Mike, when can we expect the crucial underfoot conditions report for wansfell? It looks like there is enough time for it to dry out and firm up, a good year for fast times.
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Mike, when can we expect the crucial underfoot conditions report for wansfell? It looks like there is enough time for it to dry out and firm up, a good year for fast times.
It is all very wet/saturated and more rain is forecast for tomorrow - I cannot see it drying out at all. But in most places if you slip you will just slide in the mud - the exception being that rocky section about a third of the way down - care needed.Quote:
Originally Posted by mr brightside
11.23 miles, 2,987 feet, 3 hours 18 minutes: Wansfell Pike, including the race route up and down, and then across to Loughrigg top, ascending via Fox Ghyll, and descending past the old golf club. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 800 feet. No rain nor significant wind. Terrain wet/saturated/slippery. Quite a few walkers about, mainly in the valley. I saw 11 runners, 2 in the valley, and 9 on Loughrigg, including a group of 8.
The rain that was due today has been rescheduled for tomorrow!
The weather apps are at odds. Met office says drizzle, but the pigeon (did someone say Walter Pidgeon?) fanciers choice XC weather says dry...
11.51 miles, 3,512 feet, 3 hours 43 minutes: Wansfell Pike twice, including up and down the race route, a lap of town, and back up to the top via Blue Hill Road and Lane and the steps, and again descending the race route. Overcast, with mist down to the valley floor in most places. No rain nor wind. Terrain wet/saturated/slippery. Lots of people on the fell supporting the race - I saw some of the descenders as they joined the road - several jumped over the wall onto the road, a drop of about 6 feet.
It was good to cheer on and later chat to Mr B - well run!
10.2 miles, 3,550 feet, 3 hours 16 minutes: Wansfell Pike twice, including up and down the race route, then along Lake Road - Stagshaw Gardens - Blue Hill Woods - Blue Hill Lane to the kissing gate - up the steps to the top of the Pike - race route descent. Overcast, with mist to the valley floor. Intermittent light drizzle. No wind. Terrain wet/saturated/slippery. Lots of walkers ascending the Pike; 1 runner seen.
I had a look at the wear and tear on the fell to clarify the line that most people take - the main difference from "my" route is about 1/3 of the way down where I go left on the level grass - many clearly follow a direct line down despite the intermittent rocks and the steepness. As expected, at the very top, many people went straight down at the bottom of upper steps.
11.49 miles, 2,879 feet, 3 hours 21 minutes: Wansfell Pike, including up and down the race route, then across to Loughrigg top, ascending via Clappersgate/Fishgarths Wood, and descending past the old golf club/Miller Bridge. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,500 feet. A few minutes of drizzle. A moderate breeze from the north west. Terrain wet/saturated/slippery. Lots of walkers on both fells; i saw about a dozen runners, only 2 of whom were in the valley.
I tried to find Mr B's line from near the top of the Pike but had no luck.
11.18 miles, 2,962 feet, 3 hours 16 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Roman Ruins - Borrans Park - Stagshaw Gardens - (High Skelghyll - Skelghyll Lane - Holbeck Lane - Low Wood - High Skelghyll) twice - Wansfell Pike - race route descent - Ambleside. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,000 feet. Intermittent drizzle. A moderately strong wind from the west. Terrain wet and slippery in places. Not many walkers about; 2 runners seen.
10.29 miles, 3,037 feet, 2 hours 55 minutes: Loughrigg top via Fishgarths Wood, Todd Crag, and Lily Tarn, then down past the old golf club to Miller And Rotay Bridges, around to and up Blue Hill Road/Lane to the bottom of the Wansfell steps, down Stock Ghyll Lane to Ambleside. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 500 feet. Constant light/moderate rain. A strong wind from the west. Terrain saturated/streaming/slippery; puddles and rivulets everywhere. Very few walkers on the fells; 2 runners seen.
I had to grip the rocks with my hands to get to the trig pillar on Loughrigg - it must have been grim on the high tops.
Figures for the year: activities - 365
distance - 4,043.6 miles
time - 1,168 hours
height gain - 1,109,357 feet.
Happy New Year to all!
Very impressive Mike, especially over a million feet of ascent AND descent!Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike T
HNY
11.35 miles, 2,334 feet, 3 hours 28 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including to the top, then across to Blue Hill Road/Lane, up to the bottom of the Wansfell steps and back down. A mixture of sunshine, blue sky, mainly high clouds, intermittent drizzle, and rainbows. A moderately strong wind from the west. Terrain saturated/streaming/slippery, with some sections of minor road under water. Lots of walkers about; 4 runners seen.
Thanks Llani - if only I had even a smidgeon of speed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Llani Boy
So impressed with your stats mike AND the fact that you were the first (and so far, only) poster in 2025!
Thought I might keep you company before the hoards rush in!!
That's the slower line i was trying to avoid, rocks are why i've always remembered it as being unfavourable.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike T
10.98 miles, 2,975 feet, 3 hours 33 minutes: Wansfell Pike, ascending via Borrans Road, Stagshaw Gardens, Blue Hill Woods/Lane and the steps from the kissing gate, descending via the race route; then across to Todd Crag and Lilly Tarn on Loughrigg, but not the top. Blue sky and sunshine; some very distant clouds on the horizon. No wind nor precipitation. Terrain widely frozen from the valley floor up, with black ice on both the fells and the roads, and ice on many puddles. Very slippery in places. Lots of walkers about; 3 runners seen.
I had my microspikes with me but did not use them.
10.32 miles, 2,908 feet, 3 hours 28 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Miller bridge - Rydal Park - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - High Sweden Bridge - Scandale - Red Screes - south ridge - Golden Rule Pub - Ambleside. Sunshine, blue sky, and clouds mainly above the high tops. No significant wind; no precipitation. Terrain again frozen hard in many places, with lots of ice, both black and on puddles and frozen streams. Not many walkers about; 3 runners seen.
I wore microspikes for the 6 miles or so between the rock step and the road - they did an excellent job. I did not see anyone else wearing anything similar.
10.11 miles, 2,833 feet, 3 hours 38 minutes: Loughrigg trails, ascending/descending via Clappersgate, Fishgarths Wood, Todd Crag and Lily Tarn; and going down the race route from the top to the road at High Close and back up again. Overcast, with large banks of cloud at various levels. A few minutes of sleet/snow. No significant wind. Terrain firm/hard above 500 feet and, in places, icy; below 500 feet it was soft/saturated - slippery everywhere. Not many walkers on the fell. No runners seen.
I wore microspikes from my first visit to the top until I got down to the road at the bottom of Fishgarths Wood, so for about 5 miles - again they did an excellent job.
7.19 miles, 1,944 feet, 2 hours 42 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Roman Ruins - Stagshaw gardens - High Skelghyll - 3 way junction - Blue Hill Woods - Blue Hill Lane to the bottom of the Wansfell steps - Stock Ghyll Lane - Ambleside. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 700 feet. Intermittent sleet. No significant wind at this level. There was 1 to 2 inches of snow in the valley; higher up there was 6 to 8 inches, though in places the ground was blown bare by the wind, made up for elsewhere by thigh deep drifts. Very slippery, even with microspikes, which balled up repeatedly in some textures of snow. Not many walkers about; 3 runners seen.
The 3 way junction is at about 1,100 feet - the 3 ways are up to the Pike, down to High Skelghyll, or down to Blue Hill Woods.
Needed a run just to keep me ticking over at the weekend, couldn't get out to wharfedale so had to make to with airedale from my house. The river up to the billing above horsforth is about 650' of very easy climbing, but it's the best you can get. Walshes were rock solid in the wet slushy show, which was 6" deep everywhere. The sledgers seemed surprised that i was running up a hill they were terrified going down.
10.82 miles, 1,760 feet, 3 hours 10 minutes: Loughrigg trails: Rothay Bridge - Under Loughrigg Road - Rydal Water - Deerbolts Woods - Grasmere Lakeside - Loughrigg top - down past the old golf club - Miller bridge - Rothay Bridge. Sunshine, blue sky, and fluffy clouds, with the cloud base initially at about 2,000 feet; higher later. A few minutes of drizzle. A moderate breeze from the north. There is a snow line at about 500 feet - below this height the terrain is saturated and slippery - above 500 feet the snow varies from frozen with good grip to slushy and very slippery. Not many walkers about; 3 runners seen - in the valley.
They certainly got the forecast wrong for today - yesterday they said it would rain/snow all day, and even this morning they said it would not clear up until rather later.
9.08 miles, 2,665 feet, 3 hours 25 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Roman Ruins - Borrans Park - Stagshaw Gardens - Blue Hill Woods - Blue Hill Lane - Wansfell Pike via the steps - Hundreds Road - High Skelghyll - Blue Hill Woods - Blue Hill Lane to the bottom of the steps - Stock Ghyll Lane - Ambleside. When I got up at 5 am it was clear, then freezing fog developed; when I set off there was some sunshine, blue sky, high clouds, and an inversion over Windermere. It then slowly clouded over, with intermittent graupel; on top of the Pike there was a moderately strong wind from the west. In the valley there was no snow but lots of ice; at the bottom of the Wansfell steps there was a couple inches of snow - on the top it was 1 to 2 feet deep, obscuring the steps in most places. Yesterday's slush, where not covered by fresh snow, was today's ice. Very slippery in places - I wore microspikes for most of the outing. Quite a few walkers on the fell, most without spikes. No runners seen.
10.64 miles, 2,566 feet, 3 hours 26 minutes: Loughrigg trails, ascending to the top via Clappersgate, Todd Crag, and Lily Tarn, going down the race route the road at High Close, then down through Deerbolts Woods to Grasmere shore and back up to the top, finally descending past the old golf club to Miller Bridge, Rothay Park, and Rothay Bridge. Sunshine, blue sky, and some thin high clouds that slowly thickened as the day progressed. No wind, no precipitation. Frost/ice to the valley floor - no slush. Snow depth very variable: some areas have been blown bare, elsewhere it was over a foot deep. I wore microspikes from door to door - the snow is so dry they did not ball up once. Lots of walkers about; 2 runners seen.
9.42 miles, 2,864 feet, 3 hours 28 minutes: Wansfell Pike: Rothay Bridge - Borrans Park - Stagshaw Gardens - Blue Hill Woods/Lane - Wansfell steps to the top - Hundreds Road - Robin Lane - High Skelghyll - the 3 way junction - Blue Hill Woods/Lane again - down Stock Ghyll Lane - Ambleside. Sunshine, blue sky, some high fluffy clouds, no wind nor precipitation. Terrain frozen/icy from the valley floor up; yesterday's snow is still there; again there is no slush - in most places the snow has a crunchy crust. Excellent grip and no balling with the microspikes. Quite a few walkers about; 2 runners seen.
9.06 miles, 2,731 feet, 3 hours 32 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, ascending the first time from Kelsick Scar and the 3 way junction, down to the upper part of Nanny Lane, up to the true top, along the ridge to the Pike, then down via the 3 way junction, Blue Hill Woods/Lane, and Stock Ghyll Lane. Wall to wall sunshine, no wind, no precipitation. Essentially none of the snow has melted above about 500 feet, it has just moved about and changed in character. None of it is slushy; it is thigh deep in places. There is ice/frozen ground to the valley floor. Another day when I wore microspikes from door to door. Quite a few walkers about; no runners seen.
10.23 miles, 2,385 feet, 3 hours 15 minutes: Wansfell Pike, ascending/descending via High Skelghyll and The Hundreds. Initially a mixture of sunshine and high clouds - it became more and more overcast as the day went on. No wind, no precipitation. Ice and frozen terrain yet again from the valley floor up. No slush; the snow is becoming harder/crunchier. Another door to door microspikes day. Lots of walkers on the fell; no runners seen.
10.43 miles, 2,447 feet, 3 hours 24 minutes: Wansfell Pike - more or less the same route as yesterday. Overcast, with a large bank of cloud in the valley, then another from about 800 feet up. No significant wind, no precipitation. The snow is largely still there - it is now soft rather than crunchy, though it is not yet what I would call slush. The terrain in the valley remains hard/icy. Quite a few walkers about; 1 runner seen.
Again I wore microspikes from door to door, though they are not brilliant in the current soft snow.
8.21 miles, 1,890 feet, 2 hours 40 minutes: Loughrigg top, ascending and descending via Fishgarths Wood, Todd Crag and Lily Tarn. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 600 feet. More or less constant drizzle; no significant wind. Below 500 feet or so the ground is soft/saturated/streaming; above that height it was hard/frozen/icy in places; the snow that is left is anything from sheet ice to slush. Slippery everywhere - I had microspikes in my bumbag but did not use them. Only 3 walkers and no runners seen on the fell.
10.36 miles, 2,702 feet, 3 hours 42 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Roman Ruins - Borrans Park - Stagshaw Gardens - High Skelghyll - Skelghyll Lane - Holbeck Lane - Low Wood - High Skelghyll - Wansfell Pike - 3 way junction - Blue Hill Woods/Lane - Stock Ghyll Lane - Ambleside. Sunshine, blue sky, banks of cloud/mist at multiple levels. No rain; a moderate breeze from the north west. Terrain wet/saturated/streaming/slippery; above 1,000 feet there are some patches of wet snow/slush - these are usually avoidable but occasionally they aren't - they can be up to knee deep. I saw 6 walkers and 1 runner on the fell.
14.32 miles, 2,711 feet, 3 hours 58 minutes: Ambleside to Lingmoor Fell top and back, going out via Bog Lane, Skelwith Fold, Skelwith Bridge, High Park, Stang End, and Dale End, and returning more or less the same way. Sunshine, blue sky, some cloud banks at several levels. A few minutes of drizzle, a moderate breeze from the west. Terrain wet/saturated/slippery. Very little snow left now. Not many walkers about; 3 runners seen.
10.11 miles, 3,246 feet, 3 hours 48 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, ascending initially via Stagshaw Gardens, Blue Hill Woods/Blue Hill Lane and the steps, then going along the ridge to the true top, down to the upper part of Nanny Lane, back up to the Pike, finally down via the 3 way junction, Blue Hill Woods/Blue Hill Lane again, and down Stock Ghyll Lane. Sunshine, blue sky, some very thin high streaky clouds, and a lovely inversion over Windermere and its adjacent valleys. There was frost to the valley floor, and some of the ground was firm/hard, depending on elevation and sun exposure. What snow is left is frozen hard and almost always took my weight. Where not hard the ground was saturated. Slippery in places. Not many walkers on the fell; 2 runners seen.
10.27 miles, 2,754 feet, 3 hours 24 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including Fishgarths Wood, Todd Crag, Lily Tarn, Loughrigg top, down the race route to the road at High Close, Deerbolts Wood, Grasmere shore, back up to the top, down past the old golf club, through Rothay Park, finishing at the Climbers Shop. Overcast, with the cloud base initially at about 500 feet, two to three times that later. No rain. A moderate breeze from the west. Terrain damp/wet and slippery in places. Almost no snow/ice now at this level; very little visible snow elsewhere. Not many walkers on the fell; 2 runners seen - in the valley.
I had hoped to buy some waterproof socks at the Climbers Shop, but apparently the Spine participants bought their complete stock.
10.13 miles, 2,979 feet, 3 hours 25 minutes: Wansfell Pike, including - not in order - Stagshaw Gardens, Blue Hill Woods/Lane, Kelsick Scar, and the race descent from the Pike to the kissing gate. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 800 feet; misty/hazy below that. No rain. A moderate breeze from the south. Terrain damp/wet with mainly good grip. Not many walkers about; no runners seen.
This was the first time I have gone down the race descent since the heavy snow - it is ice/snow free; the damage from the descending racers is still visible.
11.06 miles, 2,943 feet, 3 hours 47 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Miller Bridge - Rydal Park - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - High Sweden Bridge - Scandale - Red Screes - south ridge - Golden Rule Pub - Ambleside. Overcast - I was in cloud/fog above 800 feet. A moderate breeze from the south. No rain. The ground was increasingly firm/hard with height above 1,000 feet, with patches of ice on the ground and interesting ice formations on the vegetation. Very slippery everywhere, particularly the rocks. Not many walkers about; 6 runners seen.
I wore microspikes from the top of Scandale to the road. I would not have wanted to descend to Scandale or to the Kirkstone Inn without them.
7.15 miles, 2,199 feet, 2 hours 24 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, ascending the first time via Blue Hill Road/Lane and the steps, going down to the upper part of Nanny Lane, up to the true top, then along the ridge to the Pike, and down the race route. Overcast, with banks of cloud at various levels, including as low as the valley floor in places. No sun/blue sky/wind. Intermittent drizzle. Terrain firm/hard/icy in places above 1,200 feet, below that wet/saturated - slippery almost everywhere. Not many walkers about; no runners seen.
10.03 miles, 2,662 feet, 3 hours 16 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides again, ascending from High Skelghyll, going along the ridge to the true top, down to the upper part of Nanny Lane, back up to the Pike, then down via the 3 way junction, Blue Hill Woods/Lane, and Stock Ghyll Lane. The weather and ground conditions were identical to yesterday, except that the ground was not quite as hard. Very few walkers about. I came across the AAC Tuesday/Friday group on the ridge - there were 7 of them - and I saw 1 other runner.
10.05 miles, 1,977 feet, 3 hours 6 minutes: Loughrigg trails from/to Rothay Bridge, ascending via Fishgarths Wood, Todd Crag, and Lily Tarn, and descending down past the old golf club. Mainly overcast, though for the first time in ages there was intermittent sunshine and some patches of blue sky. The cloud base was at about 2,000 feet - some small banks of cloud/mist below that. No wind. A few minutes of drizzle. Terrain wet/saturated and slippery in places. Very few people about; 1 runner seen - in the valley.
8.37 miles, 2,149 feet, 2 hours 31 minutes: Wansfell, though not to the Pike - the three way junction was the highest point I got to, ascending via Low Wood and High Skelghyll, and descending to Blue Hill Woods/Lane and Stock Ghyll Lane. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 800 feet. Constant drizzle/light rain; no significant wind. Terrain saturated/streaming/slippery - puddles and rivulets everywhere. Very few people about, none of them runners.
6.14 miles, plus 1.29 that Garmin did not record, 2,146 feet, 2 hours 16 minutes: Wansfell Pike, ascending via the steps, and descending via the race route. Sunshine, blue sky, high fluffy and even higher streaky clouds. A moderately strong cold wind from the south west. I did not get rained/snowed on, though I could see it happening elsewhere. Terrain anything from dry to saturated; slippery in places. Lots of walkers about; no runners seen.
There are twigs/branches everywhere, and on the route I took a couple of large trees were down.
For some reason my watch did not record the initial 1.29 miles, though it did record the time from when I started.
8.55 miles, 2,331 feet, 2 hours 50 minutes: Loughrigg trails from/to Rothay Bridge, ascending via Fishgarths Wood, Todd Crag and Lily Tarn, and descending down past the old golf club. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,500 feet. There is new snow in places down to about 1,500 feet. A strong and strengthening cold wind from the south; a few minutes of drizzle at the end of the run. Terrain wet/saturated/slippery. Lots of walkers on the fell; 2 runners seen.
I wore the neoprene socks again, but this time tried a pair of Injinji merino liner toe socks underneath - damp toes enclosed by wool are probably the happiest damp toes.