I’ve just added a new links page to the website. I’m going to keep adding to it and try and build it up to be a useful resource so if you can suggest any more links then please drop me an email. Also, looks like winter is finally on its way here in the highlands and we’re going to see a big dip in temperatures this week – its about time!
Play the sequence on snow-forecast.com and see the temperatures come down. (Height of Ben Nevis: 1343m Height of Cairngorm: 1245m).
Blue skies in Inverness this morning inspired Danny and I to head along the coast to find some dry rock. Unfortunately our quest failed! First stop was Covesea with its Sandstone cliffs. Unfortunately, sandstone is porous and the recent rain has soaked the rock completely. The photo shows Danny inspecting the start of a 1 star route!
We managed a quick couple of routes at Cummingston on the way back but the rock wasn’t much better. Great time year for navigation training and scrambling but not for climbing – until the snow starts falling that is.
I’ve just returned from competing in this year’s Original Mountain Marathon (OMM) in the Elan Valley in Central Wales. The OMM has become firmly established as the largest mountain marathon in the UK testing fitness, navigation, route selection and an ability to pack an incredibly light rucksack and still be self sufficient for 2 days. Over the OMM weekend the weather is traditionally ‘damp’ and this year was no exception. There are a number of different categories but they either fall into ‘line’ or ’score’ events. The line events are a more straight forward fell race with a number of points that must all be visited in the quickest time whereas in the score events competitors have a limited time with which to visit any checkpoints on their maps with the the more inaccessible points being worth more than others. We entered the medium score event giving us a 6hr time limit on the first day and 5hrs on the second.
We struggled with the boggy ground and endless tussocks on day 1 which caused us to move a lot slower than anticipated and, with an hour and a half left, forced us to give up visiting any more checkpoints, drop off the high ground and run for the finish to avoid any penalties. Day 2 was focused in a more southerly part of the Elan Valley and went a lot smoother. The ground was slightly better underfoot and we actually finished almost an hour early having got into a situation where we couldn’t get any more points without risking being late and cancelling out the extra efforts. Overall, we finished about halfway down our category which is not bad considering this was our first OMM. (We did start last years but it was quickly halted due to extremely poor weather). Have to think about tactics for next year now…
…for navigation. I’ve spent the weekend running an advanced navigation course for Glenmore Lodge. Yesterday was an absolutely perfect autumn day with blue skies and warm temperatures – a bit too good for the aims of the course!
Today was quite the opposite with low clouds and drizzle set in from mid-morning which proved perfect for putting into practice the skills we looked at yesterday on a journey across the Cairngorm plateau.
Up on Bynack More today. Threatening sky all day with low cloud rolling around but it stayed much dry.
First outing for the new waterproof camera today – I’ll have to put it through its paces properly once I’ve worked out all the features but I’m looking forward to getting some good photos this winter in ‘challenging’ conditions that would quickly destroy a normal camera.
Looking South from Carn Dearg
I’ve been tied to the computer for a while sorting out the new website but with the sudden realisation that there is only 2 weeks to go until the OMM (Original Mountain Marathon), Laura and I headed out to do a quick circuit of Munros north of Newtonmore.
The Munros of A’ Chailleach, Carn Sgulain and Carn Dearg form a high level horseshoe and although overcast, the cloud base remained high giving great views.
I’ve been out in the Northern Cairngorms this week with a summer ML training group looking at navigation, security on steep ground and a whole range of group management issues. Its been pretty chilly out with winter conditions just round the corner – but not here yet. Last weekend’s snow melted pretty quickly to leave the hills black and bare and the occasional heavy snow flurries since haven’t stuck.
A view of Cairngorm’s Northern Corries taken late this afternoon. There is a fair bit of snow lying but I can’t expect it to stay around too long with freezing levels forecast to rise tomorrow.
Always an exciting time – fingers crossed for another excellent early season!
