MMMmm this sounds interesting. I've pm'd you sideburns. Anyone else know anything about the relay? Are there defined legs or can you have changeovers anywhere? Also, is the Noors list of checkpoints in the Fellrunner the same as those visited in the relay? Finally, how big and shiny is that trophy!?Originally Posted by sideburns on the summits
Dan I've sent you some details.
Here's another point of interest, a few weeks after our stunning achievment, Billy set off in a heatwave (we had thick mist) to establish a new individual record of........................7hours 36minutes! But we still just about held our heads high as the individual route does not have to visit as many controls so is slightly shorter and has less climb.
A circular route mostly downhill
Route details now at http://gofar.org.uk
Perhaps this might prompt some further attempts following Ben Ab's round. Looks like a great training run for the BGR etc.
did this yesterday. I used my garmin to measure the route. I made it 39.3 miles so significantly more than the 'official' distance. I took 11 hours 12 mins. I went well over the first half but struggled a bit with very stiff legs after Eskdale (going AC) and going into a strong headwind, so the ascent of Charnley Crag took absolutely ages. Apart from that it was good a day out, if not a classic. Thanks to the Bg support for use of rope at Broad Stand.
John, well done. Yet another "string" to the bow.
Ian.
I was a bit of an oddball until I was abducted by aliens; but I'm perfectly OK now!
You wait 54 years for a visit to England's highest peak, and then two come along in one weekend.
In August 1968, when there was no FRA, and the inaugural Ennerdale Horseshoe fell race had just been won by a local shepherd called Joss Naylor, a group of 20 boys and 3 adults from Aspley Heath Primary School battled a SW gale and horizontal rain along the path from Esk Hause to Scafell Pike. We all survived, despite our inadequate clothing, but I didn't make another visit to Scafell Pike until last Saturday's race. I was staying at Eskdale Youth Hostel, and noticed a poster about the Charnley Way, which I knew of but had never considered doing; but I realised that the Eskdale loop of the Way roughly coincided with one of the ideas I had for a possible walk on Sunday.
The Eskdale loop starts and finishes at the YH, visiting Slight Side, Scafell, Scafell Pike (via Foxes Tarn), Esk Hause, Esk Pike, Charnley Crag and Bow Fell: 22km with 1500m of climbing, according to the poster. Conditions were more benign than 54 years ago: moderate winds, clag only on the highest summits, and light rain from Ore Gap to the finish. It took me 9 hours and 40 minutes, which must surely be a SKT (slowest known time); the previous day's exertions were telling, not that I was ever trying to move at a fast pace. This included about 3 hours 30 minutes from Bow Fell to Eskdale YH. I had a bit of fun finding the route off Bow Fell to Three Tarns [don't do the Langdale Race without a recce!], and the bog-trot down the Lingcove valley seemed interminable.
I do remember meeting Gerry Charnley at one of the events he organised, just a few months before he died on Striding Edge, so it was good to visit the cairn on the obscure little crag that has been named in his honour. But I wouldn't want to search for that in the clag!
In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
Jorge Luis Borges
Bowfell can be confusing in mist... on more than one occasion i've came off without checking the compass and found myself heading towards Ore Gap instead of Three Tarns.
The huge sail like rock just to the east of the very top points almost directly towards the Langdale Pikes - I find this helpful when the clag is down.
Is the Gerry Charnley cairn on Esk Pike marked with a plaque?
It's not on Esk Pike, it's on the second rocky knoll due south of Esk Pike: grid ref 236070. There apparently is a plaque (see https://www.sroc.org/menu2/2014/Apr/Charnley%20Way.htm), but I didn't see it. I was definitely in the right place, but as my wife often tells me, I can't see things directly in front of my nose.
In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
Jorge Luis Borges
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