You win some you lose some.

A tale of two days really. Only 24 hours apart, but miles from each other with regards to conditions and enjoyment factor!

On Thursday I teamed up with Wendy who had not done much Scottish climbing. I had heard that the North West had less snow so less avalanche danger. When we rounded the bend on the Bealach na Ba I wasn't expecting that much less snow! Most of the lines were broken and our first choice of route looked way out. Cue panic. I was meant to be the experienced 'local' and here we were in front of the practically bare cliff of Meall Gorm. A quick look in the guidebook revealed The 6 track Mono Blues - apparently a soft touch grade II further up the cliff. Thankfully, it looked much better. Once in the gully the ice was superb and the snow was much, much better than expected. The only thing lacking were belays and I gratefully smacked in pegs into the sidewalls. In the lean conditions it was a definite II. We came down via the descent gully which was festooned with a rather random plastic pipe attached to rusting metal stanchions. What is was or why it is there I still didn't know. The weather was good, aside from a brief snow shower, so loath to go home we went ice bouldering. Where the 'Master' displayed rather less finesse than his 'Apprentice'.


Friday came along with the flush of success from yesterday instilling a certain sense of confidence. Despite the forecast we decided on Glen Shiel. As always the weather was fantastic until the Cluanie where it decided to hack it down. Rain, interspersed with wet snow, was driven along by a keen wind and the warm temperatures had softened the snow horribly. Following the guide book instructions we headed up over the shoulder of Maoile an t-Searraich. The Allt of the afore-mentioned hill provided some great sport with a couple of 2-3m vertical steps, allowing the driving rain to be forgotten about for a time. Reaching the shoulder we then saw we had come too high for our objective - Enchanted Falls a grade III ice route. A tenuous very steep descent on wet snow and grass dropped us, finally, at the bottom of the route. The first two pitches looked very thin and wet. However, above the falls opened out into a wide cascade of ice bulges. To get to them we had to somehow traverse in. After a pitch of enjoyable grade II ice. I set off on a traverse above some slabs to get to the cascade. All that was required was a few steps down. A combination of cold, wet, a lack of protection and a dawning sense that climbing melting ice in a rainstorm wasn't a wise idea saw me back off. Disappointed with not having done the route, we trudged down hill, calf-deep in slush at some points.

In retrospect all still good fun, but some major learning points for the day - it is much, much hard to jump across streams with a bag stuffed full of wet climbing rope... and don't forget your waterproof trousers.

Haworth Hobble preparations

I can't believe I last posted way back in December! Time flies when you are training and then trying to recover and dealing with the daily 5.30am to 6am wakeup calls from Owen. There seems to be hardly anytime to do anything else. Training seems to be going well with nay a session missed so far this year - I have just jinxed myself there. The mileage is still pretty low, but I am up to 6 runs a week and some decent long days in the hills. Actually some of the runs have been exchanged for some cross country ski-ing because it seems we have had constant snow and ice for the past few months. All good though and I do feel strong - especially so after about 45minutes of hard exercise. The winter Olympics has been a great motivation and watching the cross country and biathlon has been awe-inspiring.

It is now only a couple of weeks to go until my first race of the year; The Haworth Hobble which is a 32 mile jaunt near Hebden Bridge. Bronte country apparently although I doubt I have ever read any of their work. My longest run has been about 7 miles, but I am hoping the long climbing days, including a fantastic traverse of the Aonach Eagach will keep me right. I am running it with a friend who is planning the Bob Graham Round so I am just aiming to have fun and get some mileage in the legs.

When I look back to 2008 (my Ramsay year) it all seems to be heading in a similar direction and if anything my training seems to be more consistent. I really do rate mountaineering days out as superb preparation for the 24 hour challenge-type runs so hopefully the snow will consolidate and let me out in the crampons. I wont top 2008 for the number of winter routes done (20), but a decent number should set me up well for the summer. A trip to Armenia planned for June will push back my Paddy attempt into early July. The reccy trip to Snowdonia is still on for April. So here's hoping I survive the Hobble...

Snow, snow and more snow...

Snow has been lying thickly even in Inverness for the past week, so apart from a few runs around town with my Inovates which grip well in the snow ice encrusted pavements, any forays into the hills require skis or snow shoes. Just to prove my theory I slogged in to look at a crag today with a cliff-base of about 550m on Sgurr na Feartaig. Not enough ice and the fact it took 4 hours to walk the 5km from Craig put paid to any climbing ambitions. Still, the ski-ing has been fantastic and looks to stay that way for a while as most forecasts indicate no real change in the weather.

The demoted Munro near Morusig.

Ski-ing the Farr access road with Owen on Saturday.

Before we got that huge dump I walk/ran over Cul Mor and Cul Bheag with Dave and Jonathan a couple of weeks ago. We lost Jonathan on Cul Mor who having already bagged Cul Bheag opted to check out the sub-marilyn near Cul Mor 'just in case'. Despite dire warnings from the guidebooks the ground between the two was reasonable and the final slog up Cul Bheag eased by a motorway of a path. It was one of those days which will stick in the mind for a while and minutes were spent on the top marilyn-spotting. The easy-paced round trip of 4.5h surprisingly straight forward.

Cul Mor from the path to Cul Bheag.

An Cabar Strathbran

An Cabar is a small hill (558m) in Strathbran Forest on the south shore of Loch Fannich and a short outing (1.5hours) from the A832 near Achanalt. It is a pretty straight forward run following a well defined stalkers path/quad bike trail up to the loch. From here the undulating ridge is relatively (relative to the rest of the surrounding hilside) dry to the trig point. The views were fantastic especially to the north and east. Coming down I headed south west cross country to meet up with the path near the forest boundary. Although wet, the running was good and reached the car just before the rain started.

This ruined boat on the bank of Loch na Curra seemed out of place in the middle of a hillside at 350m altitude.

A random picture that I took last weekend over by Abriachen.

Paddy Buckley 2010?

After a year of getting used to a baby boy and too much work, next year is going to be the one to 'finish off' the classic three 24 hour rounds. So far I have enjoyed the Bob Graham (2006) and the Ramsay (2008) - more so for the training rather than the runs themselves. Perverse perhaps, but there is always such an air of expectation around the actual attempts. The excuse to go running into the big hills at night is always such a draw to me, so Paddy Buckley's round is quite an attractive prospect. Plus it would be nice to explore parts of Wales that I haven't been to since I was a teenager. Also despite good races this year, results are just good race results and nothing more. So next year I want to have a bit more of an adventure.

Last week as part of a trip to in-laws who live near Aberysthwyth I decided to do my first reccy to have a look-see and get my training kick started. The leg from Aberglaslyn to Pont Caegors seemed suitably short with a scheduled (to a sub-24h schedule) time of 3.46. Almost from the off I got lost in the woods above Aberglaslyn following a marked footpath which unfortunately didn't go to where I wanted to go. Next time I should just stick to the stream and head towards to left of the ridge past the old buildings. So I was seriously hacked off with the whole enterprise before I had even begun! Once I was back on the route to Bryn Banog I calmed down and jogged the easy ground - the grass was short, the bogs shallow and the tussocks small. From the top of Moel Hebog I encountered the first of a couple of very steep grassy downhills. Lethal in my worn out fell shoes and my dodgy ankle, but useful information all the same. And I began to enjoy myself.

The rest of the run was straight forward and fun - always following well defined paths or trods on easy running terrain with the only tricky bit Y Gyrn which was coated in thick heather and just seemed a bit pointless and a mere pimple to boot.

Towards the end of the leg the ridge after Mynydd Drws y Coed got decidedly slippery with a bit of scrambling, not helped by the torrential downpour which had just passed overhead. Cautiously edging down some slabs I heard some clattering above and a rucksac descended towards me on parcel string. An older walker followed the bag and seemed relieved to have got back to easier ground. Did he have the parcel string in his bag by chance, or was it in his normal hill walking kit to help him out of such a predicament?

Coming off Y Garn was a mild disaster as I got the line completely wrong. I had tried to stick to the marked paths, but would have been better off heading straight towards the forest and pick up some roads in there. Still, by the time I reached the road only 3h20 had elapsed so under schedule and a couple of chances to save even more time.

Tomnabat Hill Race

Where has the summer gone? It seems to have rained for the past 3 days non-stop. So gone are the great running conditions. Replaced by the normal boggy state of affairs. Due to forecast I decided that if I wanted to get a race in it would have to be relatively close to Inverness. So Tomnabat Hill Race (AS 5.5km 380m or thereabouts) as part of the Tomintoul Highland Games was chosen in preference to Glamaig on Skye.

Arriving in the driving rain in Tomintoul, I discovered that most of the events had been cancelled but the hill race was still on. I had never run the route, but had heard all sorts of rumours of man-eating ditches and head-high heather.

It was a pretty small field of runners at the start and I was soon at the front with Jason Williamson on the first track section and a guy running for Fife. After a couple of minutes we reached a gate, hopped over it and then headed up the unflagged section to the top of the hill. I didn't have a clue of where to go, other than up, but after an initially section of scrub, the heather was low and it was all runnable. Thankfully after the summit the route was well flagged again. I don't think I would have found my way down without them. Deep heather, trees and steep slopes all made more interesting by the amount of water in the sky as well as underfoot. After a very short section of estate road it was back up on a small track, initially steep but soon easing off, back over the shoulder of Tom na Bat. This last climb, wet again, dragged allowing me to finally get some distance on Jason. The drop down back to the road was slow. Flatter areas of bog were energy sapping and the slow progress downhill was dispiriting and I was paying for my efforts on the climb. By the time I was at the road it was only about 600m back to the finish and I was pretty sure I could hold on for the win. I dug deep and finally made it round the games field to finish in 32.06. The wettest race of the year so far!

It was a great tough race route and there were even the cash prizes at the end - despite the games effectively being called off. So no excuses not to treat Emily, my wife, and Owen, my son, to scones and hot chocolate in the great cafe at the Old Firestation in Tomintoul.

Orkney bagging

Blotchnie Fold on Rousay, Orkney - an easy 5km walk or run along tracks and way-marked RSPB trail with an added bonus of no skuas or other dive-bombing birds. From the summit we could just about make out the light house on North Ronaldsay and the headland of Noup Head on Westray. Despite the sun the cold wind picked up in the afternoon hastening a retreat to the pub by the pier to wait for the ferry back to Mainland.

Almost a week later I headed on my own to Hoy to run a loop of Cuilag, Ward Hill and Knap of Trowieglen. It looked hard from the map with steep drops and climbs between all three hills. I was also worried about the number of skuas on the island, having been regaled by very colourful tales of vicious attacks.

The foot passenger ferry from Stromness to Moaness was very busy and gave me about 7 hours on the island. I had had a bad cold so was a bit worried about the time pressure. The day was scorching and I was already struggling in the heat as I slogged up Culaigs from Sandy Loch reaching the top in 40mins. A short section of road having provided suitable warm-up.

The top was covered in large loose squared-edged blocks, which had strange pock marks on them and a myriad of cairns. Haze spoilt the view a little, but I could still make out the hills in Caithness and Sutherland, mainland Orkney and the islands dotting the perfectly calm sea to the north.

I dropped off down a steep hillside, on short grass and heather to start back up Water Glen - which unfortunately had no water. Temperatures away from the breezy ridges was horribly oppressive. A few angry skuas swooshed overhead, but did nothing worse than that. After getting through the tussocky flat ground the going improved and the gravel ridge up to Ward Hill was very quick underfoot. In total contrast to the baking glens, the top was freezing - cooled by a bitter wind.

The decent off Ward Hill was short but brutally steep and my thighs were screaming by the time I reached the road. I was fading on the climb and did not enjoy the trudge through the rough ground of Stany Hamars to finally reach the top of the Knap after about 2.5hours of running. I had had enough so I dropped into Trowie Glen to paddle, splash and scramble down the gully bed. Slower but much more pleasant and fun than stumbling down the tussocks.

A quick detour past the Dwarfie Stane, Britain's oldest rock cut tomb, and a jog down the road top the cafe at Linkness. I got the last portion of Cullen Skink and chilled out fishing off the pier until the ferry came.