That road- The Moll road- is normally our club 10k race. Starting at Moll and finishing at Sconser golf course. Unfortunately the road collapsed into the sea last winter after some heavy rain. It's now impassable after a few miles. Sounds like you're packing it in. Is it Trotternish tomorrow?Originally Posted by Travs
Yes I ran from the junction with the A87, up to the collapse. It is a substantial collapse, the whole road had gone!
Yes the plan is Trotternish tomorrow.
I went over to Neist point today, and then across to Coral Beach. Absolutely stunning.
I've wanted to do the Trotternish Ridge ever since I first got the fantastic Great British Ridge Walks book by Bill Birkett probably 15 years ago. Today was the day.
Started from the car pull-in near Flodigarry and up through the mystical Quirang. It was between here and the main Quirang car park that I met the only people of the day, a runner coming in the opposite direction, and a small handful of walkers (in fact these are the only people I've seen all week in any of my runs out).
Blazed my way onto the ridge proper, reaching Beinn Edra in 2:15, Hartaval in 4:05 and The Storr a short time later.
From The Storr I'd declined Neilly's advice to drop down and follow the sea-cliffs back to Portree. I wanted to keep it as a pure ridge run, and in any case on the summit of the Storr in zero visibility, surrounded on three sides by what appeared to be vertical cliffs, I wasn't sure of the way down anyway, other than along the ridge.
Not quite downhill all the way from here, I had the conundrum of Ben Dearg to solve. I saw a grassy rake which looked to be heading directly towards the summit, but surrounded by vertical cliffs, and couldn't see the top through the clouds, so I elected to swing out to the right and double back. This was the hardest climb of the day.
Portree finally came into view on 6 hours, but it took almost an hour to get down to the harbour, due to the deterioration of the ridge, no path, and no local knowledge.
A fantastic day out. Some of the views were unbelievable, and at times the weather closed right in and it was a case of head down and work hard. In hindsight next time I'd probably try and drop off at the Storr and follow the cliffs back. The ridge did deteriorate from here in terms of scenery and quality of running, but I'm glad I saw the entire ridge through today.
I clocked 23 miles and around 7000ft. Didn't break any speed records, but I was generally following the crest of the ridge religiously, and taking in all the high points, even on the way down from The Storr and Ben Dearg. Not to mention carry a 25 litre bag almost full with extra clothing, food, water... and the obligatory photo and food stops.
Main issues were lack of water (I refilled very early on in the Quirang, then things were looking bleak until I managed to find a source on Hartaval. Also navigation... you'd think a ridge with a whopping great cliff on one side would provide no route problems. But in the cloud there are some twists and turns, and dropping down to some of the cols is quite confusing, particularly either side of Hartaval and coming off the Storr.
A day to remember. The race along the ridge, assuming it takes the full ridge, would give Ennerdale a close run for its money in terms of scale and difficulty.
Last edited by Travs; 19-02-2019 at 08:35 PM.
Hi Travs, I went up there today about 2. Climbed from Glenhinisdale and went along to Sgurr Bhataidd Ruadaidh (excuse my Gaelic) -about 8 miles. Weather was 'changeable' the clag came in and I spent 20 minutes wandering about with a sense of panic rising! I've been up there dozens of times but it's still so easy to get lost in the mist. The first year we ran the race only half the field finished due to nav problems so well done! It looks so easy with a great big handrail to navigate with but it's a real bugger in the mist. The climb up Bein Dearg is brutal, and the last four miles are really boggy and energy sapping. You'll need to come back on 1st June for the race. We're only 17 miles. Finlay Wild did it in 2.37 I think!
Is the grassy ramp straight up onto Ben Dearg actually feasible as an ascent? I was tempted, but looking down from the top it was incredibly steep.
Yes I checked out the race route on the SHR website. Seems that it drops off the Storr down to the car park below. To rival Ennerdale for length and brutality it would need to finish in Portree I reckon. But no doubt it is an amazing race route and very tough, and would arguably be a tougher prospect than Langdale and Borowdale... 2:37 doesn't bear thinking about!
Yes, straight up the grass. It becomes scree later on. It's not as bad as it looks but is a terrifying descent! I live about 5 miles from the south end of the ridge. Quite often go up from Borve and do a circuit. You can get up to Bein Dearg from the west and circle round. Can be horribly boggy but character building. Weather appalling today. I had a couple of days off and had great intentions of going down to Slig and doing the Fairy pools circuit but ended up pounding the mean streets of Portree for 10k and heading to the gym for a kettle bell session.
Looks drier tomorrow though. Do you have anything else planned? A good bad weather run is the Suishinish/Borreraig circuit from outside Broadford 10 miles or Glenbrittle forest from the Fairy pools carpark 10 miles, you can tag on the fairy pools for another 5. Have fun. Neil
Today as you say was shocking weather. I just did an easier 5.5 miles from Sligachan, up past the Allt Dearg Beag waterfalls (ferocious), and up towards the Basteir Gorge. Basically went as far as I could follow the path and turned round.
Tomorrow's plan is straight out the back garden at Sconser, straight up the side of Glamaig, and then follow the roller-coaster over the Red Cuillin and as far onto Garbh Bheinn/Blaven as I can safely go. I'll be researching it shortly, but my understanding is at some point on the way to Blaven from this direction I'm going to hit something impassable, at which point I intend to seek out a descent into Sligachan.
Friday planning to get onto Rasaay.
Last edited by Travs; 20-02-2019 at 07:30 PM.
Sounds hard. I've never done the whole route. I've done the Glamaig horseshoe which is great but probably too short for you, only 2h30. My friend did Glamaig to Marsco and back taking in all the peaks both ways as training for Jura. He said Jura was easier!
Raasay is lovely. Totally different to Skye. Don't bother with the car you can run everywhere. Dun Caan is a great wee hill but there are endless trails and forest paths too. Theres a good cafe at the hotel by the pier. Just don't miss the last ferry. I'm back to work tomorrow but will fit in a lunch hour run around Scorrybreac and surrounding area. Then off to teach Pilates in the evening. Hope you've enjoyed your time here. It's a great place but the weather can be shocking! We've run the TRR in everything from heatwave to snow, always the first Sat in June.
Today was indeed hard. Straight from the garden fence onto the steeps of Glamaig. When I finally hit the col between An Coileach and Glamaig, hit the full force of the wind and rain. Possibly the worst I've ever encountered.... was leaning way over 45deg to stay upright, and had to throw myself on the floor several times to stay safe.
On hitting Glamaig summit I made straight for the col to the south... luckily there is a quite fantastic scree-run and I was able to make quick progress. Being nothing if not determined, continued on up Beinn Dearg Mhor, and again down to the next col.
Realised I was soaked to the bone, despite wearing 4 layers, so I made a final ascent onto Beinn Dearg Mheadhonach, then a rapid descent down the fantastic Druim Na Ruaige ridge descent back to Sligachan, then a sorry couple of miles along the road back to Sconser.
So didn't mange the full route today, but still 10 miles and 4100ft... and they were a hard 10 miles..!!
Last edited by Travs; 21-02-2019 at 07:13 PM.
If you were to ask me as a single question, would I travel 10 hours for the Trotternish race.... then the answer would be yes.
But to be more realistic, then ask would I travel that far when there is a clash with Welsh 1000m, Duddon Valley, and potentially also so close to Helvellyn & The Dodds, Ennerdale... then it's a much more difficult question.
If the objective is to attract people from south of the border, then really it needs to be advertised along with Jura as a double... perhaps a prize for best combined performance over the two races.
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