Kielder Greys Summit Race

Castles, Crags, Summits, Snows and Bog

The Kielder Grey's Summit race last Sunday lived up to it's expectation, perhaps with a little less snow that forecast. It was a cold and slightly foggy lunch time start from Kielder Castle, sent on our way by Will and his dog. A substantial turnout, given the weather and remoteness of the location, of some 55 runners all eager and variously willing and able to take on the task of 7 and a bit miles, 1400ft of climbing across icy and snow bound bog and fellside in this remote part of Northumberland.

The race was tough, with the long steady gradient along the toll road at the start of the race taking it's toll good and proper on my legs. Then across a couple of burns before climbing very steeply up to the summit ridge, the final part in snow. The route then proceeds across the ridge and a mixture of snow banks, inch thick ice and frozen bog and heather, cold underfoot even though you're running. Feet becoming numb and slippery conditions don't make for confidence down hill either.

Finally back to the forest and the path, track and the route brings you out at the back of the Castle, final sting in the tail some steep steps up to the finish line. I'm done! (for). Strange feeling of satisfaction even though I'm next to last and a time that's not at all impressive. It's a great route, just the Christmas excess and the lack of training in recent months making it's presence felt.

Photos © Of Respective authors. See results on NFR web site.

Ice & Snow

Winter weather Jan 2010

Ice, by rantoutloud.

1 foot

The snow and ice around my house is very pretty. All the same it's hard work too, I had to clear the square out before I could get to the wedding last weekend. and it's a constant battle to keep it all clear. We've had a least a foot of snow over the past two weeks and there's more forecast.

Travelling, even on the A1 and A69 trunk roads has been difficult at times and my trip to Yorkshire last week was pretty challenging at times. I have to go back next week too, twice.

I had to dig all this out

New Year

2009 : 2010

Back Gate, uploaded by rantoutloud.

It's New Year's Day and I awoke to 6" of snow and more falling. I have to travel to North Yorkshire today for my daughter's wedding tomorrow so I'm faced with the prospect of digging the car out and indeed the whole of the small square / courtyard in front of my flat. It's very pretty for sure but it takes nearly 2 1/2 hours. No one is awake to help it seems.

Happy New Year

Wishing you all a very happy, prosperous and successful 2010.

Sunset over Grasmoor

Long Shadows in the Moonlight

Well indeed the sun had truly set by the time I got off the fell, moonlight and a decent head torch my only comfort.

Looking back to Skiddaw

Cornice

The day had started late, looking at the weather forecast the evening previously I had expected fog lower down and had delayed my journey so that I don't get to Braithwaite until around ten in the morning. I wish I had got up early, as you can see from the photographs the air was clear and very cold, the snow unconsolidated powder, knee deep in places, everywhere white and wintry. The initial pull up to the shoulder below Grisdale Pike, Sleet How, is pretty steep but the trail is well made and the sun is out, it's very warm work. Stopping frequently for photographs as the views back towards Skiddaw and Blencathra are amazing, Grisdale Pike is still not in view. Then as the ridge proper is gained the vista opens up to encompass the whole horseshoe around Coledale itself. The views stretch from the Solway all the way south to the Langale Pikes, Scafell Pikes and everything else in between. I'm reminded of similar views we had earlier in the year on the Lakeland 3000, except this time it's white not green.

Whiteside

Stopping briefly on the top of Grisdale Pike itself for another photo opportunity it's then down to the col and back up to Hopegill Head, often called Hobcarton Pike, the latter being my preference. The route has to be forged through knee deep powder snow as no one has been this way. There's a crust on the snow and it's exhausting work. Once there Hobcarton provides a welcome rest for food and drink and endless views of the mountains and snow. To the north you can see all the way to Galloway. The ridge to the west, Whiteside, looks positively Alpine.

By now the sun is well past midway in the sky and it's increasingly obvious that the likely hood of getting down before dusk at least is slim. Despite encouragement from a passing photographer extolling the virtue of Grasmoor I declined and pushed on over Sand Hill and down to the col at Coldale Hause then on up the very long slog up to Crag Hill. It doesn't get any easier.

Crag Hill

There's only time to linger briefly at the top of the ridge to take another photo or two, this is too good to miss, before pressing on down and back up to the slight top beyond Sail. Another photo stop and the last of the coffee. Now I'm alone on the hill it seems, everyone else has bailed out down Sail Pass. I push on, despite being very tired and the inevitability of darkness, to the last top on the route, Causey Pike.

Frost

Causey Pike is reached just as the sun was setting. The photo at the head of this entry was taken just before dropping steeply down towards the path and Braithwaite. Moonlight and then the new head torch, bought for the Lakeland 3000 earlier in the year, get me off safely if a little slower then anticipated. The usual. crampons off, then crampons back on, uncertainty adding to the delay.

Crag Hill to Sail

Down to the road at Newlands and there's still some way to go to get back to Braithwaite and then the car. The icy tarmac road is as lethal as any on the hill and seems to go on for ever. That which was a very pleasant summer stroll in shirt-sleeves earlier in the year is now just a grind. Then welcome lights in Braithwaite, a corner shop is still open and a welcome cup of tea is ordered. I realise I have no money to pay, having left my wallet in the car, still a mile or so away but the store owner takes pity on me and refuses payment anyway and indeed offers cake. I declined apologetically. The friendly hospitality is very much appreciated and restores my faith in humanity. (You know who you are, thank you!)

Update: loking back on the times it wasn't too bad after all, excepting of course I got back in the dark. Compared with our last outing in August which took 5 hours for exactly the same route the 7 doesn't seem so bad.

sail

sail, uploaded by rantoutloud.

It's now very late in the afternoon, around 3:40 and there still some 6 miles or more to go. It is going to be dark on the way down.

rime

Rime Ice, uploaded by rantoutloud.

GP

GP, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

At the start of the day, really at least an hour and a half too late, for which I was to suffer for later in the day.

Boxing Day : On the March Again

Working off the Christmas Excess

View Military Road in a larger map

Actually it's Sunday and after something of a three week layoff, or more indeed, the anticipation of the work to come, to say nothing of the cold and wet and ice was daunting to say the least. The short run up from the flat to the A69 and beyond was enough to tell me that the idea of continuing on the cross country route was suicidal, there was still too much ice around. So I detour to the 5.7 mile round route up to the military road at Harlow Hill and along the road back to Ruchester and then Horsley. It's not inspirational as routes go but it's steep enough for a work out and sometimes pituresque as today with winter light and the snow. Busy roads and not all the drivers are considerate, climbing back into Horsley as the blizzards start again.

Ice Cold : On the Edge

The Icy Adventures of Gripp Type-Thinne II

"The best snow and ice conditions in 20 years", that's what the man promised and that's what we got. Well pretty much. It was a little misty and the view was restricted later in the day but the conditions underfoot were solid hard neve and just fantastic walking and climbing.

The path up from Patterdale, very familiar now, takes no time at all and stopping only to take the odd photograph the top of the ridge is reached at the Hole in the Wall within the hour. The hole is nowhere to be seen, it's under about 10ft of had packed snow and only the very top of the ladder stile is to be seen.
We stop to put crampons on, Gripp looking very pleased he'd brought them this time. I swapped windproof fleece for another base layer and windproof jacket expecting the wind on the ridge itself to be bighting.

The conditions were fantastic, firm ice and snow making foot placements solid and confidence building, the wind not distracting at all except in one or two places. I even had time to stop and take photos of the mele along the ridge, for it had become obvious that there was quite a number of folk determined to take advantage of these conditions.

The last step down at the end of the ridge required some care, holds and ledges packed hard with ice and then the final pull up to the summit, seeking out steeper ice along the face to make it more interesting.

After a brief stop at the "shelter" made even more tenuous in that regard since all the snow packed into each and every corner had reduced it's meagre effectiveness even further, we set off over the actual summit of Helvellyn to the cairn above Swirral Edge. The steep ice was firm enough to walk down a seemingly impossible slope to the easier ground along the ridge itself. This is no where near the edge that it's bigger brother demonstrates at the other side of the corrie.

View Larger Map

Windward Ho!

The Coledale Round Extreme

The forecast was for extremely windy weather, 60mph + and was described by the MWIS as

South or south-easterly in the range 35-40mph, but on higher summits 45mph, gusts locally in excess of 60mph Will continue to make for very difficult walking on exposed higher areas - with any mobility difficult on highest summits and ridges. Severe wind chill.

I can vouch for the accuracy of this prediction. At one point in the walk I literally had to crouch down and clamber up the path almost on all fours in order not to get blown over the edge. Most of the time I was leaning with a 30 ~ 40° list into the wind in order to stay upright.

View Larger Map

There was a point when I sat down at the summit of Hobcarton Pike, or Hopegill Head if you prefer, when the coffee flew sideways and not into the mug, when the rucksack moved 3' to the left in an instant, when a fellow walker passing by was blown onto all fours, that I nearly decided to go down via Coledale Hause and back along the valley. However foolishness got the better of me and I continued up Eel Crag and along the ridge, Sail and Causey Pike, stepping back along the ridge a while before dropping down to Barrow Door and along Barrow Gill and back to the car at Braithwaite.

The header photo for this entry is taken looking south from the summit of Eel Crag more towards Pillar rather than Scafell group, some of the other shots on Flickr do take in the whole vista.

Mountain Weather : Inversion Layers

Inversion layer, by rantoutloud.

Temperature inversion layer above Fairfield taken from from St. Sunday Crag. This climate phenomenon is due to a layer of warmer air above the cold dense air mass closer to the ground. I believe that the principle reason for this formation is due to a combination of the high pressure air mass which was sat on top of the UK and the low angle of the winter sun. According to Wikipedia "An inversion is also produced whenever radiation from the surface of the earth is less than the amount of radiation received from the sun, which commonly occurs at night, or during the winter when the angle of the sun is very low in the sky."

Conditions in the higher layer were extremely bright clear air with temperatures around freezing, maybe +1° Celsius. Visibility was in excess of 20 miles despite the haze and the wind was steady around 20 mph. Within the lower layer the temperature must have been closer to -8° Celsius and the wind significantly stronger and the humidity; judging by what most people call hoar frost, but is in fact advection frost, which formed on everything and every one; close to 100%. The visibility within the colder layer was down at around 15m and the transition between one layer and the next was very sudden, within around 20m.

There seems also to be some particular aspects of this specific fell and it's surroundings that makes this dramatic formation occur regularly. I have seen and photographed it before on several occasions over the years.

Gearing up for winter

Gearing up for winter, by rantoutloud.

Getting a proper snow plough fitted to Don's 'little' truck, Dodge V8, ready for the winter now!
John and I look at the plough with suspicion, it's too big for the truck we think? Fantastic piece of kit though, all hydraulics elevated headlights and will clear the drive in no time probably. Don't think they'll catch on in the UK though, not enough snow. Can you imagine Halfords or AutoBestBuy stocking these?