Here's a link to an article I wrote some time ago offering advice to runners considering entering our Pennine Bridleway relay ( an event I organised ) the event attracted lots of non regular Fellrunners or runners inexperienced in running the fells and the event was held in February so I felt some kind of guidance should be offered.
http://www.rossendaleharriers.co.uk/...ypothermia.doc
I had a bit of a scare on the Fan Dance Race (Jan 2013), it was the weekend we had all the snow in Wales and it was something like -7 on top of Pen-y-Fan without the wind (which there was plenty of - and snow).
The race started at 11.00, I was near the back of the field so by the time I reached the top of Corn Du I was on my own. My Camelbak hose had frozen within 30 minutes of the start. Snow was ankle/knee deep drifting to 2m deep at some points on the edges of the path. I was wearing merino l/s top and a goretex shell, Ron Hill trousers, gloves, hat and a buff, goretex boots with crampons and merino socks on my feet. I was fine up and over Corn Du and Pen y Fan, and all the way down the roman road towards torpantau (sp?). At the halfway point I stopped for 3 or 4 minutes but didn't put on another layer as I felt I'd be working hard again on the way back (I think this i where I started cooling down).
On the way back I kept a steady pace but was exhausted and must have been slowing down. The DS (ex-SAS guy) sweeping the back of the field was with me for a while but then he dropped back when I passed I group of slower people. I slowed right down to a stop/start walk going back up Jacobs Ladder to the top of Pen y Fan. At the top of Pen y Fan I think I was sweating a lot, at least I know my base layer was soaking. The DS on the summit had a chat with me and made me drink some water (took about 5-10 mins to defrost the Camelbak enough to get some - during which time I must have been getting cold fast). It crossed my mind whether to put an extra layer on but I remember thinking "I'll be at the finish in 45 mins and it's all downhill - i'll just crack on". The DS warned me about drinking too much cold water from my Camelbak so I finished and got moving.
I jogged across Corn Do and them some of the way down the next slope, I was utterly exhausted by then so was walking for at least the last 30 minutes. I got to the finish ok and remember being asked loads of questions, how was I feeling, who else had I seen, how far back were they etc. I remember being really confused and not being sure how to say there was a group about 20 mins behind me. I must have made some sense as the DS let me go to the Storey Arms to get some soup.
I sat in there at a table on my own in a bit of daze. There was a guy wrapped in foil blankets being re-warmed and I remember thinking he looked in a bad way. At this point I was sipping about 200ml of soup whilst still in my wet thermal top and goretex.
I finished the soup and wandered out to my car, changed to a dry top and put a duvet jacket on. I went back to the storey arms to buy some commemorative beers, then jumped in the car and drove to merthyr tydfil and stopped in KFC. I had some food and sat in there for about 15 minutes, then went back out to the car. As I got into the car I was hit by uncontrolled shivering and full body shakes/cramp, this lasted about 5 minutes and I felt better afterwards. I had the car heater on and lots of dry layers so must have been warming up. I got on the road again and drove back to Swindon. I was making a point of putting my hands up to my face every few minutes and remember they felt cold each time I tried, all the way to the Severn bridge crossing. I remember they felt fine by Bristol and I took off my hat at that point.
Looking back, I must have been quite confused as I missed quite a few warning signs. Like stopping on Pen y Fan but not putting an extra layer on. I was still making the right decisions with navigation though, so can't have been completely out of it. The shaking in the car was quite a wake up call though, up to that point I just thought I was a bit cold.
Edit: In the end I was out in sub-zero temps and strong wind/snow for 6h20mins (13 miles and 1100m of climb/descent in snow/ice), I measured what was in the Camelbak the next day and found I'd drank less than 750ml in that time. I'd eaten a small bag of flapjacks and about 10 energy gels, but my Suunto had estimated I'd used 4500+ calories in that time.
Last edited by Vampire; 09-11-2013 at 01:21 PM.
there's certainly some classic signs in there, the violent shivering for one means you were way beyond mild hypothermia. Be wary of the full heater in the car with some one who has severe Hypothermia as this is direct heating, best to do slow passive heating and warm from the inside out.Originally Posted by Vampire
FRA members should be receiving the Hypothermia pocket guide in the next Handbook. For those of you not in the FRA (Shame) you can still download one from my website where the original article is also available.
http://everythingoutdoors.co.uk/hypo...ses-treatment/
I was on Bleaklow today with a client and we had very heavy hail....it was bloody cold but we were well wrapped up.
Interesting tale. This bit struck me as the point when your temperature probably started to plummet: "The DS on the summit had a chat with me and made me drink some water (took about 5-10 mins to defrost the Camelbak enough to get some - during which time I must have been getting cold fast)".
I would have thought that keeping on the move was far more important than water under those circumstances. It would seem you were felt to be not quite right, hence the encouragement to drink - but surely you were far more likely to be cold than dehydrated.
I guess it is good that most car heaters take some time to be effective!
Last edited by Mike T; 09-11-2013 at 09:36 PM.
While the recent inquest has brought the Safety Requirements into the spotlight and triggered a necessary revision and a healthy debate, we fellrunners need to remember that the actual cause of death was, once again, our old enemy hypothermia.
The very first safety requirement (1.1) states that we runners must accept primary responsibility for our own safety on the fells. This is important, because nobody else, not even the race organiser, is in a better position to look after us while we are running in the fells.
But to do this, we need to be aware of the nature and dangers of hypothermia; what it can do, and what to watch out for.
To help with this, the FRA, with a great deal of assistance from IanDarkPeak, has produced a booklet to remind us and to advise us
This will be going out with the forthcoming FRA Handbook, and I would urge everybody to read it, and keep it.
One day the words will come back to you when it matters!
While the recent inquest has brought the Safety Requirements into the spotlight and triggered a necessary revision and a healthy debate, we fellrunners need to remember that the actual cause of death was, once again, our old enemy hypothermia.
The very first safety requirement (1.1) states that we runners must accept primary responsibility for our own safety on the fells. This is important, because nobody else, not even the race organiser, is in a better position to look after us while we are running in the fells.
But to do this, we need to be aware of the nature and dangers of hypothermia; what it can do, and what to watch out for.
To help with this, the FRA, with a great deal of assistance from IanDarkPeak, has produced a booklet to remind us and to advise us.
This will be going out with the forthcoming FRA Handbook, and I would urge everybody to read it, and keep it.
One day the words will come back to you when it matters!
Alan, I absolutely agree. The recent debate has tended to focus on legal and litigation considerations rather than actual safety. That's important of course but leaving it aside and focussing purely on safety; If the history of fellrunning has taught us one important safety lesson above all it's that our biggest enemy when out on the fells is hypothermia.
True. A minor detail error in the rules (on a "b list" of revisions , not bothered mentioning so far) - is that the information section on hypothermia has no action. It needs to say head new section 13
Competitor - "Must study causes of, symptoms of etc".
I also think consideration should be given to the idea of "places of safety" where courses go to very remote places. For the sake of one big rucksack, it might just have saved a life in the past: for the those that did not see it, the suggestion of setting up a multiperson tent with sleeping bag(s), clothing, warm/drinks - that a runner can head to on signs of hypothermia, and then having warmed up a bit, advised not to go down alone from there. Located at a "pinch point" in courses that it is hard to miss, like a narrow col. The last two fatalities appear to be people going off route to find safety, when a long way from anywhere safe. Who knows whether it might have helped - having a place to head for: but there is far more chance the runner might find that under their own steam, than the needle in a haystack chance that an RO might find the runner in time, if gone off route trying to find safety.
Last edited by alwaysinjured; 21-11-2013 at 01:38 PM.
Good advice Ai and something that could make a real difference.
Or possible have safer escape routes marked on race maps.
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