Originally Posted by
Jules B
Thanks for this Geoff and the congrats all!
We started at 11:15 am and went clockwise starting up the Ben so finished on the Mamores. Weather conditions were pretty benign with good temps for running (approx 7 degrees at 1000m) and light winds. Plenty of low cloud and poor vis around but nothing caused significant problems. Had some light rain in the cloud but with little wind this didn't affect us very much.
Lee had put together a 23:45 schedule and we had a good run up the Ben, Aonach Mor and Beag, the Grey Corries, Stob Coire Easain (what a nightmare that is!) and were forty minutes up at Fersit. Very grateful to Neil and Masa for meeting us on this first section with water and a bit of food so limiting what we had to carry. Neil organised both stops for us and did a superb job. Zoe ran with us from Fersit to Loch Eilde Mor and we gained another twenty minutes on that section. Zoe was proper strong throughout the leg and did a superb job spotting the trod in the dark and keeping things moving on the way to Loch Eilde Mor. Geoff and Howard ran the final Mamores leg with us carrying half of our food and some additional water. Both did a fantastic job of keeping things on track and it was a pleasure to run the last leg with you fellas.
We weren't after a fast round as didn't know the route well really but in the end it was nice to have that cushion and pleased to come in under 23 hours. It was all a bit last minute for me particularly and I optimistically expected to find the Ramsay easier than the Paddy Buckley. In fact we both thought at the end that the Ramsay was harder. Part of this is to do with the conditions underfoot. Apart from the run off Stob a Choire Mheadhion to Fersit and the track from near Corrour Station to Loch Eilde Mor everything else is rough underfoot with awkward rock, heather or a mixture of both. There's plenty of steep climbs too and by the end we both had fairly significant blister/skin damage. I carried something that felt like a proper injury round the last half but not serious enough to stop us.
The route is fantastic and we had a superb day out in the mountains. Twenty four brilliant Munros and some stunning views in the periods when the cloud lifted.
Will be contacting Charlie Ramsay and Martin Stone this week. As is traditional with these big rounds it's Thursday and I'm still tired and starving hungry!
Good luck to anyone else who's going through the summer.
Jules.