Clockwise or anti-clockwise?

[Marvin]

A few of us had a "race" down this descent and Doddick fell.

The Middle Tongue/Gate gill descenders had to wait about ten minutes at the bottom before the others turned up, they gave the lame excuse they had got "lost" I'm not so sure

One of the Middle Tongue descenders did comment on the drops where you could injure yourself but I thought they added to the excitement.

You will have that lemming feeling the first time you drop of the summit mind

Sounds like too much excitement for an acrophobe like me. I'm sticking with Doddick for my next round.

[ydt]

A few of us had a "race" down this descent and Doddick fell.


You will have that lemming feeling the first time you drop of the summit mind

...but it is on grass although extremely steep. Good studs absolutely necessary.
Yiannis

[IanDarkpeak]

I'm sticking with Doddick for my next round.

[Baggins]

After all your the boss. You can do the same from Kirkfell on as well

I'll be doing as I'm told by then

[Baggins]

So what considerations do people have when choosing the BG clockwise or anti-clockwise?

Like others have said I'd rather be at Honister than Threlkeld in the final stages as its an easier run in, not keen on the mud and heather back of Skiddaw when I'm fresh never mind being out all day

Plus once I'm dropping into Wasdale I'm on home ground so doing it clockwise means I'm running towards home rather than away

[Marvin]

Would you like to join me?

[IanDarkpeak]

Would you like to join me?

[Marvin]

I suppose it would be good to go round anticlockwise for a change.

The forum won't allow nore than four smilies in one post will it?

[wightplodder]

I would love to have gone anticlockwise as basically I am lazy and I would have liked to set off fresh at 0700 after a good night's sleep. I think that I would have made faster and easier progress in this direction early on allowing me to save a bit for the hard climbs at the end.
I am a much better climber than descender so going up at the end of the round would not phase me.
The reason I chose to go clockwise was because I was on my own and a bit afraid of the dark. I wanted to get it out of the way as soon as possible and leaving at 0100 meant I didnt even have one whole section in the dark.
I hoped that if I finished a bit under 24 hours then most of the second period of darkness would be on the road (and not a problem).
Finishing on the road is a bit of a trudge but not too bad (CW) but I would not have liked descending Skiddaw at the very end (ACW) even though I would have been encouraged by the end being in sight.
I guess it depends on your own preference and circumstance as both directions have their merits.

wightplodder.blogspot.com

[Mr1470]

Well I'd not really considered anti-clockwise until now, despite two very well respected completers saying it was the way to go.

But.....

I'd say it depends on what your strengths are. Personally, I find descending technical rocky ground the most difficult, particularly when your legs have "gone".

For that reason, I'm now starting to think that getting "Leg 4" (which would be Leg 2 anti) and Leg 3 out the way sooner rather than later would be far more preferable. Two mainly grassy legs to follow, certainly on the downhills. I can really see the benefit of that.