Indeed. Descending too far north, possibly to get out of foul weather, can find you on the shore of Crummock Water -where at least there is a road that leads back to Buttermere!Originally Posted by dangilbert
Indeed. Descending too far north, possibly to get out of foul weather, can find you on the shore of Crummock Water -where at least there is a road that leads back to Buttermere!
Last edited by Graham Breeze; 12-09-2020 at 07:54 AM.
"...as dry as the Atacama desert".
Mine wasn't quite that significant of a detour. Although a valley road is probably a fairly reassuring place to be after dropping out of foul weather on the high fells, as long as you're not too far from your intended destination.
Fairly breezy today. A strong headwind for a short stretch after Causey and on the climb up to Eel Crag. Otherwise pretty good conditions, full visibility and not too chilly.
Just happy to be back running on the Lakeland fells really. Last time was nearly a year ago to the day at the Mountain Trial.
Good running, sir! It looked a good day for it after all. The forecasts have been quite dismal this weekend but not as bad as predicted.
The MWIS forecast tomorrow is dismal to say the least... Hopefully there's a slight improvement
Meanwhile, back in the Midlands . . . it's T-shirt and shorts weather. Now, where did I put that suntan lotion?
In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
Jorge Luis Borges
What a fantastic race route that is. Trying to compare it to the Four Fans in terms of difficulty, which is difficult due to the different weather conditions (absolute heatwave at FF, and 50mph wind and zero viz today).
I think the position of the Causey Pike climb at mid-point in the race makes it such a challenge, as there's still a long way back to Buttermere on wrecked legs.
Made a good start and had the wind behind me for a short while, and was on top of the first peak (either Knott Rigg or Ard Crags) in 25mins.
Then a typically shambolic descent down to Rigg Beck. Strong on the climb to Causey Pike, hitting the summit in 1hr15...
But then things started to get tough. Was now into a fearsome headwind which bought me to walking pace even on some of the downhills. On reaching Crag Hill I tried to take a bearing but the wind was so strong I couldn't hold the map in place. So had to take the main path down to the "cross-roads" with the path coming down from Grasmoor, and turn hard left for Whiteless Pike.
Knew at this point that 2hrs10 was slipping away, but was spurred on by chasing another couple of runners in front. Descended fairly proficiently off Whiteless Pike, finishing a shade under 2hrs12.
In hindsight I should have ran it yesterday when weather conditions were better, and would undoubtedly saved a chunk of time over the Sail ridge and coming off Crag Hill.
But can't allow that to hide my deficiencies, descending was typically poor off Aitken Knott (admittedly lethally slippy), and even with the wind I should have made a better fist of the Causey-Crag Hill ridge (for example I only managed to run short sections of the zigzags onto Sail).
Well done to DanGilbert on your time... I noted that your finishing time had gone past as I was on my way up to Whiteless Pike!
Last edited by Travs; 13-09-2020 at 04:36 PM.
Nice one, Pete - glad you enjoyed it. My favourite AM by far. I see the weather forecast lived up to expectations then!
BTW, you can avoid the zigzag path up Sail on a direct line on the right. Same as the descent in Coledale.
Yep! More climb that any other Medium, a stunning ridge run, opportunities to get good lines, a slight nav.challenge off Crag Hill and a "fantastic plummet to Buttermere" (Jon Broxap).
Fell running does not get any better.
"...as dry as the Atacama desert".
Thanks Pete. Unfortunately it was zero viz by that stage, and a combination of only having been on Sail once before, and knowing it has a bit of a broad top, I played it safe!
Will rememeber that for next year!
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