Duddon

[DazTheSlug]

recce planned for Friday 9th April
are any bits of the course on private land?
any handy hints / bits to give special attention?

[GeoffB]

It's all on ROW / Open Access, so no problems.

Route finding is pretty straightforward to Hard Knott Pass. Hard Knott summit can be tricky to locate in mist. Compass to Mosedale & Little Stand (tough!) From Little Stand head sort of NE-ish to cross Gaitscale Gill at a waterfall. Contour round Gaitkins to pick up good fast path down to Three Shires Stone. Reverse of Three Shires route to Swirl How. Path to Dow Crag, Walna Scar Road, White Pike. Now you need to make your own way to Caw, picking up the path eventually. Retrace steps from summit for (?) a bit. (Three attempts and I still haven't got this right!) Drop down to the stile and path back to Seathwaite.

Enjoy at least three pints in the Newfield!

[emmilou]

recce planned for Friday 9th April
are any bits of the course on private land?
any handy hints / bits to give special attention?

Don't think 'little stand' is little

At Caw head leftish, not rightish, we had a sheer drop as didn't get this right either...there is a contour round but we opted for the direct route

[ZootHornRollo]

getting the right line from three shires stone up to swirl howe wasn't very straigthforward, not as intuitive as the reverse downhill run at Three Shires race. We contoured too low and ended up having to climb steeply up to the left.

The only other bit I can remember being tricky was between Little Stand and Three Shires Stone, but it was a fine day last year and you could see the runners ahead so it wasn't much of a problem.

[DazTheSlug]

Thanks for the tips guys

I've done 3 Shires, but can quite imagine that doing 3ShireStone-SwirlHow might pose a few probs

hmmm... looking at the map, the two most "interesting" bits appear to be:
Little Stand to Three Shire Stone, and
White Pike to Caw

one heck of a roller-coaster of a route also: 3 big climbs + 3 "not inconsiderable" ones

think I might re-attempt Kinder Killer in May by way of training

[DazTheSlug]

holy moly
what a day
managed to get lost twice, so ended up being out for 9 hours
did cover most of the route though
best bit was rollercoastering along the ridge down from Swirl How to Caw - the weather was glorious and the views in all directions defy description

[Manhar]

Anyone fancy a reccie any time in May ? Realise virtually every weekend between now & race day is booked eg Coniston, followed by B Sailbeck, Fairfield but would like a trot round as Duddon is on my "to do" list this year.

Cheers

[ZootHornRollo]

best bit was rollercoastering along the ridge down from Swirl How to Caw - the weather was glorious and the views in all directions defy description

yes, one's work is more or less done by Swirl Howe but it felt like a long old run-in to me from there last year

[Man from Del Monte]

Anyone fancy a reccie any time in May ? Realise virtually every weekend between now & race day is booked eg Coniston, followed by B Sailbeck, Fairfield but would like a trot round as Duddon is on my "to do" list this year.

Cheers

yes
am on holiday 15th for a week though

[Deejay]

Anyone fancy a reccie any time in May ? Realise virtually every weekend between now & race day is booked eg Coniston, followed by B Sailbeck, Fairfield but would like a trot round as Duddon is on my "to do" list this year.

Cheers

I'm in Coniston for a few weeks holiday from tomorrow, so I'd be interested Manhar. Doing Coniston and Fairfield but not Sailbeck but unfortunately am committed to other things during the Sailbeck weekend