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Thread: It Depends What You Mean By "Fairly

  1. #11
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    'OK then, I'll use my GPS watch'[/QUOTE]

    And it will direct them straight over a cliff!
    Visibility good except in Hill Fog

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bob View Post
    Indeed 20 deaths per annum isn't great but that's out of how many individual days out? When I last looked at the figures numbers heading out had increased massively over the previous thirty years or so but the number of deaths in the hills hadn't changed so the relative risk is much less.

    The linked article doesn't analyse those deaths: did they die from a fall; hypothermia; cardiac arrest? It may just be that "their time had come" - my best man's dad dropped dead from a massive cardiac arrest whilst descending the path by Rossett Gill for example. An generally fit bloke and he wouldn't have looked out of place in a line up of fell runners.

    I think society's attitude to risk has changed massively, partly driven by items in the news having to be "exciting", "extreme", etc. in their attempts to sell copies or get subscribers, there's no nuance in anything. The perception of risk is seen as being equated to the risk itself.

    Back to the subject in hand - the categorisation of races in the calendar has always been , shall we say, idiosyncratic. The Ilkley Fell Race had "Navigation experience required" yet was taped for much of its length whereas the Jack Bloor race had no such requirement and no tape!
    I don’t think trail magazines help with perception.

    Take the climbers trod “ heather terrace” which services east face climbs on tryfan, sounds pleasant and featured as a path in a magazine some years ago. It is certainly not easy, and sadly has also achieved a walker fatality.

    As for fell races , much has changed. It’s hard to find races that have not created their own race trod. Even some of the old challenges, like Duddon: hard knot to little stand, then past gaitkins to three shires now have a trod most of the way. Still have to find the right trod, of course! Many are more like a motorway eg borrowdale, some a carbuncle like the traverse of esk pike on langdale.

    The track doesn’t always help in clag. I recollect the year Helene diamantides came in the top few at langdale, they were coming in for hours afterwards from all corners of the lakes!

    The only untracked areas I can think off is obscure things like county tops descent of scafell pike, or dead reckoning the traverse on grey friar. Perhaps the central part of Sedbergh, where not all go the same way.

  3. #13
    Yes I agree there are lots of established trods on many races but it's not compulsory to follow them and trying out different lines, especially in some of the longer events is all a big part of it to me. But you need confidence in your navigation to try them.

  4. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark G View Post
    Yes I agree there are lots of established trods on many races but it's not compulsory to follow them and trying out different lines, especially in some of the longer events is all a big part of it to me. But you need confidence in your navigation to try them.
    True. I was interested in discovering whether there were any truly unmarked routes left, which are either so new or route choice so varied, or indeed so boggy or wet, there is no evidence of a route on the ground.
    .
    And yes...navigation still needed to know which is the "right" trod. Every langdale race I have ever done, I have seen a couple go straight on towards little stand after last crinkle where they should do a hard left, I wonder how long it is before they realise they are all alone?

  5. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Oracle View Post
    True. I was interested in discovering whether there were any truly unmarked routes left, which are either so new or route choice so varied, or indeed so boggy or wet, there is no evidence of a route on the ground.
    .
    And yes...navigation still needed to know which is the "right" trod. Every langdale race I have ever done, I have seen a couple go straight on towards little stand after last crinkle where they should do a hard left, I wonder how long it is before they realise they are all alone?
    Ive got a few little short cuts on Langdale, including my preferred line round the back of the Crinkles that nobody else seems to use and a couple of my favourite 'off trod' stretches between Blisco and the road crossing. I once emerged from the mist shortly after beginning the descent after the last Crinkle - nobody was in sight between me and where the path drops out of sight towards the tarn. Everyone else had either gone astray or was so far ahead as to be out of sight - even knowing the route well I had a moment of confusion - had everyone else gone a totally different way and was I making a massive nav error? As it was a significant group ahead of me had followed each other off to the right and by the time I was dropping down to the tarn I could see more runners ahead toiling up Blisco. But for a while it felt like I was totally alone - quite nice actually, I could pretend I was the leader!

  6. #16
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    A few years ago I was taking shots of the Fairfield Horseshoe race and had positioned myself at the side of the path just at the foot of the climb up to Heron Pike. For some reason I didn't get a shot of Ben Abdelnoor, it turned out he'd a line all of his own at exactly that point and had bypassed me!

    So yes, just because there's a ruddy great path doesn't necessarily mean it's the fastest route.
    Bob

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  7. #17
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    Did he win? Now you have let the cat out of the bag everybody will be looking for that 'magic line'. Except of course most are over on facebook.
    Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run

  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bob View Post
    A few years ago I was taking shots of the Fairfield Horseshoe race and had positioned myself at the side of the path just at the foot of the climb up to Heron Pike. For some reason I didn't get a shot of Ben Abdelnoor, it turned out he'd a line all of his own at exactly that point and had bypassed me!

    So yes, just because there's a ruddy great path doesn't necessarily mean it's the fastest route.

    A few years ago I tried to get a top eryri lad to explain how it was he got down from glyder to penypas so much faster than anyone else in the splits in the Peris race. He stayed Schtum! Refused to talk about route he used. So there are a few tricks for those willing to do R and D. Living close helps!
    Last edited by Oracle; 16-01-2020 at 10:07 PM.

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