Black Mountains

[novice]

Can anyone give me any info on the Black Mountains race in Sept?
-A route map
- is it a good and interesting route OR long tedious trails
- is the nav easy/hard
- is it really 17 miles and 5200
- is it worth doing?

Cheers

[ChrisU]

Yes it is worth doing. This is the route:

[Wheeze]

Can anyone give me any info on the Black Mountains race in Sept?
-A route map
- is it a good and interesting route OR long tedious trails
- is the nav easy/hard
- is it really 17 miles and 5200
- is it worth doing?

Cheers

Search the forum. Loads of info!
It is a great race. Lots of very long ridge runs with glorious views, some of the most extreme climbing you'll find. The nav is a combination of easy and hard. I'd recommend you recce the route from Bal Mawr to finish. Don't understand your last question!!!!!!

[Longdogs]

Totally endorse your post there Wheeze.. I am a convert from preferring the Brecon Beacons route, though i still think that's a great race too. It's a shame that both of them don't get the numbers that would enter a Lakeland long. Definitely if you only recce a bit of it, make it the last bit... but there's still plenty of opportunity to go wrong and make it interesting before Bal Mawr. I am now over my issues with Pen y GF and can't wait to go up it's lovely tussocky false-summitted flanks in September

[Hanneke]

I am now over my issues with Pen y GF and can't wait to go up it's lovely tussocky false-summitted flanks in September

Ohhhh, the delights of it

Black Mountains is my favourite fell race... it was my second ever fell race as well, maybe that is why?

[IainR]

I went wrong on the final climb too, near that old farm house, didn't turn off and went back down a few hundred yards too far, this was after the dog attack, oh what a race..

I enjoyed the route though, quite like Edale skyline in that it's short steep climbs then flat track running along the edges. Not sure which one I prefer out of BM and BB, BB's has a lovely half but is let down by the half (which was first last year).

[Longdogs]

Which half do you call the good/bad half in BBs? I'd say middle bit is best either way, but def first half clockwise the worst bit..

[IainR]

I took a bad line last year after the steep climb up after the forest track, but yes first half clockwise was worst, then from that climb onwards I enjoyed it. In bad weather there was a few dodgy moments on the latter peaks but thankfully went well.

Hard to compare the two races as I've only done them once last year and conditions couldn't have been more different.

[daymion]

I've managed to loose my WFRA calender (I have joined honest), what dates are the BB and BM so I can pencil them in? The FRA website calender doesn't go that far ahead

[IainR]

BM: Sat 26th September (seems to be always this weekend)

BB: Sat 22nd August (later this year)