Feet in the Clouds

[IanDarkpeak]

There were numpties out on the fells before FITC and before Wainwright, I doubt that there is any great increase in their numbers. From memory, MRT statistics show a fairly constant number of call outs for all reasons over the last thirty years or so. Given the increase in numbers on the fells, this would indicate that there is now much better awareness of the risks.

The problem is: experience/nous/hill sense, call it what you will, only really comes about from having close calls and recognising them as such then learning from them. Of course the consequences of such near misses can be very serious.

My first attempt on the BG came to an end on Scafell when I recognised (about an hour too late really) that I was becoming hypothermic and needed to get off the hill ASAP. Eight hours later in the bath at home I was still cold. Experience or lucky? My second attempt came to an end on Helvellyn Lower Man in similar conditions to Saturday when we were being blown off our feet. Reckless for being out in such weather or being optimistic about the forecast? (About 6 hours later the weather had cleared out)

Many of my reccies were done in winter conditions, often alone - reckless? Well one recce on Skiddaw came to an abrupt end when having seen no-one on the hill I looked towards Great Calva and all I saw was a dark brooding pit with swirling snow and a biting wind. I simply turned round and went straight back to Keswick even though I was intending to do both legs 1 and 2 that day. Another recce (with three others - all experienced on the hill) around Wasdale in driving rain/sleet/snow and no-one else on the fells at all. We got back down to Wasdale and someone said "I wouldn't have done that on my own". The other three replied "neither would I" - reckless or sound judgement?

Having said all that, a BG attempt in dodgy weather is a serious undertaking and you need to know that the support is reliable and if things go wrong then all members of the party are capable of getting themselves and anyone injured off the fells.

Better get some work done.

I think being out in maginal weather is a different prospect solo than in a group. All of our big recces for PB BG RR etc some one usually has a storm shelter and certainly on a night leg a supporter carries one and a LW sleeping bag.
Being able to get your self off is all well and good but if you have a more serious incident it isn't always possible how ever good you are.
It was my call to 'hop' off this week end as I knew how long it would take to get a team out.

Making a decision to turn back does come from experience and you some times have to cross that line to learn. Getting your self in and out of those experiences is all part of fun in life. Being unprepared however is another matter.

[Al Fowler]

I bought this book a week or so ago intending to take it on holiday with me in a couple of weeks but i couldnt resist reading it and by the time my holiday comes i'll have finished it.
So although there are lists of fell running books on here, what other book should i get. It needs to be really good, not just a title you know plucked out of your head or of the lists on this forum.

[goose fat]

Being able to get your self off is all well and good but if you have a more serious incident it isn't always possible how ever good you are.

Having broken my leg on the descent off The Old Man during the Coniston Fell Race last month I've had my eyes opened to this. Luckily for me the weather was good. Despite using my 'full body cover', and being given some extra kit by people helping me, I still got quite cold waiting for the MR team. Luckily there were people close by who were watching the race and could call MR immediately but the team still took about an hour and a half to get to me (and I wasn't too far away from the Walna Scar Road).
I have often run on my own in very bad conditions in some very remote areas and always felt confident. I have enough mountain experience to be OK and I always have been BUT as you mention, the problem comes when something major goes wrong. I was 'lucky' when I broke my leg! Read on and see why. It was a nice day; it was light; it was during a marshalled race; I wasn't in the middle of nowhere; there was mobile phone reception. So, if it was going to happen fell running it couldn't have been under more fortunate circumstances. What if none of these applied.....I dread to think.
I will no doubt find myself running in similar circumstances, I have no intention of stopping doing what I love most in the hills, but now there will be a voice at the back of my mind reminding me of how easy it is for things to go SERIOUSLY wrong!

[PlumBum]

I bought this book a week or so ago intending to take it on holiday with me in a couple of weeks but i couldnt resist reading it and by the time my holiday comes i'll have finished it.
So although there are lists of fell running books on here, what other book should i get. It needs to be really good, not just a title you know plucked out of your head or of the lists on this forum.

I Bought a Mountain - Thomas Firbank
About him and his wife buying a farm - Dyffryn - on the slopes of the Glyders in the 1930's and the hardships that come with sheep farming.
A BRILLIANT book.

[Marvin]

I Bought a Mountain - Thomas Firbank
About him and his wife buying a farm - Dyffryn - on the slopes of the Glyders in the 1930's and the hardships that come with sheep farming.
A BRILLIANT book.

I read that years ago before I got into fell running, and keep thinking it would be good to read it again now.

[RichK]

I've never heard of the book or Thomas Firbank, but I've got it ordered after doing a bit of googling. (ok, ok, I'm avoiding work, its Friday already).


Fascinating stuff (warning - SPOILERS in this link, don't read if you don't want the ending of "mountain" spoiled). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Firbank


Has anyone read "I bought a star"? I think I'll order that too.

[Yorkshire Monkey]

I Bought a Mountain - Thomas Firbank
About him and his wife buying a farm - Dyffryn - on the slopes of the Glyders in the 1930's and the hardships that come with sheep farming.
A BRILLIANT book.

That is a great read, really makes you want to hit the Hills and live a rather feral lifestyle for a while.

[PlumBum]

I've never heard of the book or Thomas Firbank, but I've got it ordered after doing a bit of googling. (ok, ok, I'm avoiding work, its Friday already).


Fascinating stuff (warning - SPOILERS in this link, don't read if you don't want the ending of "mountain" spoiled). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Firbank


Has anyone read "I bought a star"? I think I'll order that too.

Pal at work, who recommended Bought a Mountain has and says its good.

[moireosullivan]

If you enjoyed "Feet in the Clouds", check out my new book, "Mud, Sweat and Tears": http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0054ZKYQQ

In July 2008, Moire O'Sullivan made a solo attempt on the Wicklow Round, (the Irish equivalent of the Bob Graham Round) a gruelling endurance run spanning a hundred kilometres over twenty six of Ireland’s remotest mountain peaks. After nearly twenty two hours she collapsed, two summits from the end. Battered and bruised, yet undeterred, she returned a year later to become the first person ever to complete the challenge.

"Mud, Sweat, and Tears” is the first book to tell one woman’s story about her passion for mountain running, a passion that has brought her to the heights of some of Ireland’s most impressive mountains and to the depths of her own human limitations.

And if you want to know what it's like, read a cracking review here: http://trailrunningnepal.org/2011/06...-tears-review/

[L.F.F.]

Well, 'I bought a Mountain' is now on my wish list anyway.