. A couple of route choices got sorted as well as we found a couple of decent traverse lines that allow some of the more rocky sections to be avoided. We also got the descent off the Easians sorted for the first time which is excellent news. All in all the hills looked and felt a lot more manageable than I had built them up to be. Still it looks a long way, however I am pretty confident in getting round even if not in under 24h.

I think I will do another short run over part of the Mamores to check out the eastern most three. It is all looking up and hopefully the attempt itself will go as smoothly as the run did yesterday.

Dist 20 miles Time 5h 38min

Pabbay and Mingulay - Easy climbing routes exist too!

Mingulay and Pabbay, which lie off the southern end of the chain of islands making up the Outer Hebridies, are well known for the quality of the rock climbing and it was for that reason I have always wanted to visit. However, when the chance finally came I was aprehensive in the extreme as I hadn't been climbing well for years and sea cliffs have always been a particular nemisis of mine. I flicked through the guidebook and could find very littel under E1 and this was reinforced whilst trawling for tinformation on the internet. With this in mind I packed the kayaks together with the absolute minimum of climbing gear and thought that my climbing would be limited to some bouldering. Still the lure of a bagging a couple of Marilyns would mean that even if I got no climbing done it wouldn't have been a 'wasted' trip.

Even with the efforts to keep kit to the smallest amount possible we had a mountain of kit which was a real effort to get on and off the ferry from Oban and subsequently on to the small boat charted to get us out from Barra to the islands. Donald and his boat Boy James did a sterling job of delievering everything and everyone on to Pabbay. The beach and campsite were idylic. The island was much greener than expected and the beach would make the pages of any tourist brochure to the Carribean. The only slight downer was the relative lack of water, but the weather has been exceptionally dry for the past month.

Whilst the others set off to the Allanish Pensiular on the west coast I decided to check out a couple of crags opposite the campsite. To my surprise and delight I found a couple of very decent walls and spent a good few hours bouldering and soloing on rock that was never more than VDiff in grade. It is no exagaration that I didn't hold or step on a single loose hold. Testiment to the ferocity of the winter gales that help to keep the crags clean. In fact the holds were so good that even steep looking lines succumbed realtively easily. The topo below gives some idea of the routes which were about 10m long. Okay, not the most spectacular crag but only 10min walk from the beach.

The next day was spent checking out the boulders that were situated high up near the highest point of the island which has a trig point. Basically drop south east from the summit and in 5 min there are loads of 4-5m high walls of perfect rock with scores of problems at about the V0 (easy) level with superb grassy landings.

The 'Sugarloaf' boulder located in the col just before the final rise to the trig point i.e. north of the summit, probably had the best bit of bouldering on the island with a couple of harder problems which I had to get a rope on to do in comfort.

Not everyone is as happy to boulder as I am, but the other members of the group were well contented with the routes that they climbed and not all in the top-end grades either. Quality routes at VDiff and Severe were in enough abundance to keep most happy. Of course there are much longer and harder routes, but they are all documented so I don't need to mention them here.

After a further day on my 'Crag X' and fishing for Pollack we decamped to Mingulay. Mingulay seemed a lot more lush than Pabbay and the water supply was much better and the campsite even better. Evenings were spent soaking up the evening rays and watching seals play in the surf or sun themselves on the beach.



Here again with a bit of a sense of adventure you could quite happily climb at the lower grades without running out of things to do. On MacPhee's hill there is even a short inland crag covered in routes not much harder than VDiff. I am sure that the dedicated rock jocks will say that by not climbing in the high E grades on the massive cliffs you are missing the point. In a certain respect they are right, but climbing on perfect rock is relatively rare in Scotland so the chance to do amidst the puffins and seals isn't a bad substitute.


One day myself and Emly took a walk down the coast and chanced upon a rocky prominatory, primarily to watch the puffins from. I scared myself on a steep boulder problem and then put on the rope and discovered a perfect Diff. A great mix of steep steps and delicate slabs and would be worth a least one star on any other crag in the country. Whilst belaying Emily up the climb a seal came to watch and played for a while in the swell.

The next day was still so we headed out in the kayaks to photograph the climbing crags. On the way we looked over to Bernary and it looked so close and as the conditions for paddling couldn't have been any better we decided to chance it. After all the anticipation when we thought that the crossing would be too hard it was an easy 10min paddle. We walked up to the lighthouse to check out the cliffs. The cliffs on the south side were awe inspiring, 200m of steep rock with a multitude of seabirds of all different species constantly whirring about the ledges.

A last day was spent seconding slightly harder routes near the campsite which did involve abseiling and hanging belays. Again the rock was magnificant and plenty of new, or at least unrecorded, lines to climb. All the islands were idyllic and I definetly will be back and even find some new crags or routes that have escaped notice so far! There is no need for climbers of a moderate standard to be put off from going by stories of mamoth abseils and everything going at E5 or above. Saying that I really shouldn't be encouraging people to go just for the selfish freason of wanting the place to myself!

Bob Graham Round - Tips

Selective memory is an amazing thing. After my successful Round in May 2006 I had almost convinced myself that the BGR was a pretty straight forward affair. After pacing an unsuccessful attempt this Saturday, Some of the forgotten painful memories were dug back up.

Rob had decided that 2am morning start for a clockwise round was for him. For me, that meant a very early start after only arriving in the Lakes at midnight from Inverness. Unsurprisingly I was not feeling wonderful at Moot Hall and after trying for a while to make Rob slow his pace up, I let him go up ahead on the climb to Skiddaw. At the top the wind was bitterly cold and I regretted leaving my gloves at home whist navigating through thick cloud in the dark. Route-wise everything went pretty much to plan and after srambling down Hall's Fell in the early morning light we reached Threkeld about 30 minutes up. I was glad to get rid of my fell shoes and changed to trail shoes (dumped along with food and water previously at the village green) which were much more suited to the dry conditions. Much of the Round is on hard stoney tracks where fell shoes are a major disadvantage and it is only Leg 1 and the start of Leg 3 which has any real off-track sections.

In comparison to 2006, I felt absolutely fine. Taking on about 1.5l of water and a load of food for the next leg made the bag uncomfortably heavy. The Dodds did not flow past as easily ashoped and despite the cloud clearing, the strong wind put a downer on motivation. After 4 hs of running I could feel my last race was still in my legs and decided then and there that two legs of support would have to do me.

The downhills were agony and I let Rob go off up Fairfield and Seat Sandal so as not to slow him down and put his attempt at risk. Perhaps it was that I had already completed the round that I had no compulsion to push myself any further and glady took the option of a lift back to the campsite which was offered to me at Dunmail.

The last I saw of Rob was as he plodded up Steel Fell still on schedule and after food and a rest, myself and the rest of the support crew headed over to Wasdale. Being a Bank Holiday every idiot was out on the roads. I have never seen so many examples of incompetent driving in such a short space of time. So it was a pretty stressed support crew that arrived in Wasdale where we settled down to wait for Rob to appear down Scafell. We waited and waited. No-one had seen Rob and when he was over an hour overdue, Steffi drove back up the road to get a signal on her phone. Rob was back at Langdale. Barely an hour after leaving us at Dunmail Raise he had taken a wrong turning and headed up to Ullscarf and beyond to Low Saddle. About an 4km trip in the wrong direction. Heat, exhaustion and lack of food intake seemed to have all played a part. Understandably he had decided to call it a day. A big dissappointment for not only himself but for the rest of us too.

I know it is very easy to be critical, but to be successful with minimal support does mean that you have to know the route well. However harsh it may sound a mistake like this under the prevailing conditions was almost comic. But in no way am I saying that I am myself immune from such mishaps!

My tips for normal would-be BGRers are:

• Know the route off by heart. You never know if a pacer may drop out or get lost.
• Start when you feel good - 2am I think is a bad time for anyone's body clock. 10pm worked for me and even 8pm could be good as you are on an easy section in the dark.
• Get the feed and drink strategy right. I always eat and drink at least every 30mins on the dot even if I feel sick. More often if I feel thirsty or hungry.
• Be kind to your support team by splitting road support between drivers.
• Have a good base camp i.e. Threkeld / Keswick area.
• If you lack sufficient pacers, save them for the later legs when you are more tired.
• Don't pick a Bank Holiday weekend!
• Be organised and make sure you have a detailed schedule for everyone. I know this may be a pain in the backside, but it does really help.

The rest of the weekend was great and I am sure Rob will have learnt from this attempt and will cruise it sometime later this year.

The Fellsman 2008 - the recovery continues

I think my feet were worse after the Fellsman than they were after my Bob Graham Round in 2006. It wasabout 4 days before I could see the veins in my feet again and the blisters underneath my big toes were huge. It took some, okay all, my courage to drain them which didn't hurt at all and massively relieved the pressure. Both nails will still be lost but at least they aren't throbbing any more. In fact they look a lot better now. The nigle from the Highlander is still there, but no worse so I am hoping that in time it will get better.

Walking is now possible in trainers, but Emily still made me buy some lightweight 'walking' boots. The shame! This embarrassing shopping trip is perhaps only surpassed by the time I had to go into a climbing shop and buy a map case and compass ;o). I have managed to avoid the red socks and bobble hat but who knows where this Marilyn bagging will lead ...

Anyway, the results were posted on the Fellsman site on Friday and I came 9th in 14h 12 mins. Fantastic. Just the kind of motivation I need for Ramsay's, although after a few weeks rest I will actually be able to train!

I went up to the Cullins over the weekend to help my boss up over some of the trickier Munros of Bruach na Frith, Am Bastier and Sgurr nan Gilliean. It was hard work and the uphills were murder on my thighs. Still, a perfect day scrambling on Skye isn't something you get every day with sunshine and low winds. Sports massage on Sunday hurt, however it has really helped loosen things up, to the extent that I was doing intervals on the bike on the way home from work today.

It looks like I will be supporting a low key Bob Graham attempt on Saturday night. My aim will be to get the contender around at least Leg 1 safely. Depending on my feet I will take it from there. So another easy week ahead. The forecast looks okay so more ice cream is on the cards.

On a slightly worring note I had a health check at work and my blood pressure was 127/72 and my cholesterol at 4.8mg. Less pork pies for me!

Fellsman 2008

Every now and then you just have one of those races when it all comes together. After a two week taper I felt alright, but I constantly worried that a cold or some unforeseen injury would strike. In other words I was getting to be a bit of a hypochondric. Every 2 minute jog to the corner shop was analysed minutely afterwards for signs of a lack of form. Doubts lingered about the fact that my long runs were only about 20-25 miles and if that was really enough.

After a fairly chaotic morning in Threshfield we got bussed to the start in Ingleton. I was advised that my trail shoes would not be allowed (wrongly as it turned out as a couple of people got away with what seemed like road shoes) so I wore my Mudclaw 330s. Finally under blue skies and steadily creeping temperatures around about 300 'hikers' were set off at 9am. My rough gameplan involved getting up Ingleborough in about 45mins and taking it steady from there. It was easy to settle into a comfortable pace in the middle of the pack, but the sun was giving a taster of what was to come. The drop down from Ingleborough was steady but as soon as we hit the paving slabs, my thighs turned to jelly. The further into the valley the route went, the less wind there was and it was oppressive. I staggered along the road from Hill Inn and although only about 26C I wilted fast. Periodic streams allowed me to pour water on my head and I guzzled water, desperately trying to stay hydrated whilst struggling up Whernside. To add insult to injury a stream of runners steadily passed by. I was having a bad time and my ambition withered to just to getting to Dent before calling it a day. The misery continued into Kingdale as even on the flat bits I had no energy and pace. Still I was roughly on a 13-14h schedule and on the next climb I resolved to at least get to 40 miles before quitting.

After another refreshment stop, where I took on another litre of fluid, I decided enough was enough and I switched on my MP3 player. I was too miserable to enjoy the views anyway so I wasn't missing much. A bit of Bruce Springsteen and Die Toten Hosen and the hills didn't seem so bad. Where before I was struggling now I was even gaining on the runners in front. After Gragareth I began to enjoy the steady grassy running and after a horrible steep descent on a cobbled track I reached Dent in relatively good shape. The skies clouded over to provide some respite. Other runners about me looked as though they were struggling which gave me extra impertus to push on. Perhaps everyone was struggling?

Maybe it was the lukewam milky tea or the ibuprofen, but I felt so much better and enjoyed the next short section of road. In fact all the way to Fleet Moss past Stonehouses was steady and even enjoyable although the very hazy weather spoilt the views. The climbs felt never too bad and the music kept me jogging on. I was still keeping on a 14 -15h target and was happy that I could still drop some time and still finish before midnight.

I had heard much about Fleet Moss and the various ways around it. It looked grim from the roadside checkpoint, but I just took a direct line and plugged through. I hadn't banked on there being so much bog, but fairly easy navigation lead over Middle Tongue at last to Hell Gap and the track to Cray. The steadily dropping distance left to cover after every checkpoint was tagged was a superb motivator. Twenty miles to go sounds so much better than forty miles run.

Leaving Cray I had caught up with a couple of guys and I was keen to push a bit on the hills before the grouping up time, which is a safety requirement when it gets dark. I managed to pull away on the climb to Buckden Pike and opened up a gap so I had some 'waiting time' to recover. It also meant that I had some more experienced runners to help navigate the last bit to Yarnbury from Park Rash! Yarnbury took ages to reach and was a painful experience, staggering in the dark (in both meanings of the word) along hard tracks following an endless succesion of beacons. Once at the road we de-grouped and legged it down, through Grassington, past hordes of drunks in the local pubs and finally up the last cruel hill to the finish at the school. At last there was nowhere else to run to and I could stop!

Due to my mental state I can't recollect what time I got, but it was around 14hs and I placed in the top 10. An absolutely superb result for me and quite unexpected. So it looks as though my training and the length of taper did help. As soon as I stopped my legs locked up and I realised how sore my feet were. I was hot all over and my big toes were black and I was naseaus (in fact I couldn't eat until late the next day). Although my technique of training by running shorter runs at a harder pace got me the fitness, longer runs may help toughen up my legs and feet. I have no idea yet if I would do The Fellsman again, but I would recommend it whole-heartedly. Just don't expect an easy run.

Brin bouldering

The 'Mecca' of Scottish bouldering according to some is located in Strathnairn near the village of Farr. Following the easy to use topo available on the web, myself and Kenny headed out on another glorious evening after work. Due to me being a wuss I didn't climb above V0, but still had a great time and still worth going to (especially the Bog Jungle area) even if you don't climb that hard. Some of the routes were a bit dirty (mostly the easier ones) and there seemed to be loads more problems lurking under the moss and lichen.

Taper time - The Fellsman

It has taken me ages to recover from the 3 Peaks, physically and mentally. My training has been exceptionaly light for the past 7 days with only about 1h running in total and only easy cycling on the other days. After finding the 3 Peaks so hard I just hope The Fellsman won't be a complete disaster. The route is plotted out on my 1:25 000 and it looks like it should suit me with plenty of navigation and rough bits. I really haven't done enough mileage at all (my longest run being about 7hs), probably due to the great climbing conditions we had up here. However, my MP3 player is stuffed full of Die Toten Hosen (a sad hangover from my impressionable days as a teenager living in Munich) for the flat bits just to keep my motivation up. Also hopefully I will get teamed up (as it is in the rules of the 'race' that you have to group together at dusk) with some people who know the route when it gets dark! I hope to get a time of under 16hours so I just have to keep my head down and remember that good bits always follow the bad bits sooner or later.

Anyway to keep me away from running and worrying I found some old climbing clips on BBC Scotland (go to the 'watch' icon on the right hand side and then look in the 'Outdoors' and 'Sports' tabs). There are about 8 clips worth watching, just the thing for avoiding training and the washing up. Very entertaining.