The good news is I'm upto 8000ft a week and enjoying every minute. The bad news is I encountered clag for the first time on a night run. What a shock to the system! Couldn't even see my feet! I know you guys have run in some terrible conditions, how do you cope with heavy cloud cover at night? Any advice would be most appreciated. Cheers phil.
Could not see your own feet? Seriously?
I have been out on nights like that with the light bouncing back from the mist. Not the right time to go expeimenting - stay on familar territory. It can be necessary to take the light off the head and hold it in your hand to get a stronger beam pointed to where you are putting your feet.
Last edited by DrPatrickBarry; 15-01-2014 at 10:20 AM.
I've definitely experienced the 'not being able to see my own feet' syndrome. On one of my failed attempts in 2012* when we got to the top of Blencathra (itself a superhuman feat as we didn't have gps) I could barely see the main path at my feet that leads to Doddick. And that path at the top of Blencathra is about 12 feet wide and all stone!. Its the combination of really thick clag and the light bouncing off it from the headtorch that makes visibility so impossible. Holding your headtorch can help a bit, if thats any use.
*This attempt went onto to flounder massively on the Helvellyn range because of huge getting lost in the fog issues!
I know! When I've heard you guys talk about clag I never realised it could get that bad
Nice tip thanksOriginally Posted by DrPatrickBarry
Running with a torch on your head in clag is similar to driving in mist/fog with your headlights on full beam. What happens is that the light is reflected back towards its source (actually it's not reflection but it's similar enough to be used in this context), by moving the light source away from your eyes you get some illumination without being blinded.
If you want disorientating then try running at night in blowing snow - you feel like you are dizzy and are going to fall over all the time
Bob
http://bobwightman.co.uk/run/bob_graham.php
Without me you'd be one place nearer the back
As Pat says take the torch off hold it low and point it down not forwards as you end up in a light bubble.
navigate as you would do normally but take more care and concentrate.
occasionally turn off your torch when looking for something as you may see further or pick out features outside your light bubble, If there are crags nearby slow up....
I've been on a couple of BG's where I've had to shine the torch at my ankles to find the path. not too bad if you are out for some fun but a nightmare when trying to run to a schedule...
I have been in that sort of dense mist/fine rain where light just shows drops in front of your face - on one occasion in Suffolk even running on bitumen was risky. Once - back of Blencathra at night - if the person in front of you was 10 ft away all you could see was the reflective strips on their kit, 15 ft away and you could not see them at all. Skiing in Switzerland over 20 years ago I experienced a true white out - I thought I was skiing down a wide path but was close to the down hill side of it - I stopped and the chap skiing behind me stopped just in front of me and disappeared - the front of my skis - unbeknownst to me - were hanging over an edge. He fell about 15 ft but landed in soft snow and was OK. All we could see was each other and the occasional orange pole - we could not see the snow surface at all. As is often the case, the poles marked the uphill side of the path, not the downhill side!
Last edited by Mike T; 15-01-2014 at 12:04 PM.
What also helps in heavy clag is using your support team effectively. In situations like Stolly is describing where the path is indistinct or intermittent you can run in a line abreast so that you're covering more ground and picking up the path where it appears again. There should be no risk of getting separated if you keep your headlamps on and keep talking to each other. If you get the chance get out on the Helvellyn ridge with a really experienced nav/pacing team and experience this happening almost automatically it's a really impressive demonstration of what practice and hill-competence can produce.
“The higher we soar, the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly.”
Geoff Cox Lonsdale Fellrunners
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