BG Recce No. 2

Dec 16/17 - BG Recce No. 2 saw the number of original participants whittled down to two, Nick and Andy the only ones game for a pre-Christmas jaunt.

Joined by the intrepid Oli Hayes we enjoyed a 7pm getaway from Stockwell and a pleasant night of banter on the M6 to Burton. The end of leg 3 was our route of choice and the day began in earnest with a long climb up into the snows on Bowfell from our parking spot by Old Dungeon Ghyll.

We were treated to a winter wonderland with waist-deep snow in places making the going picturesque but ponderous. Oli's choice of footwear was glaringly inappropriate, but he managed to withhold any expletives until I plunged headfirst down a small drop and used my jaw as an unlikely, and unfortunately inept, braking device.

Most merit in familiarising ourselves with the BG route was removed by the remarkable conditions, but they were too wonderful to refrain from indulging in, so we pushed on round over Esk Pike, Great End, Ill Crag, Broad Crag and Scafell Pike until Oli's feet started to pay the price of wearing trainers.

The "Corridor Route" down from Scafell Pike to the saddle between Great End and Great Gable provided a glorious route of descent and the push back round from there to the car proved long enough to tire the legs and ready the soul for that finest of endings, a pint of Old Peculiar.

With Oli's parents holidaying in Kirby Lonsdale, a Saturday night curry, Match of the Day and a cheeky Sunday amble round to Ruskin's View proved a more civilised way to complete the weekend.

Happy Christmas.

BG Recce No. 1.5

Nov 25/26 - Unable to make Recce No.1 due to the memorial service of my cousin, Maxine, Nick kindly volunteered to accompany me on an additional foray north despite his battering the weekend previously. In his words: "[the weather] couldn't get any worse, so why the hell not." Oh how wrong he was.

Reminded that life is too short, we decided to throw caution to the wind, ignore the severe weather warnings and camp. A shocker of a delay on the forever chocker M6 saw us park up at Threlkeld at 2am on the Friday night and pitch tent an hour later up the trail towards Great Calva.

Rising at 9am to a sensational and surprisingly clear view of the Lakes from our perch on the flank of Blencathra we headed north up between Skiddaw and Blencathra to join the BG trail on the west side of Great Calva.

Were it not for an unfortunate slip on the river crossing between Great Calva and Blencathra, after finding our way cross country down the eastern side of the former, Nick's boots would have remained dry as the weather continued to hold.

Having found a good line up the back of Blencathra, we discovered why the summits were cloud free. The wind was really quite remarkable. Mental notes were made to cut across below the scree to the summit in future (shorter + less wind) but the views were too good not to take the slightly longer route and follow the path up the crest and traverse the ridge to the summit.

Given the 23 hour BG time schedule allocates 30 minutes for the descent of Hall's fell from the summit of Blencathra, we reckon this section may require some practice. Full-on scrambling, akin to Crib Goch in places, significantly slowed pace and neither of us were happy with the thought of such an undertaking at night and possibly in wet conditions.

Also in need of re-reccying is the slog from the foot of Blencathra across the valley and up Clough Head. We took a route through the golf course which worked marvellously until a thick band of trees and then a high wall highlighted the error of our route choice and helped incur significant delay.

From the top of Clough Head though the Helvellyn range can be rapidly rattled off, subject to howling winds, horizontal hail and sub-zero temperatures. Struggling to stand, we called it a day at 5pm having knocked off Great Dodd, Watson Dodd and Stybarrow Dodd. Unfortunately, however, flat land either side of Stick Pass is not at a premium.

Soaked through and suffering from the cold we had no option but to pitch the tent quickly and warm up. Fortunately my sleeping mat has a certain amount of grip, enough anyway to combat the angle of our perch. Nick, however, spent the night in the bottom corner of the tent. He loved it I assure you.

With the dawn we donned our wet gear and warmed down by climbing up to regain the ridge line and traipse over Raise and Whiteside. From this final peak we descended to the valley, hitched back to Threlkeld and journeyed home to the overtures of Man Utd v Chelsea. Maxine would have been proud.

BG Recce No. 1

After a protracted week of tortuous organisation via an extraordinary amount of emails of various importance and irrelevance, four of the original five explorers met at a London pub. A while later, they were seen departing for a traditional Travelodge in the foothills of the Cumbrian Himalayas. With not even a titter from the reception desk, the four manly men retired to their room and made the youngest sleep on the floor, presumably because his youthful frame could take it.

A pleasant morning more suited to early autumn than late November accompanied the intrepid explorers to Threkeld at the end of leg 1. Here they abandoned the car and took a lengthy detour to join the actual route at the base of Skiddaw. It was now that the weather remembered that it was in fact, November and as if to make up for the earlier, unseasonable warmness proceeded to throw hail, wind and snow at the group. Dressed only in leggings, Dave's nervy tale of frost nip on his nether parts betrayed an otherwise unmentioned worry. With the unfortunate fate of having one's reproductive heritage cryogenically preserved hanging over the heads of our explorers, the decision was taken to retreat. A knee injury to Ian cemented the decision and the actions were justified repeatedly in the pub as both sensible and correct.

On Sunday, after a night spent in a Chinese 'curry' house and exploring the Kendal Film Festival, Nick and Casper left the still injured Ian and the now injured Dave to watch tales of daring and frankly dangerous climbing exploits on the big screen. Dropped off somewhere on the road near Dunmail Raise they climbed Helvellyn before knocking off the rest of leg 2, up Fairfield and down to the Travellers Rest for a well deserved dinner. Ian and Dave joined them for a thoroughly undeserved but richly enjoyed dinner.

The weekend was more of a success to team building than the route finding but lessons have been learned and at least some of the route has been scouted out. We have also each added a single sock to our Christmas lists.

Ian.

Broad Stand - Bit of a step

Broad Stand - the short cut between Scafell Pike and Scafell that is encountered after approximately 15 hours of running (if on schedule).

It is only about a 3 metre rock step but a slip will drop you some 20m or more. Guys, I recommend we find some very, very nice person happy to sit and tend to a rope. If you would like to be that hero/heroinne, then please add a comment to this post.

This picture was lifted from the Wasdale Mountain Rescue website (Click HERE to visit).

If you would like to make a donation to the Wasdale Rescue Team or learn more about them, please click HERE.

Helpers - Leg Five - Honister Pass to Keswick

If you can help us through what will, without doubt, be the slowest and most painful section (for us) of this beast then please leave a comment here.

Helpers - Leg Four - Wasdale to Honister Pass

Please leave a comment here if you can help on this penultimate leg over the Gables.

Helpers - Leg Three - Dunmail to Wasdale

Please leave a comment here if you can help on this leg which contains the delightful Broad Stand dilemma of tackling a rocky outcrop or losing 15 minutes going round it...

Helpers - Leg Two - Threlkeld to Dunmail

Please post comments here if you can help on this long and lurvely second leg along the Helvellyn range.

Helpers - Leg One - Keswick to Threkeld

Please post comments here if you can help on this first leg. It's the dramatic starter with a punishing first climb up Skiddaw and a lengthy ascent of Blencathra before plunging into Threkeld.

Peak No. 1 - Skiddaw

Do we really want to do this?

Playing with Fire - Training Dates

It's always dangerous to map things out too far in advance but, for those that are interested, and by way of reminder for the team, our organised weekends of training comprise the following:

18/19 Nov - Lake District

December
16/17 - BG recce2

January
13/14 - BG Recce 3

February
3/4 - BG Recce 4 ???
24/25 - South Downs Way?(NW can't do)

March
3/4 - High Peak Marathon (40 miles)
10/11 - FREE
17/18 - BG Recce 5
24/25 - FREE
31/1 - Four Inns - (45 miles)

April
6/7/8/9 - BG Recce 6?? Easter Weekend (DBS & CK can't make it)
14/15 - FREE
21/22 - London Marathon (26.2miles)
28/29/30 - Great Lakeland 3 day Mountain Marathon

May
5/6/7 - BH weekend BG recce 7
12/13 - Fellsman (60 + miles)
19/20 - FREE
26/27/28 - BH weekend BG recce 8

June
2/3 - Party!
9/10 - BG reserve 2
16/17 - Target BG1
23/24 - BG reserve 3

30 August - UltraTrail Tour de MontBlanc... !#**!

Lady luck and Big foot

For any doubters, I have to remind you that we have luck on our side. For example, how many people do you know who survived an encounter with Big foot on the top of Ben Nevis?

The Route

For those who are too time pressured (cough) to click on the link for more information on the Bob Graham round, here is a map (click on it to enlarge).

We've got 24 hours, with 4 rest stops of 15 minutes...

Vital statistics

As we are going to be fleecing ourselves up hill and down ludgate circus for the next 6 months we thought we would monitor our vitals. Unfortunately as this would probably result in this page being removed we'll provide you with heart and weight details instead.


Guinea Pig ---Weight---Resting HR---Height
Andy-----------10st 7lbs---60-------------Distinctly average 5'11''
Caspar---------10st dead---61-------------Disney-esque 5'6"
Dave-----------11st 7lbs---49--------------Equally boring 5'10"
Ian-------------10st 4lbs---58-------------Tom-Cruise-esque 5'7"
Nick------------12st 7lbs---50-------------Peter-Crouch-esque 6'1"


"Bit shocked by the resting heart rate myself, though may be because I'm a pint down after giving blood yesterday!" Nick.

"Can you add Ginger M WLTM OSFR w/GSOH to my profile please?" Ian. See below.

"Bear in mind I'm in the middle of a trading day though so the adrenaline is pumping a bit!" Dave (despite being close to flatlining).

"weight? is that before or after Sunday lunch? I'll have to tell you Monday." Caspar

Helpers

An essential ingredient of any successful attempt on the Bob Graham Round is support.

We do not profess to be elite runners or purists. Whilst it would be the ideal to run the round unsupported, in the nude, without water or whisky, in 5 hours, it is not going to happen.

We have been formulating a training plan, learning the route and crossing our fingers that our respective football teams get knocked out of cup competitions to free up weekends.

But we need a large number of helpers for the attempt itself. There are four breaks (each of around 15 minutes on the recommended timetable of the route) which need staffing as such and we need to be witnessed oneach of the 42 peaks. As we'll be battered we also need pacers to run as much or as little of the route as they feel like to help spur us on, take away some of the navigational burden and to supply a drip feed of Mars bars and good banter.

The rough plan at the moment is to make our first attempt on the weekend of 16/17 June 2007. We hope to hire a bunk house and put up any volunteeers so it should be a cracking weekend. If you are interested in taking part then please add a comment to this post or send an email to tablefootball@hotmail.com. The story behind the email address can be found on www.23sweetFAs.com.

All help much appreciated.

The Team

And then there were five... No sooner had the plan been aired the boys were biting and a team of 5 almost elite, but ever hopeful wannabees were assembled:



Nick Williams

Veteran of the 2005 Cho Oyu expedition and numerous forays into the Alps, the Highlands and the spanish bar behind Tottenham Court Road tube. My favourite moment - Hearing that Nick had thrown one of his work shoes in the Thames after a particulary big night. It was a Tuesday. The man is a legend. He had the remarkable fortune of meeting me at Lovells and in no way returns from every adventure worse off than everyone else.



Caspar Kennerdale

With a name that is half Jedi, half disney, Caspar provides the experience in the outfit. Anyone who can complete the Marathon Des Sables deserves a lot of respect and more than earns a Jedi label. However, this was the same man who once sparked a climbing foray at 4am when, with his hand out of the window he declared that the weather had turned for the better, that the rain had ceased and that we should kit up and head out. Somehow he had failed to notice the overhanging second floor... Works for Centaur, something to do with computers (eyes start to glaze) but it requires a pin stripe and seems to fund a lot of climbing kit.


Dave Selman

Claims to work but actually spends half his life training in California or Norway. Dave is by far the most technically gifted climber of the lot of us. Which is in no way useful on a 72 mile run. Strong contender however for leading the way home with Ian. Having seen the light Dave fled the city after commencing life with an investment bank and now runs his own company taking money from punters to fund his ice climbing... I mean to invest in the stock market.



Ian Sillett

The relative baby of the team, Ian hails from Horsham like myself and gave Nick and me a complete shoeing on our run round the Welsh 3000ers earlier in the year. Already providing excuses for planned training weekends in the form of his brother's wedding (surely you'd rather be joining us on a wet, cold, 6 hour run Richard?), Ian, who may well have been a goat in his former life, proved his endurance and knack for survival by falling off the top of Stanage Edge without serious injury (pride excepted). Ian works for the government so I could say more but he'll/they'll kill me. If you ever get hold of his email, send him weblinks. His email rejects them and sends him a nice message. He loves it. Ginger M WLTM OSFR w/GSOH



Me

The only famous person I have been likened to is one of high wit and intelligence and blessed with an innate natural athleticism: Rodney Trotter. I'm English, like the rest of the team, which equates to an alarming tendency to naivity and hopefulness. Hell, you have to be to follow in the footsteps of Bob. Bring it on.

In the beginning...

In June 2006 something terrible happened: I fell into the world of the mountain marathon. Clutching my copy of "Feet in the Clouds" and still nursing injuries from my only outing of any note along the welsh 3000ers a month previously, I signed up for the Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon.

Days later, myself and my buddy of too many comedy climbing adventures, Nick Williams, were staring down the barrel of 48 hours lumping far too much kit around the mountainous highlands of Sutherland. I had no idea that it was possible to drive three hours north of Inverness, let alone host a competition there.

Anyhow, we survived, and we loved it. The mountains, the exercise, the crap weather, the clean air and the spirit of the adventure and the competition, the most wholesome and good natured I have experienced for a while. A million miles from the rat race, this was an event that was more of a celebration of our surrounds than a further corporate sentence. There wasn't an RBS advertising logo in sight.

For the uninitiated, mountain marathons generally involve a two day event where at the start line you are given a map and a set of grid references for electronic checkpoints which you have to navigate between as quickly as possible and which lead you to an overnight camp. On day two you are given a new set of grid references which lead you back to the start/finish. In your pairs you have to carry your tent, sleeping bags, stove etc and as much food as you think your legs, or your soul, will require to get you round.

The problem with this joyous insight into a new world of escapism into the mountains of our fair isles was reading about the legends of the sport of fell running. Tales of Joss Naylor, Billy Bland and, of course, Bob Graham. The seed was sown...