Andy Hyslop's Blog

Heart of the Monadhliath

2012-01-28T22:54:00.000Z

A trip up the Findhorn into the heart of the Monadhliath. A beautiful day to be in the mountains.

Coignafearn Lodge

Brewing up at Dalbeg Bothy

Winter Mountain Bike Tour of the Cairngorms

2012-01-16T10:55:00.000Z

I’d been thinking about the possibility of a winter MTB Cairngorm circuit for some time. The summer version took over 16hrs. Would sub 24 hours be possible in winter?

Pre Christmas training rides to the pub convinced me that anything more than a light dusting of snow below 500M was going to require a multi day trip and, questionable reasoning for setting out on a bike rather than skis.

The Merida 96er + Ridge Runner at the remote Loch Builg

Getting the right conditions wasn’t going to be easy but the winter is mild and mainly brown. The problem with that would be strong winds, rain and the 9 significant river crossings. Also the mild weather generally followed a dump of snow which further fueled the rivers.

After weeks of Atlantic lows a ridge of high pressure started to build from Wednesday onwards. A weak front was depositing some snow just above 500M (max altitude of the circuit).

The forecast for Thursday/Friday looked good and I planned to leave at Midnight Thursday. By 6pm it had been sleeting in Aviemore for a couple of hours and the Drumochter Traffic Scotland web cam confirmed fresh snow below 500M; 24 hours delay.

I didn’t sleep well despite the reprieve. The next day was difficult, having to get psyched up all over again. The evening was cold and clear (-2C). I couldn’t sleep until 10.30pm and getting out of a warm bed less than an hour and half later then, stepping out into the freezing night, was horrible. A brief stop at Aviemore Station to mark time (00.20) and off into a cold clear moonlit night. Light headwind blowing. (14th Jan)

Steady away up the Tromie towards Gaick Lodge. The whole trip could have been stopped by 3 am if the Alt Gharbh Ghaig had been uncross-able; fortunately it was benign, as was the river crossing just before Loch an Dubh. However, a near stopper occurred shortly after while on the single track round the steep loch side. A rock hard avalanche cone covered the path with just the slightest icy break to teeter across in cycling shoes. A slip would have meant a 50M slide directly into the freezing loch.

Down past Stronphadruig Lodge to the A9, reaching Blair Atholl at 5.27 am. I’d left the car near the station the previous day. A quick brew, buttie , swap maps and pick up the spare battery then off again at 6.00 am. I estimated that it would take 2hrs to cycle up the Tilt to Falls of Tarf, which would give me daylight for the vague open moor between the head of the Tilt and the Geldie Burn. The timing was right but the mist was down and it was difficult to get the best line. I made one unnecessary stream crossing.

Crossing the wide Geldie Burn was possible but I wouldn’t have wanted much more water. The alternative is 6KM of heather bashing to get to Linn of Dee.

Braemar at 11.00 am and a stop at the excellent Old Bakery Cafe, leaving at 11.45 am. In summer the next section goes from Invercauld Bridge over to Loch Builg via the shoulder of Culardoch at 700M. I choose a winter alternative via Corndavaon Lodge; 5 miles further but 300M less climbing. Fast going on a good track to the loch then down Glen Avon on tarmac to Tomintoul at 15.50 pm.

By the time I left the Old Fire Station Cafe it was dark again. I couldn’t remember any route finding issues with the section over to Dorback Lodge but in the dark, without a moon and traveling in the opposite direction I made a couple of errors and ended up tramping across the moor to regain the line.

Over Eag Mhor and down to the Nethy ford; the deepest on the circuit which influenced my decision to go clockwise so as not to get an early soaking, (I think anti-clockwise would be faster in summer conditions). The descent from Ryvoan Bothy was too icy to ride. Pat met me at Glenmore and I gratefully latched onto her back wheel for a welcome (if rapid) tow back into Aviemore finishing at 20.45 pm with a total time of 20hrs and 25mins

The head-cam was disappointing. Most of the shots in the dark were unusable and the battery ran out by mid day. I've cobbled together some clips from December training around Aviemore and on the actual day.

Weather and Timing

A mild winter weather usually brings strong winds. River crossings would be dangerous or impossible. Anything but a light dusting of snow below 500M would be a serious problem. I was lucky to get a cold settled period following a mild spell which cleared the snow.

Trying to match a full moon with the above, and between the official winter dates of 21st December to 21st March is tricky. Going without a moon would be more a lot more difficult both for navigation and motivation.

Gear

Hands and feet are a big problem for winter biking. With 9 significant river crossings I needed a lightweight solution to keeping my feet warm and dry. Getting wet early on was not an option. In the end I came up with the idea of foldable waders; Pretty simple really, just two sections of silicone elastomer (tent fly sheet material) stitched together in a vague foot/leg shape and seam sealed with glue. They worked amazingly well even when partially holed towards the end.

Feet - Smartwool socks, Sealskin socks, Shimano shoes, VBL layer, Enduro over boots + foldable waders as required.

Gloves - I started with a heavy pair of Mountain Hardwear Gauntlets but ditched them at Blair Atholl in favor of much lighter Sealskin insulated gloves. I carried backup polypro liners.

The amazing fold-able waders

Head - Sealskin helmet liner, windstopper balaclava, neck gaiter, Helmet.

Shells - Altura cycling over trousers with fleece tights under. A Buffalo Super 6 shirt over a thin thermal. I carried a light-ish waterproof but never used it. I also had a light duvet Rab which again I never used but would have needed in the event of a puncture or any kind of mechanical, not to mention injury.

Safety - Heat reflective foil survival bag, first aid kit, phone, maps, compass.

Lights - Petzl Tika XP on the helmet (only used off the bike). Petzl Ultra Torch 350 Lumens, bars mounted. I carried 2 x Accu 2 batteries but only used one on the lowest setting for the whole trip.

Tools - Spare tube, tyre leavers, pump, adhesive patches, Specialized multi-tool with a chain breaker, quick link, anti freeze. Some chain oil in the car at Blair Atholl.

Bike - Merida 96er. A relatively light full suss - heavier than my Genesis bike but the rear suss paid dividends in the terrain.

Tyres - I did have the option of using snow spiker tyres but decided against it in the end which might have been a mistake considering how much ice there was on the tracks. Having said that the Continental X King 2.4s were great on everything else.

Luxuries - Ipod, GoPro head-cam. The head-cam was a waste of time at night.

Food - Cycling bottle with HighFive Energy and Zero (not at the same time). 2 butties, 2 Snickers. I didn’t eat much during stages which works fine for me providing I can get to a cafe every 3 or 4 hours. I carried the butties 120 miles to Glenmore before eating one.

View Winter Mountain Bike Tour of the Cairngorms in a larger map

Timing

Aviemore Station - 00.20 (dark)
Arrive Blair Atholl - 05.27 (dark)
Leave Blair Atholl - 6.00 (dark)
Bridge of Tarf - 8.00 (dark)
Arrive Braemar - 11.00 (light)
Leave Braemar - 11.45 (light)
Arrive Tomintoul - 15.50 (light)
Leave Tomintoul - 16.15 (dark)
Aviemore Station - 20.45 (dark)

Total Darkness - 12hrs 10mins

Total Distance - 127 miles (123 miles in summer)

Total Time - 20hrs 25mins (total summer time 16hrs 40mins)

Kalymnos

2011-12-03T17:31:00.001Z

I finally made it to Kalymnos or, as John Topping said:

“aah so you caved in (pun intended) and went to Kalymnos after all!!”

Having been put off by stories of crowds and overly steep climbing I’m now kicking myself for not having made the trip years ago.

Pete Whillance said it was a world class climbing destination (what, you mean like Tuolumne or Red Rocks?). He wasn’t wrong. There are crags everywhere and thousands of routes. Resident activists are constantly developing new areas and all within a short scooter ride from base camp in Masouri. In fact much of the island economy seems to have been turned over to climbing after the failure of sponge diving.

We climbed a couple of the easier tuffa routes but for us the best climbing was undoubtedly on the 40M mega pitches at Ahri; endless steep faces with beautiful rock and an uninterrupted supply of positive holds. '4U' (6c) at Arhi was my favorite route of the trip while Ghost Kitchen was the most inspiring crag that we visited. There’s loads of places we didn’t have time to visit including most of the popular crags directly behind Masouri.

I think I’ll still be avoiding the peak periods of April and October and won’t be provoking the Athens riot police again (another story) but, I’ll definitely be back.

Il Pittore 6b+, Arhi

Ghost Kitchen, 6C+

Pete Whillance and Cynthia Grindley below Ghost Kitchen

Pete Whillance, 7a at Ghost Kitchen

Pete Whillance, French Connection 6a+, North Cape

Tour de Ben Nevis 2011

2011-09-26T13:27:00.000Z

Did the Tour de Ben Nevis on Saturday. It’s a 72km loop round the Ben starting and finishing in Fort William; fantastic mountain biking terrain with a really tough descent down into Kinlochleven.

I was very happy with a time of 5 hrs 4 mins but, not so chuffed when I discovered that I’d been demoted from 18th to 53rd as result of my woefully inadequate descending skills on two 8 minute special stages. To me (not that I know anything about MTB events), the special stages make the other 4hrs 45mins of mad thrashing somewhat irrelevant. I suppose you just need to be really good at riding planks of wood covered in chicken wire as well as everything else. Team mates Mike Devlin and Hamish Irvine (who have excellent descending skills by any measure), suffered a similar fate in the final results

Winge over..... A great event, well organised and inspiring terrain. Need to practice on those planks before next year.

Results

Video thanks to David MacMillan of singletrackbikes.co.uk

This is what Mike Devlin of Mikes Bikes had to say.........

Mountain Bike “racing”

Before I start, this will include a rant!!! Three intrepid (okay old) athletes, Mike Devlin, Hamish Irvine and Andy Hyslop entered the MTB enduro event “Tour de Ben Nevis” at the weekend. As a group they all suffer from a minor affliction, and a major misconception. The major misconception being, “1^st over the line wins “, Hamish & Mike should know better,

having “competed” in the Merida mountain marathon which produces no results. Anyway, what follows in Mikes account of this gentle mountain bike race Warning: This article includes some rambling.

Hamish, Mike & Andy arrived on the start line in Fort William on a very cold and wet Saturday morning (Forecast was wall to wall sun!),after a long and cold chat to Steve Broadhurst, Catriona Brown, Peter, Duncan Clark etc, we were piped (bag) along the high street………….and then it started.

Stage 1

Immediately, we got stuck into a long hill climb, and quickly the 300+ thinned into 20 ish racers. Riding alongside Hamish, I felt good even great!! Cue 1^st attempt at dropping him. After 30mins or so it got a bit rougher, and I promptly fell off!!

(our hard tyre policy was all wrong!), the bete noir (Hamish) over took me (on my Merida 29er XT edition), & I quickly lost sight of him over a long, arduous, rough track to Kinlochleven.

Stage two began, oh joy (v technical down hill, big drops, all rock and steps), despite being well warned I rode it all on 1^st sight, a combination of extreme skill (modesty is over-rated), 29er & luck! I did it “sight unseen “and stayed upright. The highlight of the descent was passing (avec smug grin in place), the black beast (Hamish), who had decided to walk! We then hit the hill to Mamore Lodge (mega steep honest), and I was delighted to have dropped Hamish on the down hill (not that I am competitive). This delight had a very short shelf life, for at the top of the hill, a familiar “hello hello” was proffered from the big man as he cruised past!! At that point both of us were overtaken by the 1^st woman, so our god like status dropped somewhat. After a very long and sore Land Rover track, I caught sight of Hamish in front and Andy behind! After fording a river, the “walking” section commenced, yes I did write “walking”. Now hill walking is not my favourite activity, especially in Shimano Carbon soled race shoes, whilst carrying a (big) bike. I saw Hamish drawing further away, and Andy drawing nearer on his Merida 96 carbon full suss. My resolve failed! I sat on my bike at the top and fell over, Andy & Hamish rode away. On top of this ignomy, I lost my chocolate bar ( the subject of a long dream on the climb). I thought,”oh well” a long slog to Fort William now, how hard can that be!!

Actually, very hard, after 4.5hrs of hard riding, a nice man told me I was 20^th out of 300+, and that there was a “short

technical section” ahead.(Translation: short technical section-try world cup XC course. Given I had worn my rear brakepads to the metal, a technical section was not my ideal finish. Halfway down, I got off and ran(or was that walk gingerly)! It was safer. Somewhere in the woods two DH demons overtook me (so fast I missed one of them), and one with a smug podium smile. (Damien Forster, ex owner of off beat bikes, so he knows a bit about the trails. Finally, I reached the finish alone in 22^nd place after a mind numbing 5hrs 11mins & still thinking about my chocolate bar. The team did well for old men Hamish Irvine (12^th), Andy Hyslop (18^th) Mike Devlin (22^nd).overall………..or so we thought This is not the end of the story………… we were unaware of the “rules”, which meant that “style” points were awarded for various sections DH, UH (that’s uphill) etc. Personally I don’t get it, but in this world of equal ops for all, it must have some logic! Steve Broadhurst reckons that if Mike etc actually read the instructions it might have worked out. The key appears to be, ride very slowly for 75% of the time, fix your hair at the top of the DH (if you have any, I would polish my helmet) and bomb it down, then return to riding slowly, till the next style section!

Sore loser! You bet!

The Big Loop

2011-09-02T21:33:00.000Z

Took 12 hours 10 mins (ish). Went anti clockwise. Cafe stops at Pitlochry and Braemar. Distance: 160 miles with the 4 big climbs.

Inshriach 6.50am
Pitlochry 10.20am
40 min Cafe stop ( 2 sausages, bacon, scrambled egg, toast, coffee)
Spitall of Glenshee 5 min leg stretch
Braemar 13.50pm
40 min Cafe stop ( Cheese & tomato toasty, tea, caramel slice, can of beer)
Cock Bridge 5 min leg stretch
Tomintoul 16.50pm
10 min butty break ( 1 x cheese/salami)
17. 15pm Brig O' Broon energy crash and another 10 mins butty break ( 1 x cheese/salami)
18.10pm Nethy and a tow home from Pat
7.00pm Cairngorm Hotel Aviemore for beer and chips

I took HighFive Zero electrolite tablets for the water bottle but refrained from any other energy products.

Pat tows home from Nethy

View Cairngorm Road Loop in a larger map

Kincraig Loop Time Trial

2011-08-24T18:30:00.000Z

Merida 96

2011-08-04T08:18:00.001Z

Got the chance to try a Merida 96 on some of the tracks and trails around Aviemore.

The bike was amazing, probably a bit too amazing for me! It would be nice to own one but I could see myself going faster and faster until the inevitable happened. Probably best to stick with what I've got for the rest of the this year at least.

Many thanks to Jenny and Mike of Mike Bikes, Aviemore for the loan of the bike.

View Burma Road - Burnside Loop in a larger map

Mull

2011-07-08T15:11:00.002Z

Colin Moody’s new sport crag at Duart Point.

More new routes at Erraid. Plenty more to come

Topo of Corridor Crag, Erraid (NM297201). Thanks to Colin Moody

May 2011

2011-06-02T13:21:00.001Z

The weather has been terrible up north for a month. Some respite on the way hopefully. I managed a good trip up the North West with Mike Binks while the sun was still shining.

The Ullapool Stornaway ferry from Rhue

There's a full article about our NW trips on the Rock + Run Info site

Pat and I have been busy in the Elves Workshop churning out lots of exciting new products. We've started making some bike products for Mike Bikes in Aviemore in addition to all the usual stuff for Rock + Run.

Mikes Bikes Saddle Bag

BASOC, my local Orienteering club managed a shock 1st and 2nd place in Scottish Champs Relays last weekend. Video by Callum Scott below.

Aviemore to North Uist

2011-04-27T12:54:00.001Z

It should have been further but my back axle broke near Lochmaddy necessitating a return by boat and bus.

The first two days with Andrew Stoker were excellent; cutting cross country from east to the west coast.

Day 1: Over the Gaick to Glen Garry, road to Kinloch Rannoch and Rannoch Station followed by a tough 10 miles across Rannoch Moor to The Kings House. 70 miles

Day 2: Road to the end of Loch Etive. Very rough for a couple of KM on the north side of loch followed by gradually improving track leading onto good forest road and eventually tarmac. 37 miles. Ferry to Castlebay, Barra.

Day 3: Up Barra to the Eriskay ferry. 40 miles on wind assisted tarmac to within 10 miles of Lochmaddy 50 miles-ish.

All very nice but a bit disappointing that we didn't managed the full trip through to Ullapool, XC to Alness, Inverness and back over the Monadhliath.

Escalada en Sierra Espuña

2011-04-04T08:10:00.001Z

What makes a good climbing trip? Well, these days, apart from the obvious such as good weather, great rock and routes, I look for venues which are less frequented by main stream euro craggers than I perhaps might have done 20 years ago. The obvious destinations such as Calpe, Sella, El Chorro and Kalymnos are most definitely off the radar.

I visited the Sierra Espuña region with Jonathan Lagoe in 2006 while competing in an orienteering event. We managed a bit of climbing but time was short and my motivation was pointing in different direction. I made it back 5 years later with Cynthia Grindley and Colin Moody, this time just for the climbing.

Apart from the first day we barely saw any other climbers all week and had the crags to ourselves most days.

The guide book: Escalada en Sierra Espuña

Where to Stay: Camping Sierra Espuña

Colin Moody's images: Spain

Cairngorm South Side

2011-03-19T10:47:00.002Z

An excellent day skiing the the south side of Cairngorm Mountain with Hamish Irvine and Graeme Ettle. A bit windy, snow tricky in places but great to be out before the thaw sets in next week.

Kingussie to Carrbridge

2011-03-17T07:28:00.001Z

Ski touring has activity has been curtailed somewhat with my labyrinthitis/middle ear problems; comes and goes but has alarming symptoms when it strikes, which put me off heading into the winter hills on my own. Turns out my sister, unbeknown to me, has also been suffering from vestibular disorder for the last 2 years. It last struck her down while descending the Puig Campana in Spain.

With a big dump of snow and a couple of days for it to consolidate I couldn't resist another attempt on a Monadhliath traverse from Kingussie to Carrbridge. Good conditions are not that frequent as the hills are all relatively low and ideally you need good snow down to strath level for the long easy angled run into Carrbridge.

I was lucky; apart from a 45min walk from Kingussie Station to the forest gate I kept skis on all the way to the forest gate just west of the saw mill at Carrbridge. A 20min walk got me into the village centre.

The route passes the site of the proposed Allt Duine Wind Farm which, in true NIMBY style, I'm strongly opposed to. This is what Cameron MacNeish has to say about it: Another giant windfarm for the Monadh Liath

Stats:
7.23am train from Aviemore to Kingussie (12 mins)
45 min walk to the forest gate.
Arrived at the Cairn Hotel Carrbridge at 4.55pm
Skis: Fischer 109
Wax: Swix Red Special 0'C to -2'C

View Kingussie to Carrbridge in a larger map

Tele Self Analysis

2011-02-08T10:14:00.006Z

A day of good snow at Cairngorm which makes a change from the icy conditions. Cynthia came over from Glencoe which gave me the opportunity to do a bit of self analysis on my tele technique.

Strange how you think you're doing really well until you see yourself on video. I know what I need to improve on; hands further forward, more movement, face down the fall line, but in practice I’m really struggling to make it all happen.

The vid is shot with a GoPro Helmet Hero; Seems really good but needs some care on camera angle as is evident with the short section of Cynthia skiing.

Brutal criticism welcome.

Les Contamines

2011-01-17T19:21:00.004Z

I had a week of telemark instruction in Les Contamines with The Telemark Ski Co. Any pretensions that I might have had about my telemarking ability were quickly demolished on the first morning. By the end of the week I was feeling a lot more confident and, while still fairly crap, I know what I need to work on.

Booking on a course goes against the grain a bit for me but it was definitely money well spent. Excellent instruction from Ian Johnston and a friendly bunch of fellow students.

Stuck In A Hut

2010-12-23T16:58:00.006Z


The Eckphiler. December 1978

September 2010, I got this on my Facebook wall:

Richard wrote:
"Have you still got that card from when you me and Ian McMullan were trapped in the Giglione hut in winter waiting for the chopper many years ago? Just had another chopper lift two weeks ago with a bust leg in Switzerland. In hospital in St Moritz getting fit enough to be repatriated. Ah well!!!"

Spin back to 19th December 1978, I’m 19. I’m hitching at the southbound exit slip of Forton Services on the M6 near Lancaster. My parents had rather doubtfully left me, and two massive rucksacks, at junction 36 a short time earlier.

A motor cyclist pulled up. It was Paul Cornforth on his way from Ambleside to Preston Tech. “Where are you going with that bloody lot?”.
“Chamonix” I replied. He looked at me and my rucksacks. “Aye well, see you in a couple of weeks”.

The hitching didn’t go particularly well. Other people seemed to get picked up by jolly truck drivers in the first half hour, were given cigarettes and beer and even got to drive the truck! That never happened to me. I spent the next couple of days pleading for lifts, sleeping in drain pipes, finishing up leftovers in the scruffy motor-way services of the day, and generally having an unpleasant time. At last I made it to Chamonix and found somewhere to stay.

Ian and Richard take a break in the Vallee Blanche

I had arranged to meet Richard Toon and Ian McMullan but they weren't due to arrive for a few days so I looked for someone else to climb with in the meantime. It didn’t take long in The Bar Nash (Bar National), to get chatting with Marius Morstad. Today Marius is famous for his bouldering, sport climbing and coaching. Back in the 70s, unbeknown to me, he was a leading Norwegian winter climber. We teamed up to try a new route on the Midi to the right of the Frendo.

At the end of the first day we bivied near the top of a steep ice field. In the morning it was snowing so we turned back. With few belays and deteriorating conditions we opted to reverse solo the 1500 feet of so of 50 degree front pointing. The weather deteriorated over Christmas and I left Marius to join Richard and Ian in their chalet near La Tour.

That would not be the last I would hear of Marius on this trip.

Richard and Ian knew I had an obsession with the Japanese route on the Eckphiler. Why that particular route? It had never been repeated, had a massive serac above most of the route so might be safer in winter and, of utmost importance, it might make us famous.

27th Dec - Day 1 Unfortunately Richard and Ian were daft enough to be compliant with my ill conceived plan. We joined a short queue for the first Midi Telepherique; very few people were heading into the mountains that day on a less than perfect forecast. We didn’t have skis, I don’t think we even had snow shoes and didn't have much idea of how we were going to get back from the summit of Mont Blanc even if we did get that far. On the up side, I had climbed the Bonatti Gobbi on the Eckphiler the previous summer so I knew roughly how to get there and get off.

Ian McMullan. A short section of ice below the Tacul.

After days of bad weather the Vallee Blanche was thigh deep in powder. We bludgeoned our way under the Tacul, past the Grand Capucin and on towards the Frontier Ridge. Our goal for the day was to reach the Giglione Hut. It was getting late as we started up (what I thought was), the steep flank of the ridge leading to the hut. As I’d been there just five months earlier the onus was on me to climb the Frontier Ridge at the right point; but everything looked so different in winter. After a while we were pitching steep snow and short mixed sections. It got dark and we still weren't there.

Still in denial, we reached the ridge crest. There was no hut to be found. Richard and Ian took the bad news in good humor and we settled down for a cold bivi.

28th Dec - Day 2 The weather was good and we traversed the Italian side of the ridge until the hut was found. By then it was mid morning and too late to launch out towards the Brenva Face. We would have chance to reorganise and observe the route. Huge powder avalanches roared off Mont Maudit. That was the last time we would see the sun for over a week.

The Brenva Face and Eckphiler (left) from the Giglione. The last time we saw the sun.

29th Dec - Day 3 Mauvais temps. Spindrift blasted through cracks in the door and the hut rocked on its perch as the wind battered the ridge crest. The day passed with no let-up in the weather. Not to worry we had plenty of food.

The Giglione Hut was no palatial Swiss Chalet with pine cladding and a restaurant. Far from it; this was a basic mountain shelter. There were bunks and some blankets but not much else. We felt confident that the weather would clear up tomorrow.

“Actually lads, I’ve a confession to make”

I had left my carrier bag of food in the fridge back in La Tour. 32 years later I can still remember that it contained a pack of smoked sausages. What we would have given for a smoked sausage in few days time.

30th Dec - Day 4 No let-up in the storm. During the summer months the hut offers a basic meal service. There were a few bits of ancient, mouse eaten, stale bread lying about but there’s no way we were going to eat those! Of greater interest was several trays of lager. Calories plus alcohol, what could be better. One slight problem; the whole lot was frozen solid. I had the bright idea of sleeping with half a dozen cans inside my sleeping bag; surely they would be defrosted by morning. After a short time it was obvious that plan wouldn't work. The beer might defrost but I would die of hypothermia and if one of the cans were to prematurely explode it would be curtains even sooner.

Ian McMullan and Richard Toon before it got grim.

31st Dec - Day 5 Still snowing. It was getting difficult to open the hut door. Essential trips outside were turning into a major epic. Before long the hut sauce pan had to be put to use, the contents of which were flicked over the balcony in the direction of Italy. Boredom was becoming an issue. We had covered pretty much every topic under the sun.

1st Jan - Day 6 New Years Day. We celebrated with a third of a Mars Bar each; our last Mars Bar. The food situation was getting critical by now so we started on the stale mouse eaten bread; it tasted fine. Mentally we were in reasonable spirits but lack of food, movement and cold were all starting to have an effect on our physical state. I couldn't get my feet warm. While this wasn’t particularly uncomfortable it meant that I was on a downward spiral. I had pain in my feet for months after.

2nd Jan - Day 7 Miraculously one of us had brought a pack of cards. I don’t remember who. Knock-out whist was the game of choice. Under normal circumstances you would deal the first hand of 7 cards to each player with gradually diminishing hands after that. We started with the maximum hand allowable dividing the pack three ways. We played all day, and day after day. The cards were difficult to handle with gloves but we had plenty of time.

3nd Jan - Day 8 A glimmer of hope. The weather wasn’t too bad. Still cloudy and snowing but it wasn’t as dark. We heard the distant sound of rotor blades and rushed outside. We had planned to bring food for 5 days, less what I had left behind, so we assumed Richard and Ian’s friends back in the chalet would have alerted the rescue by now. The helicopter briefly popped out of the clouds above the Brenva Glacier but then it was gone. We found out later the helicopter was trying to rescue a team of Japanese climbers stranded on the Brenva Face. Unfortunately they didn’t make it.

Myself, in need of a haircut.

4th Jan - Day 9 A miserable day. No sight or sound of the helicopter and it was snowing again. With the physical effort of going outside the previous day and having seen the huge accumulation of snow it wasn’t looking likely that we were going to be able to get back to safety under our own steam. Sighting the helicopter was a phycological watershed for me; I gave up any hope of self rescue and resigned myself to whatever might happen next. I’m not sure how Richard and Ian felt but none of us were rushing to leave!

5th Jan - Day 10 As usual the three of us were lying in a row on the bottom bunk. It was slightly lighter outside and no wind.

The rapid beat of rotor blades overhead took us by surprise. Faster than we could get out of our pits the door burst open. A red flying suit and white helmet dived in. The site of another human even after just 10 days was dazzling. The bright clean outfit contrasted strongly against our grubby brown refuge.

“Vite, vite, VITE!”

We rapidly shoved gear into sacks, pulled on boots and made for the door. The helicopter was perched on the narrow snow crest about fifty metres away, blades whirling and unable to put down properly. As soon as we steeped off the wooden catwalk running alongside the hut our physical deterioration manifested itself. The snow was waist deep and we could barely walk. The short distance to the sliding door at the back of the crimson Alouette seemed like a mile. The noise of the blades was deafening, the updraft was creating lots of spindrift, we were getting shouted at. With help from the co-pilot we were bundled in. A big heap of sacks, boots legs and arms. At least one of us was in tears.

I felt better when I saw that the pilot had ‘Bruno Le Bon’ written on the back of his helmet. He cranked the throttle and launched, nose down, off the ridge in the direction of France. We dropped like a stone at first then raced at low altitude back down the Valle Blanche over the Geant Icefall and the Mer de Glace. The weather window was short and the recusers were risking their own lives to bring us back. In less than 20 minutes we were dumped out onto the heli pad at La Praz and took the little blue van of shame back to the Gendarmerie in Chamonix. Our details were taken and we travelled back to the chalet in La Tour.

Richard and Ian’s friends had spent the last five days worrying as to whether we were dead or alive. They were furious. We had ruined their Christmas break. Not unreasonably, I seemed to be taking most of the blame. To make matters worse, despite the dire circumstances in the hut, I shamefully managed to slip a nice set of plastic compartmentalized camping plates into my rucksack on the way out of the door, for which I received a severe tongue lashing.

Marius and a climber from Manchester* whom, with breath taking arrogance, I had earlier dismissed as ‘nobodies’ had pulled off an early ascent of the Gaberrou Couloir on the Tacul while we were languishing in the hut freezing to death; a fact that was rammed home to me with merciless clarity.

32 year later, still got the cards.

I examined my emaciated body in bath. I’d lost so much weight that I could put both hands around the top of my thigh and make fingers and thumbs meet.

We split the pack of cards three ways as a memento and said our goodbyes.

One of the couples in the chalet were driving back to the Lakes and hoped I might get a lift home with them; not a chance! The next morning I was standing at the entrance to the Mont Blanc Tunnel with my thumb out. Trucks and cars accelerated past, spraying my Levi flares and combat jacket with filthy slush. Who could blame them.

Postscript

Sadly, Ian McMullan was killed by a rockfall at Harper Hill quarry in August 2002. I had seen Ian occasionally over the years at crags and in pubs and we never missed the chance to reminisce about our time in the hut and to check if each other still had his share of the cards, which we did.

I bumped into Richard by chance just once in the last 32 years, in the Golden Rule, Ambleside. We’re planning to meet up for a pint in the near future.

* I tried and failed, to find the name of the Manchester climber who repeated the Gaberrou Couloir with Marius. Looked back through old Mountain Magazines and checked the Alpine Club guide. If anyone can help please let me know.

Richrad Toon emailed me with his memories:

I remember the deep powder snow on the way to the hut and that we roped up but felt the edges of a couple of crevasses. The cold inside the hut was intense - I remember being cold inside my sleeping bag with duvet on - had to take the duvet off to let a little heat leak into my legs! The tea bags were recycled around three times or so! And the playing cards were the life saver!!

Certainly once the helicopter arrived, we had to move fast but the drain on our strength then became frighteningly apparent - there was no way we would have got ourselves out of the predicament by then. The flight out was fast and phenomenal and I remember the very stark contrast between the silence and the remoteness of the hut compared to the normal hustle and bustle of Chamonix.

What a way to spend New Year!

Inshriach Forest

2010-12-21T16:41:00.001Z

Nice conditions for xc skiing in the forest today. The snow is a bit thin in places but light and fast. Very cold, minus 9 during the day. Great weather, sunny and no wind but I'm frustrated at the moment with a middle ear virus.

Sunset over Meall Buidhe and Geal Charn from Inshriach

Carn an Tuirc

2010-12-13T15:47:00.002Z

Looking northwest from the summit of Carn an Tuirc

Put the fat skis on for a 'there and back' trip up Carn an Tuirc from the parking on the A93. It was possible to ski from within 300M or so of the parking. Snow still frozen rock solid.

I've been staying at the Cranfield Guest House in Braemar for the last two day. Very comfortable, good breakfast and top skiing tips from Ali. Well worth checking out if you're looking for accommodation in the area.

A report of a similar tour on Winterhighland.info from the previous day.

Carn an Tuirc from from the A93

An Socach

2010-12-12T17:27:00.003Z

A beautiful day but not great conditions for nordic touring. The rapid weekend thaw followed by a return to sub zero temps has frozen the snow pack rock hard. We need some fresh snow and, there's some on the way... yippee!

Carn Gheoidh Summit. Glas Tulaichean behind.

Another skier on the An Socach ridge

Sunset over the ski area from Carn Aosda

View An Socach in a larger map

Sgor Gaoith Ski Tour

2010-12-07T17:32:00.005Z

Another amazing day skiing the powder bowls of Sgor Gaoith. I was lucky enough to meet up with Sheila Van Lieshout and Hebe Carus at the parking area and did most of the tour with them.

We started by skinning up Geal Charn, then over Meall Buidhe to the summit of Sgor Gaoith. On the descent we went straight down Coire Ruadh in steep powder. Skins on again to traverse over the shoulder of Meall Buidhe and back to the summit of Geal Charn for another fantastic powder descent down Coire Cloiche, then a long traverse back to main path. Skis on car to car.

View Sgor Gaoith in a larger map

Meall a Bhuachaille

2010-12-06T17:10:00.007Z

A short but fantastic day skiing the south west flank of Meall a Bhuachaille above Glenmore. Amazing snow conditions and scenery. The tele turns are coming on and still only December 6th!

A report from a fellow skier on Winterhighland

Loch Morlich

Frozen Loch Morlich from Meall a Bhuachaille

ski tracks

Cairngorm Mountain

2010-12-04T17:29:00.003Z

Very good conditions up the mountain this weekend.

Cairnwell to Carn an t-Sagairt Mor

2010-11-15T18:04:00.003Z

This weeks weather window was on Monday. I had a great day nordic touring from Cairnwell over to Invercauld Bridge.

Sunrise on Ben Avon from he ski area

It would have been nice to continue to Lochnagar but the weather started to come in shortly after mid day and I was feeling pretty tired by then.

I descended from the plateau via The Feindallacher Burn which luckily, was full of wind blown powder. With my limited experience I would say conditions for nordic touring are excellent right now; a firm base with a thin skim of powder and minimal avalanche risk.

Looking back to Glas Maol on the way up Cairn of Claise

On the gear front, I bought a new pair of Fischer 109 Tour (waxing) skis. A huge improvement on the Hagan X Trace which are fine for going in a straight line but very difficult to turn. The 109’s seem like the perfect Scottish compromise for rapid touring on the plateaus with enough side cut and softness to make them usable on steep descents.

Carn Bannoch summit

That’s not say that I now stay upright all the time or ski with any style what-so-ever, but I did manage to get down the White Lady using them today which opens up lots of possibilities for touring routes.

Also experienced waxing for the first time; seemed to work fine, just a bit of common sense about choosing the right wax for the snow temperatures. The skis run much faster than a crown base and don’t make an irritating buzzing noise.

Carn an t-Sagairt Mor from Carn Bannoch

Route: Cairnwell to Carn an t-Sagairt Mor via Glas Maol, Cairn of Claise, Tolmount and Cairn Bannoch. Descent via Feindallacher Burn to Invercauld Bridge

Start Cairnwell: 7.45am. Finish Invercauld Bridge approx 1.30pm

Boring video only of interest to nordic touring enthusiasts:

View Cairnwell to Carn an t-Sagairt Mor in a larger map

Monadh Mór

2010-11-10T20:43:00.004Z

Managed to fit a nordic skiing trip into the brief weather window between deep Atlantic depressions this week. I had been up Carn Ban Mór a couple of times last winter with a view to traveling over the plateau to the remote mountain, Monadh Mór but had always been thwarted by weather or snow conditions. On this occasion there was thick mist above 800M but a good forecast gave me the confidence to launch off into the wilderness of Móine Mhór on a compass bearing and not much else.

The mist cleared enough half way across allowing me to identify the saddle behind Tom Dubh and then on to the north ridge of Monadh Mór. The snow had been blasted off the last 500M to the summit necessitating walking. Apart from that the whole route above 700M was very ski-able in generally good snow. Surprisingly good conditions for so early in the season.

Round trip 14miles/22.5KM

Skis: Hagan X Trace
Boots: Garmont Excursion

View Monadh Mór in a larger map

Loch Vaa 18th September 2010

2010-09-06T13:43:00.005Z

BASOC are hosting one of three orienteering events over the weekend of 18th-19th September.

Aberlour 18/09/2010
Superb mix of woodland, parkland and and urban on a brand new map in an area brand new to orienteering. Starts from 10.30 am to 11.30am Park at Speyside High School www.moravianorienteering.org

Loch Vaa 18/09/2010
One of the best forests in Scotland. Courses included Brown, Blue, Green, Light Green, Orange and Yellow Starts from 13.30 pm to 15.30pm Follow forest track at the end of Kinchurdy Road, Boat of Garten www.basoc.org.uk

Revack 19/09/2010
Coniferous forest near Grantown on Spy with plenty of features and challenging terrain. Starts from 10.30 am to 12.30am. Revack Estate signposted from A95 south of Grantown on Spey www.invoc.org.uk

View September 2010 O Races in a larger map

Swimming With Sheep

2010-09-06T13:12:00.004Z

Had an incident with a sheep on a climbing trip to Mull last week. I was looking at some undeveloped cliffs on the Ross of Mull when I spooked a sheep sufficiently for it to attempt leaping across a deep inlet in the coast.

Inevitably, the sheep missed the opposite side of the gap and bounced back into the inlet with a sickening crunch. I couldn’t easily climb down but could lean over just enough to see the sheep stuck tight up against one of the side walls. It panicked when it saw me looking over the edge and started to struggle. Not really knowing what to do I decided to leave it for a bit in the hope that it might free itself.

We did a few routes on a nearby crag and worried about how the sheep might be fairing. I really didn’t want to get involved in dragging it out of the inlet but I’d never have been able to forgive myself if I’d just left it there to drown in the next high tide.

We returned after a couple of hours and tentatively peered over the edge. I couldn’t see the sheep at first and thought it had escaped but my heart dropped as I spotted it wedge in a horrible diagonal slot below the undercut wall of the inlet.

I climbed down to see what could be done. The sheep was wedge so securely it looked unlikely that I would be able to free it. After a lot of pulling I eventually managed to free its front end. The back end was difficult to free without twisting its spine and causing further injury but, like freeing a bit of climbing gear that had got stuck in a crack, I eventually worked out a sequence to free both ends at once.

The sheep was totally knackered and could hardly stand on its own. It had some abrasion injuries but nothing obviously broken. The problem now was how we were going to get it out of the inlet.

With Cynthia standing at the top of the inlet we discussed the options; dragging the sheep up the side wall on a rope or swimming out around the cliff base until the angled eased enough to get the sheep up onto dry land. I wasn’t overly keen about the swimming option, thinking about what potentially might go wrong being alone in the sea attached to a sheep! Cynthia didn’t help by questioning whether sheep could swim or not; something I hadn’t even considered but the thought of being dragged under by a non swimming sheep terrified me.

We tried the rope option. For this to work the sheep was going to have to make some attempt at scrambling up the steep wall with me pushing from behind. It quickly became clear that the sheep could hardly stand up never mind make an attempt at rock climbing. It would have to be the swimming route or nothing.

I coaxed the sheep towards the water. It was clearly not keen on launching off into deep water and we both stood there for a bit considering the lapping waves and swaying sea weed beds. I’d like to think that the sheep and I reached some kind of an understanding at this point, a kind of bonding in a common aim to escape the cliff ;-) The sheep took a few steps forward and seemed to accept its fate. We launched into the deep as one.

Yes, sheep can swim! (pretty bloody obvious really). The sheep spied an easy angled ramp leading out of the sea and we headed for that. It staggered and looked like it might fall back in but once on level ground it struggled across the boulders of the foreshore and eventually to the idyllic grassy meadows where it was munching contentedly until I came along.

Sheep don’t have much of a life, but I guess a steel bolt in the forehead is preferable to drowning while stuck in a rock cleft.

Eilean a Ghearrain

2010-08-13T17:01:00.005Z

Here is a PDF topo for a small granite island off The Ross of Mull, Scotland. The routes are mainly short but the rock is excellent and the setting, astounding. There is a good campsite nearby and a pub just up the road. Well wroth a visit if you’re looking for somewhere different to climb.

Click Here to Download (3.1MB)

Scotland's Homes Expo

2010-08-05T20:22:00.005Z

Scotland's Homes Expo

Cycling the Spey

2010-07-18T21:42:00.003Z

I linked up some minor roads and sections of the Speyside Way from Inshriach to Spey Bay on the Moray coast.

I could have used more off road routes, particularly in the first few miles, but the sections I did use made sense in terms of following a direct and logical line down the river valley.

Start 9.50am from Inshriach
Aberlour 12.50pm
Arrive Fochabers Co-op 2pm
Left Fochabers Co-op 2.08pm
Arrive Spey Bay 2.32pm

Total Time: 3hrs 42mins Distance on bike computer 62 miles (Wind assisted)

Pit stops:

There is an excellent deli in Aberlour called The Spey Larder which sells pies, sandwiches and lots of other great grub. Not open Sundays.

The Co-op in Fochabers is open 7 days a week.

View Cycling the Spey in a larger map

Spey to Coast

2010-06-28T15:00:00.011Z

I left home at 4.13 am. It would have been 4 am but my rushed preparations the previous evening meant that I had mechanical problems in the first 100M. The temptation to throw the bike in the hedge and crawl back into bed was overwhelming. I settled for cycling the first 25 miles or so on the back roads through in Insh and Kinguisse in a black mood.

My plan was to cycle out to the west coast via the Corrieyairack Pass, Kinloch Hourn, Arnisdale, the Kylerhea Ferry and back across the Skye Bridge to Kyle, all in time to get the 5.15 pm train back to Aviemore.

I had forgotten how rough the Corrieyairack was compared to the fast sandy tracks in the east but I made it to Fort Augustus at 9.05 am (56 miles), more or less on schedule. From here the route follows the Great Glen Way down the Caledonian Canal for a few miles to Invergarry.

The upper part of Gleana Lichd

A 14K section of miserable forest roads links Invergarry with Torr na Carraidh followed by a long 24K run down the tarmac to Kinloch Hourn where I thought I was still making reasonable time; 1 pm and (80 miles).

The climb out of Kinloch Hourn was a lot steeper than I was expecting but once the initial ascent is out of way there is an excellent section of single track and rough double track passing through fantastic nordic style scenery. The descent down into Glen Arnisdale was steep and rough.

View Spey to Coast in a larger map

Conscious that I had burnt a lot of time on the last section and might be pushing my 5.15 pm deadline at Kyle I stopped looking at the computer and tried to concentrate on cycling the next road section to Glenelg quickly. Luckily I didn’t look at the map too closely or I would have noticed the big hill climb on the coast road.

The full Scottish breakfast I’d wolfed down in Fort Augutus had done its job for the last 45 miles but I finally keeled over somewhere around Upper Sandaig. Two cheese butties and a snickers had the effect of pouring petrol into and empty fuel tank; instantaneous. I finally reached the ferry at 16.30 pm (104 miles), too late to make the train but worse than that, the bloody thing wasn’t running!

The remote Alltbeithe Youth Hostel

After a couple of phone calls the new plan was to cycle over to Sheil Bridge, try and find somewhere to stay then cycle through Glen Affric to Cannich the following day where Pat would meet me in the car. The immediate problem was the 340M climb over Bealach Ratagan to get to Glen Sheil.

Most B&Bs had no vacancies signs up but I found Fisherbeck Bed and Breakfast on the way to the Youth Hostel at Ratagan; friendly, very reasonable and good food.

The next morning I left Ratagan at 8.30 am and cycled up Gleana Lichd, through the steep and narrow passage to Fionngleann, reaching the Alltbeithe Youth Hostel at 11 am. A good track followed by the Glen Affric road got me to Cannich at 13.10 pm with a total distance of 153 miles from Speyside.

Section Details

Aviemore to Melgarve - Minor roads, tarmac.

Melgarve to Fort Augustus - Corrieyairack Pass, rough and stoney. Not much ridable on the way up but reasonablely fast on the descent.

Fort Augustus to Invergarry - A good cycle way by the side of the canal followed by a 3 mile road section. There is an alternative forest trail which would avoid the road but it was closed at the time of writing.

Invergarry to Torr na Carraidh - Stoney forest road with a substantial climb; hard work and uninspiring scenery make this the low point of the journey.

Torr na Carraidh to Kinloch Hourn - Minor road, tarmac.

Kinloch Hourn to Corran - A very steep rough climb out of Kinloch Hourn followed by technical single track with some carrying. Definitely the most interesting section of the journey.

Corran to the Kylerhea Ferry - Minor road, tarmac but with an energy sapping 200M climb in the middle.

Kylerhea Ferry to Sheil Bridge - Minor road, tarmac but with an even bigger 340M climb more reminiscent of an alpine pass than Scotland.

Morvich to Glenlicht House - Loose and stoney vehicle track.

Glenlicht House to Alltbeithe Youth Hostel - Great scenery but steep at first. About an hour and half of pushing/carrying until the track starts to level out on the other side of the watershed. Mostly ridable for the last 4KM to Alltbeithe.

Alltbeithe Youth Hostel to Loch Beinn a Mheadhoin - A good track which improves after Athnamulloch.

Loch Beinn a Mheadhoin to Cannich - Minor road, tarmac, down hill and fast.

Mountain Bike Tour of the Cairngorms

2010-06-16T09:41:00.009Z

The Falls of Tarf at the head of Glen Tilt. 70 miles down, 53 to go.

I’ve been wanting to try this mountain biking link up for a couple of years. The route circumnavigates the Cairngorm Massive, connecting the principal glens and villages. I had done some of the individual sections in previous years but wondered if I could connect all the sections into one big day with the same start and finish point.

My Route

You could start at any point. I started from near Loch an Eilein south of Aviemore
Through Rothiemurchus Forest to Glenmore
Over Ryvoan Pass and The Braes of Nethy to Dorback Lodge
Through to Tomintoul via Glen Brown
Glen Avon, Loch Builg, Invercauld Bridge to Braemar
Linn of Dee, White Bridge, Glen Tilt to Blair Atholl
Gaick Pass to Tromie Bridge
Road back to starting point via Insh and Feshie Bridge
Total distance from bike computer 123 miles

View Tour Of The Cairngorms in a larger map

Cafes

I relied on filling up at cafe stops for food, only carrying sports drink and a couple of sandwiches which I never actually got round to eating.

There are cafes in Tomintoul, Braemar and Blair Atholl:

Tomintoul - The Old Fire Station Cafe officially opens at 9am but appears to serve from 8.30 am if you just walk in.

Braemar - There is a chippy and two cafes in the village. Turn down the Linn of Dee road and the cafes are on the right.

Blair Atholl - A good cafe that turns into a chippy after 5pm. Opposite the entrance to the caravan park and next to the Atholl Country Life Musem

Climbing on Barra

2010-06-01T09:24:00.001Z

I had a week climbing new routes on the island of Barra with Cynthia Gridley, Colin Moody and Pete Whillance.

And... if you were particularly taken bay the accordion playing in that video (as I was), here is the full 8 and half minutes:

Kincraig Orienteering

2010-04-17T20:13:00.005Z

Badenoch and Strathspey Orienteering Club held an event at Kincraig. The mixture of technical oak woodland and urban sprint seemed to go down well with competitors.

Results

The Long Course

Callum Scott at Control No.1

Donald Grassie at the Butterfly Hub No. 32

Crag foot at No. 11

Callum Scott at No. 13. Loch Insh and The Feshie Hills behind

Back into the village, the penultimate control No. 23

Ali Robertson, Kate Robertson and Ewan McCarthy discuss route choice at the finish

Lurchers Gully

2010-04-02T16:51:00.004Z

Skinned up to the summit of Cairngorm from the Ciste car park then over Cairn Lochain and down Lurchers Gully to the Punch Bowl car park. Manged a few teles in heavy snow conditions.

A beautiful spring day. The ski area looked horribly busy. There were massive queues for most of the tows.

Coire an Lochain looked really dangerous with a big crack at the top of the slab. Thankfully no one was climbing there today.

Ben Macdui

2010-03-10T09:53:00.003Z

Skied from Cairngorm car park over to Lurchers Gully and along to Ben Macdui. Back via the plateau and Cairngorm summit. Weather on the change.

Carn Toul and Braeriach from Ben Macdui

Mullach Clach a Bhlair

2010-03-07T18:21:00.003Z

A disapointing day. Despite a sunny forecast the cloud barely lifted above the tops making skiing difficult in flat light and navigation uncertain.

I had planned to ski a big loop around Moine Mhor but bailed at Mullach Clach a Bhlair. I didn't fancy launching off into the snowy wilderness in the prevailing conditions. The descent down into Glen Feshie was quite nice once I had negotiated the snow flutings.

View Mullach Clach a Bhlair in a larger map

Sgorans Traverse

2010-03-03T20:08:00.004Z

Traversed the Glen Feshie Sgoran Ridge starting at Achlean and finishing at Loch an Eilein.

Snow and skiing conditions are good on the plateau but varied on the ridges. Some areas are scoured to hard pack while areas of compacted flutings make travel difficult in places. There are dangerous slab avalanche conditions on many west facing slopes.

Looking down the Loch Einich from the summit of Sgor Gaoith

View Sgorans Traverse in a larger map

Sandy Allan

2010-03-02T19:35:00.004Z

Bumped into Sandy Allan at the top of Aonach Mor. He was climbing I was skiing. It was one of those encounters where you come across someone whom you’ve never actual met before, but feels like you've known them for years.

We chewed the fat in the Nevis Range Café and reminisced about times gone by and the characters of the climbing world back in the 70s and 80s.

The weather was amazing again. No wind and full on sun.

Sandy Allan's Blog

Sandy Allan on Aonach Mor. Schiehallion is the pointy peak on the horizon.

Looking towards Roy Bridge

Looking west down Loch Eil

Meall a Bhuachaillie Ridge

2010-03-01T20:14:00.003Z

The sun is shining, the birds are singing and there's 4 foot of snow on the hill. What could be better?

Skied the ridge NW from Meall a Bhuachaillie to Craiggowrie then down to the forest track at Badaguish, and eventually back to Glenmore. Skis on all the way. There's lots of snow and wind slab on western slopes while east/north eastern facing slopes have been scoured to ice on the ridge. Still loads of snow low down.

There had obviously been lots of people out in the Glenmore area over the weekend and there were quite a few people out skiing and walking today.

Bynack More

2010-02-22T21:02:00.010Z

The good weather continues in the Cairngorms. I had (another) fantastic day skiing over to Bynack More via Ciste Mhearad and Allt a Choire Dhuibh.

As I’d never been down the east side of Cairngorm, I was slightly concerned about the grade ‘IV/Black Run’ status given to the descent in the SMC’s Ski Mountaineering guide. Could I get down a black with tele cable bindings and rather less than honed skills?

I consulted, Martin Dean who initially said that he couldn't remember any problems but followed it up by saying that he’d just looked at the map and couldn't remember anything about the crags. Fortunately I bumped into local skiing expert, Callum Scott in the ticket queue who said that I would be ok. I was reassured and ignored the fact that Callum had never actually seen me ski before.

It was minus 16’C when I left the house and it seemed extremely cold when I stepped out of the Ptarmigan Restaurant. After a couple of warm up runs I made my way over to the head Ciste Mhearad. I needn’t or worried. The snow was superb and the angle very steady, probably the kind of angle you would expect on a blue run.

I skinned up at The Saddle and headed up over A’Choinneach and across to the south ridge of Bynack More.

Descending to the col between Bynack More and Bynack Beg was steep at first but eased into the head of Allt a Choire Dhuibh. The 450M descent down the twisting stream bed to Strath Nethy was just amazing; beautiful scenery and perfect snow.

Skins back on again for the climb out onto the north ridge of Cairngorm. From here it is possible to glide back to the Ciste Car Park in 20 mins or so.

I’m not sure what time I left the lift system but I got the 9am train up and was back at the road by 12.50pm

Skis: K2 Shuksan 177cm
Bindings: G3 Targa Ascent
Boots: Scrarpa T2

Glenshee

2010-02-21T10:25:00.003Z

Ice and Fire. Distant heather burning.

Had a day at Glenshee with Tele Master, Martin Dean.

I’ve never seen the Highlands looking so alpine. Blue skies, sparkling crystalline snow and no wind; it doesn’t get much better than this.

Glenshee was quiet after a week of half term madness. Skiing within the lift system was a good opportunity to work on technique but we were both longing for the isolation of the surrounding hills.

Martin Dean

Big Toe, Little Toe

2010-02-15T21:29:00.003Z

Had an afternoon practicing telemarking at Cairngorm Mountain. I can more or less link an easy piste worth of wobbly turns with a fairly wide stance.

The eureka moment came when I spotted a young guy executing (what looked to me like) perfect tele’s at speed. I just had to talk to him; so I made an effort to get on the same T bar lift and rinse his brains for tele tips. What a nice bloke! (fortunately).

The mantra is: ‘Big Toe, Little Toe’.

Point with your big toe on your outside turning ski and at the same time point with your little toe (in the same direction) on your inside ski.

I’m really only writing this down so I don’t forget it.

Any other top tips from telemarkers out there gratefully received.

Geal Charn, Dorback Lodge

2010-02-13T17:41:00.006Z

Skied up Geal Charn behind Dorback Lodge. Most of the snow has gone below 300m but vehicle tracks still have enough cover to be usable. I carried for about a kilometer at the start and the same on the way back which is acceptable for a 10K loop.

Total white-out on top; meaning no horizon and visibility down to a coupe of meters. I nearly turned back but an occasional fence post enticed me on until I was lucky enough to find some fresh tracks 50m from the summit cairn which also got me down the north ridge. Its amazing how any technique you thought you might have goes out the window in bad visibility and uncertain terrain.

The comforting sanctuary of a lone Scots Pine on the way back to Dorback Lodge.

View Geal Charn in a larger map

Northern Champs Trophy

2010-01-26T16:32:00.003Z

I had to return the Northern Champs M50 trophy last week. The next Northern Champs is at the end of the month in the Peak District. I’m not going; too far to travel for a not particularly inspiring area. Anyway the import thing is, I managed to get my name engraved on the same pot as Pete Livesey!

Pete’s obituary in the Independent.

Skiing The Cromdale Ridge

2010-01-25T20:22:00.015Z

I’ve been waiting to ski the Cromdale Ridge for a few weeks now. Di Gilbert and friends did it between Christmas and New Year, it must have been very heavy going in deep snow; they did well to complete it. With a partial thaw, re-freeze and a light dusting, as well as a good forecast, it was clear that the day had come for me.

Wind blown fluting on the ridge

There’s nothing particularly spectacular about the ridge, but it is more or less continuous for 17KM and stands isolated by the river valleys of the Spey and Avon.

Hare tracks ending in suspicious looking claw scrapes and a pit. Raptor snack?

I like it. I like looking at the shape of the contours on the map and I like the fact that it is a bit boring. It’s not particularly isolated but I suspect you would rarely see anyone else up there. I certainly had it to myself today apart from more Arctic Hares than I’ve ever seen!

The opulent architecture of the Tormore Distillery

Talking of boring here are the technical details. Left the car near the junction of the Nethy Bridge/Tomintoul roads at 9am. Skied right into the back of the Tormore Distillery at 13.30pm. Got the bus back to Grantown followed by Taxi to retrieve the car.

I was using Nordic skis; Hagan X-Tace and Black Diamond Expedition poles. Drank 2 litres of High Five via a bladder and ate 2 cheese and chutney butties. The temperature started -5C rising to about -2C, (far to mush detail already).

View Skiing The Cromdale Ridge in a larger map

Lynwilg to Kincraig

2010-01-24T09:30:00.003Z

I walked to the top of the Burma pass, planked up and continued south over Geal Charn and Geal Charn Beag. Got hopelessly lost in thick mist somewhere around Carn Leacan Steamhuinn and had a mild panic when I realised I'd been skiing 180' in the wrong direction for 15 mins. So much for years of orienteering training!

Ended up coming down to Leault Farm near Kincraig. The orginal plan was to get right through to Kingussie.

View Lynwilg to Kincraig in a larger map

Tuesday Night Handicap

2010-01-19T22:51:00.006Z

Should be called the Tuesday Night Race.

Manny Gorman instigated these regular Tuesday night sessions late last year. The training involves about a mile jog from Drumguish to a forest road junction where the start/finish is located. Runners are handicapped with the slowest off first. The loop is 3.2 miles. Some route finding may be required depending on conditions. Getting lost is not recommended, next stop Braemar 30 miles away.

Apart from the first run I attended all the others have been in varying depths of snow. No change tonight despite the partial thaw.

Great fun and reminiscent of winter nights long past training with Ambleside AC.

Post race warm down. Manny, Stewart, Stuart and Geoff

View Tuesday Night Handicap in a larger map

Telemarking

2010-01-18T17:21:00.004Z

Climbing, running, cycling and darts is for losers. Telemark skiing is where its at!

Ah yes, effortless gliding down the slopes with poise and style. Gracefully carving perfect S turns in pristine powder....

In my dreams. At least I did manage to string a few turns together. I know it must have looked like telemarking because some youth in a daft outfit shouted from the lift:

"That's the first time I've ever seen someone trying to learn how to do that"

and

"Everyone else seems to be an expert at it; know wot a mean mate?..."

I most certainly do know what you mean. (mate)

Tom an t-Suidhe Mhoir

2010-01-10T16:10:00.003Z

Oh no, not another shot of up pointed skis in the middle of nowhere; at least I managed to get myself in shot this time.

The snow is still very deep but I managed to get up a minor hill between Nethy Bridge and Tomintoul from the Dorback Lodge road. It was great to be out in an area I wouldn't really consider visiting in the summer. I'm sure some people might describe the terrain as featureless and boring (which it is), but I really like these vast undulating ranges of low hills which form a wide fringe around the main Cairngorm mountains.

Cairngorm Chaos

2010-01-09T12:08:00.003Z

I left the Lakes to get away from this sort of thing. It’s a familiar story; slap a National Park badge on a beautiful and wild area then push, push, push tourism and visitor number while the roads and infrastructure plays catch up. Oh, and build a line of monster pylons through the park as well.

I suppose I’m as guilty as everyone else by trying to access the facilities at Cairngorm Mountain on a Saturday morning. Here, a group of six cars queue jump the 3 mile tail back on the Glenmore road and inevitably meet traffic coming down the road. Chaos ensues as the emergency services turn up on route to a real emergency.

Ryvoan Bothy

2010-01-05T13:06:00.004Z

I skied up to Ryvoan Bothy from Glenmore with a view to continuing up Meall a'Bhuachaille - No chance. There's so much snow in the Cairngorms now that its almost impossible to venture off the beaten track. Even the continuation track down into Abernethy looked untrodden. A period of consolidation is required.

Lynwilg to Carrbridge on Skis

2009-12-27T13:02:00.004Z

Another great day ski touring in the Monadhliath behind Aviemore. I skinned up the track from Lynwilg to the top of the Burma Pass and then up to the summit of Geal charn Mor. From there I returned back to saddle and then on north west, passing east of Geal charn Beag heading for the track leading into the forest to the south west of Beananach Wood.

Conditions gradually deteriorated as I lost height with the last section into, and through the woods being really hard work. What I imagined might have been a 4-5 hour trip turned out to be an 8 hour endurance flog.

No trains on boxing day which gave me an excuse to have a few pints of Red Squirrel + crisps in the excellent Cairn Hotel before getting a taxi back to Aviemore.

View Skiing from Lynwilg to Carrbridge in a larger map

Carn an Fhreiceadain

2009-12-24T16:29:00.014Z

I had fantastic day ski touring around the Carn an Fhreiceadain loop behind Kingussie. It was possible to skin from Pitmain Lodge on a good track to the summit of Beinn Bhreac and then across to Carn an Fhreiceadain.

Scandinavian style bothy on the way up Beinn Bhreac

I descended due south to eventually meet the track leading back to Pitmain Lodge. On the return leg it was possible to ski down the road, across the golf course and right back to the car park.

Skiing back past the club house on Kingussie golf course

A bonus of the trip was meeting Di Gilbert and Heather Morning on the summit of Carn an Fhreiceadain. They had broken trail all the way from the road making life a lot easier for me. They were kind enough to offer me some of their mulled wine which was undoubtably the highlight of the day!

Di Gilbert's blog post from the day on the Scarpa web site.

Di Gilbert, Heather Morning and Milly on the summit of Carn an Fhreiceadain

Winter Munro Bagging

2009-12-13T10:47:00.023Z

I'm not sure how many Munros I have to do but its a fair few. At the rate I have been progressing there's every chance I might be dead before I can complete them all. With this in mind I took the opportunity to bag a few during the fantastic conditions of the last few days.

A' Chailleach, Fannaichs.

On Ben Wyvis.

A' Chailleach, Monadhliath.

Trees near Rogie Falls and the remains of ancient pine forest exposed in the peat hags above Gleann Ballach.

YHA Deansgate

2009-11-29T22:31:00.006Z

The YHA Shop on Deansgate was a regular lunch time meeting place for Manchester climbers in the late 70s. Brian Cropper, who was the manager at the time, had the foresight to snap the regulars of the day. I received these two shots from Brian in a round about way. I'm still in touch with Marcus Tierney and as a result of the picture I made an effort to contact Tony Dilger.

Tony Dilger's excellent wildlife photography site

Brian Cropper's historic gallery of climbing personalities on UKC

Marcus Tierney, Andy Hyslop, Tony Dilger 1978

Andy Hyslop 1979

Super Shroud - Grandes Jorasses

2009-11-21T20:58:00.013Z

Jon Tinker, Rick Graham and Martin Doyle at the Leschaux Hut, July 1980.

I have told the story behind this picture numerous times down the pub but never ever written anything about it. It’s not the kind of tale that would ever end up in print but it had a big influence on my climbing career and its a bit of history that might not otherwise be told. Here goes:

Jon Tinker and Martin Doyle were aiming to climb the Walker Spur while Rick and I were looking at a new line to the left of the direct start to “Le Linceul” - (The Shroud) on the Grandes Jorasses.

We spent several days at the hut waiting for weather and conditions. Eventually we gave up and headed back to the valley.

A few days later it was clear that a stable period of weather was on the way. The only problem was that Rick and I had learned that we now had competition for the new line.

Tim Leach and Nick Colton had been chosen, as the leading British alpinist of the time, to attend the prestigious ENSA week in Chamonix, along with elite teams from all over the world.

Tim and Nick weren’t slumming it with the rest of us under a plastic sheet at Pierre d’Orthaz. Courtesy of the French Alpine Club they were accommodated in the ENSA building at the north end of Chamonix. Of course we would have done the same if we had the chance but their privileged lodgings meant that they weren’t fully in the info loop of campsite society. As such it came as shock to us that on the morning before we planned to walk back up to the Leschaux Hut (link shows the new hut), and make another attempt on the new line, that they were also intent on trying the same line and were heading up there that very afternoon.

What to do? Nick more than anyone had a strong claim to the route having made an audacious ascent of the stunning central couloir between the Walker and Whymper Spurs with Alex MacIntyre four of years earlier. Tim was also an alpinist of enviable talent having made solo ascents of the Super Couloir and the north face of The Droites the previous year.

We had to get on the route before Nick and Tim, but both of us would have to wait until at least after mid-night for conditions to be cold enough.

Knowing that Nick and Tim had complimentary hut passes we assumed that they would make use of the free accommodation. This was our chance to get ahead.

Rick and I walked up the Mer de Glace at midday; much earlier than one would normally set off for a two and half hour walk to a hut. Instead of climbing up left to the hut we continued up the glacier in the heat of day until we reached a large boulder in the middle of the glacier, some distance above the hut.

There we waited. All afternoon we waited, until at last we could see two tiny figures coming up the glacier towards us. Would they head left to the hut or keep walking straight up glacier to the foot of the route? To our relief they headed left and climbed the few hundred feet from the glacier to the hut.

The trap had been sprung. Nick and Tim arrived at the hut thinking they had the mountain to themselves while we waited enough time for them to unpack their gear and relax into the hospitality on offer as guests of ENSA.

I would like to think that we stepped out from behind our boulder just as they were relaxing with a beer on the hut veranda looking through a pair of binoculars. Perhaps because I had slight pangs of guilt at our questionable tactics I never got around to asking either of them if this was the case or not.

We waded up towards the foot of the route in soft afternoon snow knowing that we were at least an hour ahead. I can’t remember much about the early evening except that we were sitting in snow buckets close to the bergshrund until around mid-night.

The temperature had dropped below freezing and it was time to go. Rick was definitely a stronger ice climber than me. I’m not sure if I conspired to not get the crux pitch or not but in any event I led a long steep-ish pitch over the bergshrund to rocks at a point where the angle steepened. I think there was probably some moving together.

The belay was not amazing, consisting of a few micro nuts and tied off pegs. As I turned to face out and bring Rick up I could clearly see two lights zigzagging down the path from the hut to the glacier. Nick and Tim were on their way.

No problem, they were at least two hours from the foot of the route. Rick set off up the steepening shallow couloir above. Of course it was dark so neither of us could see the length of the pitch or what was involved beyond the scope of our feeble torches.

The rope inched out steadily while a steady stream of debris trickled down past the belay. Time passed and the torches from below got closer. Rick placed a peg on the right wall and continued. More time passed but it didn’t seem like a really long time. The lights below were now crossing the bergshrund and climbing up the slope towards me. By now I could make out helmets and rucksacks in the halo of their own illumination.

Tim reached our belay followed quickly by Nick. The shout came from above to start climbing. Nick and Tim had hauled us in and were fully intent on climbing through and bagging the first ascent for themselves. As I left the belay Nick had swung leads with Tim and he was hard on my heels.

Though steep the climbing wasn’t too bad at first. But the angle soon increased and the ice deteriorated into unconsolidated vertical junk. As I looked up into the gloom I could see two vertical trenches, which had been ploughed by Rick’s left and right axes and crampons. He had been forced to dig deep to get axe placements.

The peg was about a third of the way up the pitch. It looked poor from what I remember. A thin blade placed behind a flake, about half way in. I un-clipped the rope and left the krab and sling for Nick to clip. At this point the climbing was precarious and near vertical.

The pitch just kept coming, with no further gear. After what seemed like a lot more than 50 metres the climbing reared up into a final vertical bulge. It was clear that we had been moving together at this point with nothing but a crappy peg between us. I could hear Rick but couldn’t see him for the bulge above. I think I may have asked for a tight rope, in any case I was very nearly off. I reached the screw belay shaken and frightened by the insecure and strenuous nature of the climbing.

We could both here Nick working on the pitch below. He sounded close to the belay and must have been starting on the final bulge when we heard a shout and whimper followed by the kind of noise you get from something falling through the air. Nick was off. The whooshing noise was quickly followed by another shout which assumed must be Tim getting ripped of the belay below. We waited for the sickening spectacle of head torches attached to unseen bodies accelerating down the face to glacier below.

Nothing came. Miraculously the peg runner held. The second shout did indeed come from Tim as he was smashed into the rock wall behind the belay while holding Nick’s 50-metre fall.

We shouted down and they seemed ok. Nick hand broken his hand and they abseiled off.

I think I might have led the next pitch but backed off a steeper pitch above which Rick led. We crossed the stone shoot above the steep climbing just as the sun was hitting the upper east wall of the Walker Spur. The rocks were already coming down. Once out to the left of the snowfield and stone shoot we were relatively safe.

The climbing was easy now if still steep. With no belays or runners we untied and trailed a rope each, preferring to look after our own safety rather than face the consequences of being dragged off the face in the event of the other making a mistake.

We reached the Hirondelles Ridge around mid morning. Inconveniently, I had to have a sleep part way to the summit of Point Walker. We managed to descend and get back to Chamnoix that day, hitching a lift back through the tunnel.

The route became know as ‘Super Shroud’.

I didn’t feel particularly elated, unlike the previous year when I was bagging the big classics. Maybe we’d pushed it a bit too much to be comfortable. I don’t know how Rick felt about it; I didn’t ask him.

Jon Tinker and Martin Doyle both went on to climb the Walker Spur in future years.

Contours

2009-11-13T20:55:00.002Z

This is what inspires me about the sport of orienteering. I'm having new curtains made up in this design.

Light Before the Dark

2009-11-09T20:12:00.009Z

Another beautiful day in the strath. Knowing very little about photography I was surprised that it seems possible to take shots directly into the sun with good effect.

Frosted bracken and grass in Inshriach forest.

Not quite so sunny on the Cairngorm plateau but its definitely winter up here as a weather front pushes in from the south. Braeriach is in the distance.

There was no real climbing conditions although The Mess of Pottage looked close to being acceptable. Shelter Stone and Etchachan were both totally black.

Light

2009-11-08T21:50:00.004Z

After what seems like weeks of rain it was refreshing to wake up to a clear frosty morning. The Fieldfares were true to their word and there was even a light dusting of snow on hills.

Pat and I headed up to the Moray Coast for an orieteering event on the complex forested dunes of
Roseisle.

Burghead

Bob Daly prepares to do battle with the forest

Nimrod at RAF Kinloss

The Findhorn Community

Fieldfares Arrive on Speyside

2009-11-01T16:05:00.007Z

Strathspey was mobbed by Fieldfares this weekend. These Thrush like birds come over from Norway in the late Autumn. They seem particularly keen on rowan berries and systematically strip any trees that still have fruit.

Fieldfare at Inshriach feeding on rowan berries

Some say, the arrival of the Fieldfare is an indication of cold weather on the way. Lets hope so!

Loch Vaa

2009-10-31T15:45:00.003Z

The BASOC AGM was held today. Prior to the meeting we had the chance to run on the new 'ROMP' area.

Although I have run at Loch Vaa several times in the past I had forgotten what a truly amazing orienteering area it is - even better for having just a few other people in the forest at the same time. The fast, open and detailed terrain encourages total absorption of the map whilst the poor light and damp conditions enhanced the remote atmosphere of the forest.

Mountain Bike Portage System V1.0

2009-09-08T13:26:00.004Z

I've done quite a lot of mountain biking in the Cairngorms recently. There are some excellent long rides that link different sides of the range but I got to thinking that I could connect some very remote valleys if I could come up with some way of carrying the bike comfortably over a few kilometers of hillside. Weight is not the issue but the awkward and uncomfortable shape of modern bike frames makes them excruciating to carry for even short periods, as I discovered when I biked the Lairig Ghru earlier in the year.

Here is my first attempt at designing a lightweight, packable carrying system.

At Loch Einich. The bike with shoulder straps attached ready for the carry out of the back of Coire Odhar.

A velcro strap holds the front wheel in place.

A velcro strap fixing the pedal allows the bottom of one shoulder strap to be attached to the opposite peddle.

The bike being carried.

Deployment time is less than 10 mins. Weight - maybe 200g.

More later.

Blea Water Gill

2009-01-06T19:59:00.008Z

I left work at 12pm and met Jonathan in Shap. The road up to the head of Haweswater was extremely icy as was the path up to Blea Water. The route was in excellent condition although there was some water running on the first pitch. The next 4 pitches were great fun with plastic ice and good screw protection as required. We topped out just before dark and descended with head torches. Very enjoyable!

Raeburn's Gully Lochnagar

2008-12-30T15:59:00.022Z

This was my first winter route for a few years and I was hoping to bag an easy classic with my old climbing friend, Jonathan Lagoe.

Image: The first technical pitch

Unfortunately the route did not go as planned. With the wind blowing from the south the upper section of the gully filled with new snow on a hard surface and avalanched while we were on the second technical pitch. When it happened I was placing a screw just below an ice bulge.

I heard a deep rumble and everything went dark. Of course I knew what was happening but I continued to place the screw hoping that I could get it clipped before I was swept off. I was lucky to be standing below the ice bulge which meant the debri merely glanced the top of my helmet. Despite a reactinary jerk on the rope from Jonathan as he assumed I was 'off' I continued to place the screw and clipped it just just as the avalanche ran out. Jonathan said later that all he could see of me during the avalanche was a hand frantically twisting an ice screw. In 34 years of winter climbing in Scotland and the Lakes that was my first experience of an avalanche.

Image: Jonathan at the stance after the avalanche

After some debate and analysis of why this had occurred despite the apparently benign conditions we decided to retreat on the basis that it would stupid to take the risk of a second avalanche happening while we were climbing the easy upper section of the gully.

Not withstanding the drama on the route we had a fantastic day in the arctic hills which made me realise what I have been missing over the last three years.

Images: Retreating

Some shots of the frozen loch below the crag:

2008-09-29T10:03:00.002Z

I'm struggling to find the time to post at the moment but I am keeping my training log up to date at Attack Point

2008-08-28T13:47:00.003Z

After a few months lay off I had a fantastic weekend of orienteering at the Purple Thistle near Oban. Two excellent areas, quality courses and running reasonably well.

Results and maps here

2007-08-05T12:56:00.000Z

Scottish 6 Days - Day 1 - Alvie

This is a very good area. Mostly open run-able forest with minimal bracken. I had a clean run but felt tired.

Results

2007-07-13T17:15:00.000Z

WMOC Final

I had a poor run in the final, making a 10 min error at control 8 which dumped me third from last!

On the up side Liz Campbell dominated W50 to win Gold, Mark Saunders had a good run to finish 19th in M45, Jon Musgrave did extremely well to finish 17th in M45 seeing as he picked up the wrong map at the start and Anne Donnell finished just outside the medals in W75 in 4th.

Link to Route Gadget

2007-07-11T18:55:00.000Z

WMOC Qualifying Event 2 M45-Heat 2

Link to Route Gadget

WMOC Qualifying Event 1 M45-Heat 2

Link to Route Gadget

Results

2007-07-09T14:17:00.000Z

WMOC Model Event 2

I’m feeling more confident after today’s model event although I still made a couple of errors. I find it difficult to make the judgement of whether to run the line or to run out to the nearest linear feature. Some controls in flat areas are very difficult to hit and if you are 50m to one side you probably won’t see it even in white. With such low contour detail mashes and vegetation boundaries will be key along with accurate compass and distance judgement.

Again the map doesn’t look very inspiring although it was better than it looks.

2007-07-08T15:00:00.000Z

WMOC Model Event 1

It was nice to have some controls out in the terrain. I made fewer mistakes but still found the terrain vague and extremely tricky. The map looks fairly straightforward but the ‘white’ belies the density of the underlying vegetation. It’s very easy to run within a few meters of a control and not see it.

Special mapping symbols are brown X’s, which are anthills, and linear brown dots show the direction of planting ditches.

2007-07-07T18:04:00.001Z

I have travelled to Ruka in Finland for The World Masters Orienteering Champs. The first qualifying event is on Tuesday and I’m trying to get as much training in as possible to familiarise myself with the terrain.

The areas I have trained in so far have varied from rough and not very inspiring to fast detailed pine forest similar to Loch Vaa near Aviemore.

Some sections (see bottom S.E loop) have good contour detail and regular ‘Lakes O’ technique seems to work well.

The flatter areas are very difficult to follow. Loosing contact would be disastrous. I’ve been trying to follow marshes and pace count in an attempt to attain acceptable accuracy.

Sorry about the quality of the map image, I don’t have a scanner.

2007-07-04T15:27:00.000Z

Midnattssolgaloppen Day 4

I got caught out by the map changing scale to 15:000 on the last day and didn't realise until I'd messed up the first control. I had a bad miss on 5 as well. Despite a poor run I managed to hold onto 6th overall.

Results

Kavaloya Island west of Tromso

2007-07-03T11:14:00.000Z

Midnattssolgaloppen Day 3

2007-07-02T08:40:00.001Z

Midnattssolgaloppen Day 2

Results

2007-07-01T11:02:00.000Z

Midnattssolgalopen Day 1

Results

2007-06-29T17:52:00.000Z

Did some training in an amazing area today. Video clip below. Day1 of the Midnattssolgaloppen is in an area adjacent to this tomorrow.

2007-06-27T19:53:00.000Z

I flew out of Manchester today to start a two and half week O trip in Norway and Finland. With the contracts exchanged on the new house and the excitement of competing in Scandinavia I’m hoping that I can turn the corner with my results.

Tonight I’m staying in Oulu Finland, having flown to Helsinki and then on to Oulu.

I’m driving to Norway tomorrow where I’ll meet up with Jonathan Lagoe and compete in the Midnattssolgaloppen

Monster drive 1

On the 5th of July I’m driving back from Tromso, Norway into Finland to compete in The World Masters

Monster Drive 2

2007-06-26T19:38:00.000Z

Sorry about the lack of posts recently. I seem to have lost some focus over the last few weeks. A string of poor results combined with moving house might have something to do with it.

Here is a summary of my recent races:

The Twin Peaks. 9-10/06/07

I had a reasonable first day finishing 2nd but still miles behind Martin Bagness who was 10 minutes ahead. I guess having made the map must account for some time but not that much!

Because Martin wasn’t running on the second day all I had to was cruise round the course to win overall. Like day 3 of the Portugal O Meet, when I started with a similar attitude, I disastrously missed out a huge loop of the course without realising until I was walking back to assembly. Must remember never to take that approach again.

Results

Scottish Champs 17/06/07

I had a good run in the open but made a big error in a sketchy bit of forest towards the end which cost me 3 mins and loads of places

My route on Route Gadget

Eycot Hill 24/06/07

I had a fairly good run finishing just behind John Tullie on the brown course. The only problem being that I found a taped cane close to one of the real controls site and assumed that it was missing So, I miss punched once again!

Results

2007-05-27T19:00:00.001Z

Rogie

This is a fantastic area. I had a good technical run and stayed close to the line on most of the legs. Unfortunately I started run low on gas around 10 and finished up 6 mins off Martin Dean’s course winning time. More later.

Results

2007-05-26T17:30:00.000Z

I had a short run around some of the controls on this month’s Map of the Month. The marked course is 5.5K although I cut it short because I was feeling tired from a fairly intense period of racing over the last week or so.

This is only part of the Loch Vaa area. The forest to the west is currently out of bounds to protect Capercaillie nesting. A bit of an inconvenience I guess but the same restriction is also holding back a housing development on the edge of Boat of Garten, which would impact heavily on this world-class area.

New housing for local residents is a big issue on Speyside . Like most national parks the Cairngorm National Park has a problem with affordability of housing for people living and working in the area and the likely solutions will inevitably have an effect on the natural environment.

Link to an article in the Strathspey & Badenoch Herald about a proposed housing development near Aviemore.

2007-05-20T09:22:00.000Z

Caw National Event

I wish to lodge an appeal with Graham Walkden (Race Organiser), about the fact that you used my old red (and a bit slow), SI card number for my entry rather than my flashy new (super-fast) SI card number. By my calculations this oversight has cost me at least 3 seconds in punching time and has had a devastating effect on my plan to win by 1 second. Knowing the kind of chap you are Graham I know you will treat this appeal sympathetically and I await your considered judgement on the matter.

M45L (34) 8.0 km 405 m

1 Quentin Harding SROC 1:02:54 0:00
2 Andrew Hyslop WAROC 1:02:56 0:02

But seriously, great area, great courses and a beautiful day. Many thanks to Graham, Marion and LOC

Results Page

2007-05-17T08:39:00.000Z

Warrior OC Battleaxe 3 - Esthwaite Intake

What a great event! The map was divided into two sections, the eastern area being the northern end of the Graythwaite map and typical South Lakes complex oak woodland while the western section is the Esthwaite Intake portion of Grizdale Forest which is technical pine plantation interspersed with linear marshes.

Results

2007-05-13T17:03:00.001Z

Glen Truim

I had a good technical run but tripped on a tussock between 6 and 7 and whacked my knee on the only rock sticking out of the marsh for hundreds of metres. Apologies to anyone in the near vicinity for any colourful expletives that might have reached your ears.

After rolling around for a bit I heroically ;-) ran through the pain and finished the course. I was hoping that I could have fought my way back but it seems that from initial conversations I was down at least 4 mins on the course winner, which was Martin Dean.

The terrain was quite varied with some good technical sections in the birch forest but I did think that Saturday’s event at Dunactonmore was a much better area.

Results

2007-05-12T19:30:00.000Z

Dunactonmore

This is an area behind the Highland Wildlife Park on Speyside. Both Pat and I had pretty good runs and we really enjoyed the area, which was a mixture of open moor, birch forest interspersed with juniper thickets.

Its interesting that all my orienteering mates seem to be suffering from withdrawl symptoms after the British Champs, having been generally unsatisfied with their runs. Here are a few quotes:

Martin Dean - "After a string of poor technical races recently, I decided to concentrate on 'the process rather than the outcome' See O Kansas Blog".

Jonathan Lagoe - " I've decided to be more decisive in my approach to racing rather than worrying about being in constant contact with the map" Gt Mell Fell - come on!

Donald Petrie - "My navigation has completely gone to pot! "

Myself - "I have this dream where I am running effortlessly through undulating pine forest without any thought of making an error and in perfect tune with the terrain. Running through the controls without hesitation, twisting and turning through features, staying on-line - its still a dream"

Many thanks to Norma Atherton for planning excellent courses and to BASOC for organising a really good event.

Results

2007-05-08T12:11:00.000Z

Pat and I went to an INVOC evening event at Clunas. It was a refreshing change to attend an event with only 20-30 entrants compared to the 100+ that is normal for a Lakes evening event. The area was really excellent, set in an open pine forest with subtle contour detail and plenty of negative features.

Despite the fantastic terrain neither of us had a good run. No more thumb compass for me!

Many thanks to INVOC

2007-05-07T12:32:00.000Z

Yesterday, Pat and I went to a MAROC event at Sluie on Deeside. It’s an excellent little area with mostly runnable pine forest and plenty of rock and contour detail. I tired using a thumb compass in a race for the second time and apart from a wobble on No. 5 I found that it worked well for that area. More experimentation required.

2007-05-06T08:38:00.000Z

I got third in the British Champs, which I am really pleased about. The area was very technical in several sections and it seems that most of the favourites made big mistakes. I made at least 3 mins of errors myself and have to admit to a hint of frustration in that I could have won but for that. Interestingly I was way down in 12th at the 2nd road crossing but pulled it back to 3rd in the super technical final stage of the race where others made costly errors.

On the run-in from the last control

Results

2007-04-10T10:22:00.001Z

I had a disappointing JK. On the first Individual day I didn’t make any big errors but got tired towards the end and started to miss controls by a few seconds which combined with a couple of poor route choices added up to a defecate of 8 mins on Kevin Harding and Mike Billinghurst.

On the second day I generally felt tired and started to go down hill early in the race to the point that I was utterly shattered by the end.

I didn’t have a clean run on either day but I put that down to be just being physically drained as a result of having over trained over the last two weeks. Running the Loughrigg Fell race last Wednesday night was great fun but in retrospect the calf stiffness that I developed on Friday sacrificed my JK weekend. Never mind, I’m still learning what my limitations are and not doing so well always drives me to sort out the problems and try harder next time.

Results

JK Day 2

JK Day 3

2007-03-26T13:19:00.000Z

I jogged over to Dale Park and ran the majority of one of Bilbo’s January training exercises in reverse – about 6K. Felt pretty good and didn’t make any errors which helped to purge the disappointment of the previous days performance and rebuilt some confidence.

2007-03-25T13:10:00.000Z

SOL2 Gullane

Gullane is a village on the coast east of Edinburgh. The terrain is sand dunes covered in a variety of vegetation from small pine forest to dense expanses of Buckthorn. I had a very bad run, getting lost immediately in the complex path network on the first two controls.

Results

2007-03-24T12:57:00.000Z

The Scottish Sprint Champs

This was held at Heriot Watt University on the outskirts of Edinburgh. I didn’t do particularly well but I really enjoyed the challenge that this style if orienteering presents. Navigationally its very easy but the map is still very complex and its easy to loose vital seconds running past controls behind walls or at the bottom stair wells.

Results

Prologue

Final

2007-03-23T18:59:00.000Z

Pat, Patch and I spent the afternoon putting controls out for the Silver Howe event that was to be held on the 25th.

It was one of those spring days when the braken is down and the sun is strong but low in the sky; alternately casting dark shadows and illuminating red/brown fell sides. Unfortunately a cloud came over when I took this shot!

We drove to Edinburgh that evening for The Scottish Sprint Champs and The SOL2 at Gullane.

2007-03-11T16:42:00.000Z

I had a contrasting weekend of orienteering.

On Saturday there was a short race at Black Beck near Bouth. This is a very good area but I had a poor run which was extremely demoralising – so much so that I was forced to break one of my pre-race rules and go to the pub for some comfort ale swilling.

The following day (today), there was a National Event at an extensive new area on top of Whitbarrow Scar. Still demoralised after the previous days performance I was resigned to another bad run but as soon as I picked the map up and scanned the intricate open and wooded terrain I was instantly inspired. I finished 3rd in M45 a couple of minutes behind Bilbo and a minute behind Quentin Harding which, by my standards is a really good result.

So how could I have two such contrasting runs? At Black Beck I put it down to over familiarity and complacency. It was just another run in an area I knew well and my overly relaxed attitude meant that I was neither motivated nor prepared for the technicalities of the map. At Whittbarrow I was inspired to be running on a brilliant new area, held my concentration and ran harder.

Many thanks to LOC and SROC for a great weekend of ‘O’ing

Results

Some of the Bastions of GB Veterans Orienteering at the Whittbarrow National Event:

Pete Haines

Martin Dean and Donald Petrie

Ken Daly and Keith Jones

2007-03-08T20:49:00.000Z

I had an excellent day training at Loch Vaa near Aviemore. I planned a classic style course of approximately 7K with a mixture of short and long legs. When I’m training alone without tapes or kites I tend to use unmistakable features such as boulders, cairns or structures so as I don’t have to waste time wondering if I’m in the right re-entrant or depression.

Loch Vaa is a huge area of relatively flat, forested moraine with endless knolls and depressions. There are a few tracks and forest roads but plenty of opportunity for running very long legs in vague undulating forest.

Call me sad but spiking a control site after 600m of pace counting on a bearing in flat featureless forest gives me a big buzz. My technique on this type of leg is to run on a bearing and pretty much loose contact with the map whilst sighting off significant trees 50M or so ahead until pacing indicates I’m roughly 70M from the control at which point I try and pick-up the contour detail as I approach the circle. It’s amazing how much accuracy you can achieve with a bearing using this ‘sighting ahead’ technique compared to the more common compass technique of merely checking your direction at regular intervals..I don’t know anywhere else in the UK you can practice this technique such an extent.

On one of my longest legs I was aiming for a control feature marked as an X on the map indicating a man-made feature. Such features are usually wood structures, seats, or sculptures. Bizarrely, on this occasion, sat in the middle of this vast forest, was a rotting Austin A30! If only I had brought a camera.

2007-03-04T18:42:00.000Z

Baluain & Banvie Woods

This area is situated either side of The Falls of Bruar north of Blair Athol. The forest is very open and run-able but not very detailed. Unfortunately I made a 2 min error at 5 which knocked me back to 2nd in M45 behind John Noblett. Martin Dean and John Tullie also beat me running the same course in M50.

Results Page

2007-02-25T14:49:00.001Z

Ulpha Park.

This was a LOC district event at the bottom end of the Duddon Valley. The area consisted of a couple of small open areas surrounded by mixed woodland. There were some sizeable chunks of wind-blow in the coniferous sections but the birch/hazel coppice was very run-able with plenty of boulders and crag features.

I was initially really pleased with my run especially as I managed to beat Mike Billinghurst and Brendan Bolland, but that was before I had seen Bilbo’s time! Talking to Martin on Monday morning he said that he was bored with the terrain on the first few controls but got inspired when the course entered rough forest at number 4. You need to get inspired more often Bilbo!

Brown
1 Martin Bagness WAROC 55.04
2 Shane Lynch WAROC 59.50
3 Andy Hyslop WAROC 01.01.18
4 Michael Billinghurst WCOC 01.01.54
5 Brendan Bolland WAROC 01.02.09

Full Results Page

2007-02-22T18:33:00.001Z

Portugal O Meeting 2007

Superb areas and strong competition made this an excellent trip. There were 4 races with a chasing sprint on the last day for those within an hour of the lead runner in each class. Unfortunately I made a really annoying error on day 3 which meant that I was out of the running for an overall podium position.

On the up side I did have 3 really good runs with minimal errors and managed to beat twice veteran world champion Jörgen Mårtensson
once and got within a few seconds of him twice. Of course I didn’t actually see him so he might have been running with a wooden leg for all I know but it’s great for a short-term ego boost.

Results page at the POM web site

Day 1
A super technical open area with lots of complex rock features. My strategy was to run steady and not risk any mistakes.

1 5399 Sören Sand 61 Boxholm-Mjölby 31:24
2 5384 Jörgen Mårtensson 59 Modum O-lag 32:19
3 5960 Andy Hyslop 59 WAROC 32:36
4 1532 José Fernandes 59 .COM 33:00
5 5350 Heikki Vestola 59 Rastivarsat 34:45
6 1512 Manuel Santos 59 .COM 36:46
7 3864 António Marcolino 60 GD4C 36:53
8 3728 Vitor Pereira 60 AAMafra 37:05
9 1907 Carlos Coelho 61 CPOC 37:10
10 1321 Carlos Pires 61 .COM 37:12

Day 2
Adjacent to day one. Similar complexity of terrain but with longer legs. I had a 100m miss on 3 which cost me 90 secs.

1 5967 Achiles Humbel 59 Mythen Runners 48:19
2 1532 José Fernandes 59 .COM 50:26
3 5399 Sören Sand 61 Boxholm-Mjölby 51:00
4 5960 Andy Hyslop 59 WAROC 51:30
5 5808 Per-Olof Derebrant 62 Aneby SOK 52:08
6 5426 Ulu Aeschlimann 59 Austrian National Team 52:55
7 5384 Jörgen Mårtensson 59 Modum O-lag 53:41
8 1182 Albano João 59 COC 54:32
9 5350 Heikki Vestola 59 Rastivarsat 55:21
10 5932 Peter Haines 54 Aire GB 55:47

Lone orienteer in the terrain on Day 2

Control 14 on Day 2

Day 3
“Like the first 2 days with attitude” Super complex terrain on a steep hillside with mixed forest cover. I missed control 5 and went straight to 6 without realising until after I had finished. I have developed this really bad habit since Christmas. I worked out a simple routine to avoid making the error and the fact that I forgot to practice the routine on this race suggests that it does work when I can remember to do it.

I also made a big error at 14 which cost me 6 mins!

1 5384 Jörgen Mårtensson 59 Modum O-lag 38:27
2 1532 José Fernandes 59 .COM 42:03
3 5399 Sören Sand 61 Boxholm-Mjölby 44:19
4 1182 Albano João 59 COC 44:20
5 5808 Per-Olof Derebrant 62 Aneby SOK 44:25
6 5350 Heikki Vestola 59 Rastivarsat 44:55
7 5737 Martin Sacher 59 Kilroy 46:37
8 5141 Mark Selley 62 BOK 46:59
9 5932 Peter Haines 54 Aire GB 47:00
10 5426 Ulu Aeschlimann 59 Austrian National Team 47:05

Day 4
Another complex open area similar to day 1.

1 5399 Sören Sand 61 Boxholm-Mjölby 31:24
2 5384 Jörgen Mårtensson 59 Modum O-lag 32:19
3 5960 Andy Hyslop 59 WAROC 32:36
4 1532 José Fernandes 59 .COM 33:00
5 5350 Heikki Vestola 59 Rastivarsat 34:45
6 1512 Manuel Santos 59 .COM 36:46
7 3864 António Marcolino 60 GD4C 36:53
8 3728 Vitor Pereira 60 AAMafra 37:05
9 1907 Carlos Coelho 61 CPOC 37:10
10 1321 Carlos Pires 61 .COM 37:12

2007-01-15T10:45:00.000Z

Here are the last 3 days of the Lakes Training Week. Sunday was a long 16K on 2 maps. Bilbo linked up his newly mapped 'Area X' with the existing Bethacar Moor area to produce a stunningly technical and varied course. The last part of the course was in the Scale Green area which was linked by about 1K of forest track.

Bethecar Moor and Area X

Scale Green

2007-01-10T22:22:00.001Z

This is a week of training organised by Martin Bagness. I haven’t been able to attend every session but here are some of the maps so far. The un-named area at 1:7500 was particularly good and is probably one of the best bits of forest in England. It’s location is cannot be disclosed at this time.