The Brecon Four Peaks

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Well this could be my shortest blog post ever, if only as I don’t have time to write it up. This is because, having just got home from work (it’s 8.20pm on a Friday evening), I’ve decided to do the ‘Brecon Four Peaks’ tomorrow.

I decided to do this because a.) I’m looking for somewhere to go over the weekend and I need some proper hills, b.) there are proper hills there, c.) they are about the closest proper hills (about three hours away) to where I live, and d.) I’ve never been there before. Oh, and e.) I’d like a recce of Pen Y Fan before I go and attempt the Welsh Three Peaks in two weeks time. Finally f.) Pen Y Fan itself is only about a three hour walk, and so I thought I’d combine it with something a bit longer 🙂

I’d never, until about 12 minutes ago, heard of the ‘Brecon Four Peaks’ before (I suppose that should have been point g.) above), and having just google the Brecons, it came up with this as a suggestion.

http://www.walkingbritain.co.uk/walks/walks/walk_b/2074/

It is 11 miles, and consists of Pen Y Fan, Corn Du, Fan Y Big, and Cribyn. Doesn’t sound too taxing, but “why not” is all I can say. I’ll be off at about 6 in the morning, probably.

Oh and there is a place near the top of Fan Y Big called “The Diving Board”. Best not get too close to the edge :O

The Diving Board, Fan Y Big..

The Diving Board, Fan Y Big..

That’s all 🙂

Have a great Bank Holiday Weekend.

The Yorkshire Three Peaks!

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So here I am for only the second time in my life in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. For those who don’t know, the Dales are at the westernmost fringe of Yorkshire, the largest county in England, and border Cumbria, home to the Lake District. The Dales are essentially valleys, and there are many caves and hills too to punctuate the landscape. A very rural area, some of the Dales have become rightly famous for all manner of means, including Wensleydale for its cheese, and a number of dogs too, including Airedale.

I am here of course for the Yorkshire Three Peaks, but it is such a shame to be anywhere and not look around you and appreciate the area itself for what it is. Arriving last night after a long drive from Buckinghamshire (made considerably longer by a combination of Bank Holiday traffic and people making the most of the beautifully sunny weather), the first thing I did upon arrival was to have a further drive around the area to get my bearings.

Although this is early in the season as far as the total beauty of the landscape is concerned, the one thing that struck me more than anything else was the fact that we are still at the end of lambing season. There are lambs absolutely everywhere! – a truly joyous sight – there is little more pleasing sight in this country for me than a field of gambolling pristine white baby sheep. Bliss!

So my arrival in the evening was all about settling in for the next day. The trek was to start at 6.15am (I arranged an organised trip through the same company I am doing the subsequent Three Peaks Challenge with). I struggled to find accommodation in the area, and the nearest place I could find was a pub (what a shame!) called the Craven Heifer in the village of Stainforth, about 5 miles from the meeting point. The folk at the pub were wonderfully accommodating, illustrated by the following: Upon arrival they asked me what time I would like breakfast, to which I said that I was doing the Y3P, and that I would therefore need to leave at 6am. They immediately without hesitation said that they would have breakfast for me at 5.45, to which I thanked them hugely, knowing that a good breakfast, even at that time in the morning, was essential to get me through 26 miles.

The breakfast was indeed something to savour, and at precisely 5.58am I was out of the door on my way to the departure point in Horton in Ribblesdale, on a very cold morning, under stunningly cloudless skies, accompanied by a frost to boot. The temperature was -2 degrees.  A coach awaited us to take folks up to Chapel Le Dale, where the trek over to Ingleborough, the first hill, would start.

The churchyard in Horton in Ribblesdale, Pen-Y-Ghent in the background.

The churchyard in Horton in Ribblesdale, Pen-Y-Ghent in the background.

At Chapel Le Dale, about 100 trekkers had congregated, and people were being assigned into various groups, of about 10 each, and each group was accompanied by a mountain guide. I was put into Group 1, and was then asked if that was ok as it would be the fastest group. I said yes, and was pleased with this, if a little trepidatious, as I was not sure that my physical shape was going to be good enough to stand up to a quick pace. As I joined Group 1, I discovered that I was the only male, and my immediate thoughts (because I am just stupid sometimes) was to think “have I joined the right group, can this really be the fastest one?”

Well at 6.50 precisely we were underway. It was a straight shot up Ingleborough, and the path became fairly steep within the first mile. The idiocy of my presupposition that the group of ‘girls’ that I was with wouldn’t be the quickest group was immediately dispelled. Firstly they were steamrollering ahead of everyone, including the guide, and secondly I overheard one of them say that “this would be much easier if we could run it”. It turned out that they were mostly marathon runners from a running club in Cheltenham. Lessons to be learned from this little exercise are innumerable, but I learned my place, and suffice to say that it was at the back!

Ingleborough looks like the most innocuous and frankly easy of peaks, but it is far from it. There is a very steep, if not overlong, approach at probably 55 degrees or more. It certainly got the old heart pumping. The walk was all uphill to the summit at around 2,400 feet which came just under three miles in. We had been walking for exactly one hour. Our guide Trevor, of whom more later, told us that an hour and a half was the norm, so that made us all feel pretty good, and me pretty out of breath.

From near the summit of Ingleborough, looking back down towards Whernside and the Ribblehead valley.

From near the summit of Ingleborough, looking back down towards Whernside and the Ribblehead valley.

The weather by now was wonderfully clear, as it would stay pretty much all day as seen in the photograph above.

From the summit of Ingleborough, and after turning back on ourselves at the trig point, we set off on a long downhill meander towards Horton in Ribblesdale prior to hill two, which would be Pen-Y-Ghent.

The trig point on Ingleborough, adorned with QR code - an interesting blend of the old and the new.

The trig point on Ingleborough, adorned with QR code – an interesting blend of the old and the new.

On the way down to Horton, at about 7 and a half miles in, I spent some time talking to our guide Trevor. It turns out that he is a very keen cyclist, as well as a qualified mountain guide, and we got talking about all manner of cycling escapades. It turns out that he had once cycled from the tip of Argentina to Alaska, some 16,000 miles, over 10 months, amongst a number of other amazing achievements. he was quite inspirational, and his company was one of the highlights of an amazing day. Amongst other things that he does, Trevor runs a tandem hire business in Yorskhire too, called Times Two Tandems, so if you ever find yourself there and are looking for a great way to explore, do look him up – his link is here: http://www.timestwotandems.co.uk

After a ‘bio break’ and an energy bar or two, we then headed from Horton straight up to Pen-Y-Ghent. Again, this hill looks really innocuous from the road, but proved to be quite a good pull. Again it was about 2 and a half miles of ascent, to the summit at about 2,400 feet. The top was almost a scramble in places, and my hands were down a couple of times.

Towards the top of Pen-Y-Ghent - they have done a good job with paving these areas to help stop erosion.

Towards the top of Pen-Y-Ghent – they have done a good job with paving these areas to help stop erosion.

And getting closer now to the very summit.....

And getting closer now to the very summit…..

And finally on the very top, just to prove I made it :)

And finally on the very top, just to prove I made it 🙂

From the top of Pen-Y-Ghent, after taking lunch there in the well designed S-shaped shelter (it’s a bit of a windy spot), we headed down again for the long trek to Whernside.

Starting the long trek to Whernside (far right) - Ingleborough can be seen in the far (centre left) distance too.

Starting the long trek to Whernside (far right) – Ingleborough can be seen in the far (centre left) distance too.

Peak to peak, Whernside is about 12 miles from Pen-Y-Ghent, although only about 8 or 9 until you start your ascent from the Ribblehead viaduct. The Ribblehead viaduct is rightly famous for one of the UK’s most picturesque train journeys, on the Settle to Carlisle railway, and was built in around 1870.

The walk down is straightforward, and was nicely punctuated by a tea and cake stop from a minibus, provided by the organisers. Tea, I have to say, never tasted so good, and it was nice to have a brief rest and a sit down, even if I was itching to get up and go again before most of the others were.

Upon reaching the Ribblehead viaduct we began on a meandering path along the edge of the railway, which gradually then began to talk a big wide S turn to a ridge leading up Whernside itself.

Underneath the mightily impressive Ribblehead Viaduct.

Underneath the mightily impressive Ribblehead Viaduct, the lower slopes of Whernside in the distance.

The climb up Whernside is fairly long, but reasonably gentle, and well paved for most of the way. About two thirds of the way up though, the wind (which had been very gentle for most of the day) whipped up along the summit ridge to the point where it made just standing up a significant challenge. I have to say it was about the most brutal wind I have ever encountered, and had it been in our faces, I am sure that many people would not have actually made the top at all. As it was, the wind blew sideways, and so it was a mere balancing act, albeit still of some at times epic proportions.

The summit of Whernside is flat, and characterised by a wall with a trig point on the other side of the path from where the summit ridge is. The trig point is actually in the neighbouring county of Cumbria, from where I took this photograph:

From the trig point on top of Whernside. in the far distance below you can just make out the Ribblehead viaduct.

From the trig point on top of Whernside. in the far distance below you can just make out the Ribblehead viaduct way below.

As you can see from the above, I’ll never make a photographer, but never mind, at least it means something to me!

The descent from here was for the most part cold (everyone put at least two layers on at the top, and hats and gloves too), and steep, making for very achy legs after 24 or 25 miles of walking. The group split at this point, and everyone basically took the descent at their own pace, which for me is quite quickly. I find it more tiring to go slowly on a steep descent, and find I just have to go at my own pace. The guides had described the descent here as a bit of a staircase, and I’d say it is steeper than that for the most part. I’m just glad it was dry on the day I did it.

From the bottom of Whernside, there was about a flat mile through farmland back to the start at Chapel Le Dale, and the appropriately named Hill Inn. A very pleasant pint of Black Sheep Bitter later, and our certificates duly despatched, it was all over.

My finishers certificate - we were in the first group to finish on the day. 'Average' time is apparently around 12 hours.

My finishers certificate – we were in the first group to finish on the day. ‘Average’ time is apparently around 12 hours.

The tale of the tape then reads as follows: Mileage covered 25 miles, ascent about 1,700m, or 5,600 feet. Total time was 9 hrs 40 mins, of which just over 8hrs was actually walking time. Here are my stats from my Garmin:

http://http://www.strava.com/activities/132258938

My takeaways from the day are so many. For one, I was so lucky with the weather. The Yorkshire Dales can be incredibly wet, even in the summer, and this was just the most beautiful of days. Secondly, it was a great group of like minded and lovely people to be walking with, and that always helps a huge amount, especially when you are away on your own. Thirdly it gave me an appetite to come back to the Dales, it is a beautiful area and needs more exploring. Fourthly I met a great guide in Trevor, who provided me with advice, inspiration, and not just a desire to do more of this sort of thing, but also he actually helped me (inadvertently or not, who knows) to look at myself from a different angle. To question myself, and to push myself, and to realising that life is sometimes just too short. More of that in a later post perhaps…….

All I’ll say for now is that my next post will be about Yoga For Dummies! I’ll say no more for now 🙂

My final thanks go to The Three Peaks Challenge

http://www.thethreepeakschallenge.co.uk

who were brilliant throughout, from point of booking, to follow up emails, and all sorts of help along the way. I’m doing the Welsh Three Peaks, and also the National Three Peaks with them in the coming two months too, so it seems like I have chosen very well, which is a great thing. Look them up, if you are considering a challenge like this, and then book with confidence – you are in very safe and knowledgeable hands.

It’s nearly time…

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….for my first adventure of the year. In fact my first of any kind for nearly two years now. And just thinking about that makes me quite sad. It seems that the last trekking trip I had was in August 2012, to the Berchestgadener Alps between Austria and Germany, and my last night away in the hills at the Ingolstaedterhaus brings back a host of great memories http://https://aquavista.me/category/german-alps/ which I would love to relive. But anyway – enough of the digressing!

This weekend I have a fairly impromptu trip up to the Yorkshire Dales, as mentioned in my last post, to do the Yorkshire Three Peaks  I’ll do around 26 miles, and three peaks that I have never even seen before. None of them have any technical difficulty, and the walk should take somewhere around 10 hours I hope. I haven’t though, as far as I can actually recall, done 26 miles in a day before, and so I am effectively in unchartered territory here. And as a couple of other factors slightly conspire against me, then perhaps it is not going to be quite the walk in the park that I though it might be.

The first of those is the recent weather. I have been in touch with a couple of people who have done the Y3P recently, who tell me that the route is really really wet and muddy. It has been a very wet start to the year in the North West of England, and the weather is still around 9 degrees at best. I’m told I’ll need gaiters. This will certainly take its toll on a walk of such length if it is indeed that heavy.

The second is the route that is being taken. I am told that the generally accepted way to do the Y3P is to begin with Pen-y-Ghent, and the do Whernside, then Ingleborough. Apparently this gives the best mix of undulations, and leaves a reasonably pleasant last leg of the journey when the legs are at their most tired. The profile is shown below:

The accepted route....

The accepted route….

The route is described thus:

Anticlockwise –> Pen-y-ghent – Whernside – Ingleborough

That’s the most popular way of them all. If you are a first timer, I’d advise you to do it this way because the last descent from Ingleborough is not too steep. Remember your last peak will be the hardest no matter what so this way might put less strain on your body for the final part.

But, unfortunately, and perhaps predictably, I’m not doing it that way. I am doing it this way:

The 'wrong way round', apparently....

The ‘wrong way round’, apparently….

Now to me the above doesn’t look terribly different to the one I posted above. But all I can go on is from the number of blogs that I have read on the subject. The most descriptive goes thus (from http://walkinyorkshire.com/yorkshire-three-peaks-challenge/) :

“…Anticlockwise –> Ingleborough – Pen-y-ghent – Whernside

That’s the way I did it and it’s probably the silliest of them all. Why? Because the first two peaks are relatively close to each other with very steep ascents and they will kill your stamina and just to finish you off you then have the long walk to Whernside. By the time you arrive at Ribblehead you are completely exhausted not to mention that the final part of your journey will be covered with steps on your way down from Whernside. It’s a killer!…”

I hope most of all that the weather just stays fine, and then at least the whole thing will hopefully be manageable. There is nothing worse than a day in the hills when you have lashing rain and zero visibility, particularly when you just really want to a.) get away from it all, and b.) get a lot of miles into your legs.

If I’m still in one piece at the end of it all when I wake up on Sunday morning, and if the weather is half decent, then I may even wander into the Lake District. That may well be a bridge too far, but we will see. I shall keep you posted – wish me luck!

Peaks, peaks, peaks, and more peaks……

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Well I thought I’d update on my plans for which peaks I am attempting this year, as it is ever changing and increasing!

As of the date of my last post, I’d just signed up for the Welsh Three Peaks, the (GB) Three Peaks, Mont Blanc and Aconcagua, as well as Elbrus. So as my training seems to be going ok so far (touch wood), and as I know I have a long long way to go before I’m in good enough shape to do the latter three of the above, then I thought I’d sign up for a few more. So now we also have……

The Yorkshire Three Peaks, and, The 24 Peaks!

The Yorkshire Three Peaks consists of the (hills really I suppose) following:

1. Pen-Y-Ghent – 691m, 2,267 feet.

Pen-Y-Ghent - doesn't sound like it belongs in Yorkshire to me...

Pen-Y-Ghent – doesn’t sound like it belongs in Yorkshire to me…

2. Whernside – 736m, or 2,415 feet.

Whernside, North Yorkshire's highest point.

Whernside, North Yorkshire’s highest point.

3. Ingleborough – 723m, or 2.372 feet.

And Ingleborough, the last of there three, traditionally done.

So whilst none of these places will exactly install fear into the most intrepid mountaineer, (or even me), they do represent a really good challenge. The challenge itself is to complete the three within 12 hours, and this involves a trek of over 25 miles, plus the three ascents, which are about 1,600m (5,250 feet) in total. It is very doable, but depends upon conditions and the like too. I’ve decided to go next weekend in fact, so am sure the weather will throw at me all sorts of exciting stuff.

Then I happened to be googling away the other night and came across this:

The 24 Peaks Challenge

Now this sounds almost mad!

The schedule goes something like this – day one:

1. Bowfell – 902 m / 2959ft
2. Esk Pike – 885 m / 2903ft
3. Great End – 910 m / 2985ft
4. Ill Crag – 935 m / 3067ft
5. Broad Crag – 934 m / 3064ft		 6. Scafell Pike – 978 m / 3208ft
7. Lingmell – 807 m / 2647ft
8. Great Gable – 899 m / 2949ft
9. Green Gable – 801 m / 2627ft

Day two is as follows:

10. Red Screes – 776 m / 2545ft
11. Dove Crag – 792 m / 2598ft
12. Hart Crag – 822 m / 2696ft
13. Fairfield – 873 m / 2864ft
14. Seat Sandal – 736 m / 2414ft
15. Dollywaggon Pike – 858 m / 2414ft
16. Nethermost Pike – 891 m / 2923ft
17. Helvellyn – 950 m / 3116ft		 18. Lower Man – 925 m / 3034ft
19. Browncove Crags – 800 m / 2624ft
20. Whiteside – 863 m / 2831ft
21. Raise – 883 m / 2896ft
22. Stybarrow Dodd – 843 m / 2765ft
23. Watson’s Dodd – 789 m / 2588ft
24. Great Dodd – 857 m / 2811ft

Altogether to first day covers 28km and about 6,000 of ascent. The second day covers 25km and over 7,000 feet of ascent. So 53km (about 33 miles) and >13,000 feet of ascent should be incredible, if I make it. The appeal is severalfold for me, being firstly that it has got to be outstanding training for Mont Blanc (this will be in June, the month before Mont Blanc), and secondly that all of these hills are in the Lake District, which is just about my favourite place on this planet. I’ll be so glad to just be there, and give it a damn good go. Both days start at about 5am in the morning and involve 12-14 hour days.

 

I’ve been walking most weekends for the past five or six weeks now, and have notched up about 100 miles of walking, and about 10,000 feet of ascent. When you consider that the 24 Peaks alone has over 13,000 feet of ascent, it just shows you what I am up against. Well, faint heart never won fair lady, or something like that! I have my work cut out, I know, but am giving this my best shot. I’ll keep you posted re next weekend’s Yorkshire attempt – watch this space 🙂

 

 

More mountains are a coming :)

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In my last post I mentioned that I was looking to try to get a few more trips booked into my calendar, and as I’ve done just that, I thought I should say so right here, so here I am :).

In May I have the Welsh Three Peaks already arranged. This consists of Pen Y Fan, Cadair Idris, and Snowdon – the former two being done on the Saturday, and Snowdon on the Sunday morning, bright and early, or 5.30am for those of you like me will not be very bright by that time of the morning. I haven’t actually been up Pen Y Fan or Cadair Idris before, so it will be nice to tick off two of Wales’ most iconic climbs, even if neither of them are exactly giant peaks. The whole challenge does however involve some 19,000 feet of ascent and descent, and about 20 miles of distance covered, so it should be a really good challenge.

But the news now, is that I have booked THREE more very exciting adventures, all firsts in their own right…..

First in June, I will be doing the Three Peaks (not to be confused with the Welsh Three Peaks). The Three Peaks involves the highest mountains in each of Scotland, England and Wales, done traditionally in that order, being Ben Nevis, Scafell Plike, and Snowdon. There is this time over 20,000 feet of ascent and descent, and 27 miles of distance to cover, and all within 24 hours. Add to this somewhat exhausting schedule the fact that there is about 600 miles of distance to drive between the mountains (about 13 hours on the road, these are not motorways in the main), and you have a brutal schedule ahead of you. Oh and just to add to all that, you need to do Scafell Pike in the dark :O. Should be a fantastic adventure, of which I will tell more as the time draws near….

Then comes even more excitement in July, with, wait for it, Mont Blanc! Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in western Europe, at 15,781 feet, and is a brute.

e7849ce6f900fec4e10368a8b7f553eb_large

Here is just one of the ridges that I get to face:

The Bosses ridge on Mont Blanc.

The Bosses ridge on Mont Blanc.

I’ve never been up Mont Blanc, and never had the chance to even try it, so this is massive for me. It is not to be taken lightly at all, and has a high fatality rate. In fact around 100 people a year sadly lose their lives trying each year. Alan Arnette has a great FAQ on Mont Blanc which I will post below:

http://www.alanarnette.com/7summits/montblancfaq.php

There is so much more to say here, but again I will leave that for another time, as it deserves a good few posts of its own. I’m more excited about this than I am Elbrus actually, as it is just one of the most talked about mountains in the world. One of the amazing things about Mont Blanc is that is has a massive prominence from the surrounding valleys – something like 4,000m in fact. To put that into perspective, Mount Everest has a prominence of 3,500m from Base Camp! I have also seen it many times, from many angles, but the main angle I wish to see it from is potentially there in July………:)

So whilst I had a busy week in booking up these two lovely trips, I thought to myself – why stop there? I therefore contacted International Mountain Guides and booked up for Aconcagua! Now as you may know I have had Aconcagua booked for each of the last two years, but had to cancel it on both occasions. So without tempting fate, I am hoping for third time lucky :). I was originally going to wait to see if I made it up Elbrus (booked for August) before attempting Aconcagua, but then I decided that if I can’t make it up Elbrus then I shouldn’t be doing this whole thing, plus I really need something to aim for at the end of the year.

This is my year of the mountains – the one to really test myself and see if I am up for maybe 6 of the Seven Summits…….if I do what I have just booked for then that’ll be three out of the way by the end of the year, or almost – Aconcagua will start in December and end in January. More, much more, on that to follow too. Nearly 7,000m more, in fact……..better get training, and hard.

Aconcagua - so far away still......but getting nearer.

Aconcagua – so far away still……but getting nearer.

A March Update…

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I thought it (well beyond) time that I updated my blog, so here goes:

The year so far for me didn’t get off to a good start. In fact it was awful. In January, four days before my 50th birthday, my Dad passed away. He had been ill, as I think I’d said in a previous post, for some 6 months or so, with cancer. He (only at the end, at least) was in pain, and so I should to some extent be grateful that he is now in a better place, or something like that. But that doesn’t help at all really. Fact is that I’ve watched both of my parents die of cancer now, and it took them both from (far far better) places of apparently otherwise fitness and good health, to being dead in a matter of months both times. I therefore hate cancer, and in this case, hate is by no means a strong enough word. I shall dwell no more on this, and put it away now :(.

I haven’t had the appetite for cycling much so far this year, and let’s face it, the weather has been woeful. I think we’ve had three weekends where winds topped 50mph, and also the wettest start to the year since records began. For this admittedly fair weather rider, and coupled with all else that has been going on, that was too much of an excuse for the bike to stay locked in the garage. Oh and I did also suffer a broken toe, but I shan’t dwell on that one either – it’s healing now!

I have been out in fact, only on four occasions altogether. Once on a brief ride in January, twice (although only about 35 miles each) on a short trip to Northern California, where the riding was fabulous, and then last weekend, when I did my first sportive of the year. The sportive was the aptly named “No Excuses” around Huntingdon, so called because as long as you turn up, they refund your £35 entry fee, and if you don’t, they give the money to a worthy charity, in this case prostate cancer. They apparently raised £22,000 for the charity, which means a whopping 630 people didn’t show up having entered. The stats are copied below in case anyone wants to take a look, but suffice to say I was absolutely knackered by about two thirds of the way through. Over 80 miles had me cramping and not really having fun, but I was very glad to be out there, cold as it was.

http://www.strava.com/activities/116934691

I have cycled only 200 miles this year though, and it is scarily almost a quarter of the way through. I must get out more now….

The weekend that is now just ending (9th March as I write) has seen me decide to get my walking legs back, having done basically none of that either. I did join a gym a few weeks ago, but the attractiveness of a stair climbing machine has and probably always will be lost on me I’m afraid. So blessed with some rather fine sunshine at last, I went and put some good old miles in, with a smallish (10lb or so) pack on my back for good measure. Yesterday (Saturday) I got in about 12 pretty flat miles around Milton Keynes, and today I headed out to Woburn, just about 6 or 7 miles away.

Blessed with totally beautiful weather (and frankly if we get days like today in the summer I won’t be complaining) I put in just over 14 miles, making 26.2 for the weekend. Although that is not exactly a huge number, I cannot actually remember the last time I walked 26 miles in two days, so that has to be a good thing. I also saw so many deer it made my head spin – witness this shot below for example:

The deer at Woburn Abbey

The deer at Woburn Abbey

Here are some a little closer with part of Woburn Abbey in the background:

Deer in front of the Abbey

Deer in front of the Abbey

So with me planning to be back to full fitness as soon as I can, I am now starting to look forward with relish to the rest of the year. I have planned the Welsh Three Peaks in May http://www.thethreepeakschallenge.co.uk/welsh-three-peaks-challenge/, am trying to get a full Three Peaks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Three_Peaks_Challenge trip in June , and am also looking to try to get a Mont Blanch trip in in July, prior to Elbrus in August. I have also contacted International Mountain Guides to see if they can’t get me that Aconcagua trip back on for the end of the year. Third time lucky, all being well……….

More soon, I promise.

New Year’s Resolutions……

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A little late I admit, but here is what I have decided I would like to accomplish during 2014. So not exactly New Year’s Resolutions as such, but more targets really.

I first should reflect on what happened during 2013. I said two things back in my post when I came back from Thailand just over a year ago, and they were to try to do 3,000 miles on my bike, and to do complete 6 mountain summits:

Day 9 – Khao Lak to Surin Beach (Phuket)

Well I can tell you that in terms of my bike, I overachieved on my goal. I managed 3,277 miles last year in fact, and it was a very memorable year, culminating in the Prudential Ride 100 in August finishing on the Mall in front of Buckingham Place.

Too many jelly babies on the way round perhaps?

Too many jelly babies on the way round perhaps?

I finished, for the record, in a time of 5hrs 18mins for the 100 miles, and I’d love to be able to take part in the event again, although I suspect it will be horribly oversubscribed. Last year 20,000 people took part, and the rumours are that over 100,000 people have applied for the same number of places this summer, so we will see. Here is me getting my medal at the end too:

And displaying quite proudly my finisher's medal :)

And displaying quite proudly my finisher’s medal 🙂

I also completed around 8 other Sportives ranging from about 60-85 miles, and so all in all a great year on the road. My new Canyon bike (bought at the end of 2012, but ridden for the first time this year) flatters me for sure. It has now been put away for the winter, but I have bought myself another, slightly less ‘shiny’ Canyon bike for the winter months. Any excuse I know 🙂

Now as far as the hills were concerned, I can only call 2013 a total disaster. Of my proposed 6 mountain summits I completed none. I probably walked a total of 10 miles in the whole year, and as far as I can recall, I actually went out twice for any type of walk. My trip to Aconcagua, upon which all my hopes rested, was of course cancelled for the reasons outlined in my last post, but that didn’t excuse my abject lack of trying. I did really really want to do Mont Blanc (and still do), but you have to put time and effort into these things, and I just didn’t. So this year, things have to change……..

2014

So my goals then for 2014 are as follows:

Bike: I need to complete as many miles as I did in 2013 (3,277). To aim for much more is not going to be achievable, and in any case, this is a year to right the wrongs of the last one in terms of mountains, as I will set out below.

I have already in fact signed up for 10 Sportives, ranging from about 70 miles to 118 miles. The best of these will undoubtedly be the “Tour De Yorkshire” in July. At this, I get to ride a bona fide stage of the Tour de France, which of course this year starts in Yorkshire. I get to do the first stage (the so called ‘Grand Depart”) a week after it has taken place, and I can’t wait. I have never ridden 118 miles in a day before, so just completing it will be a big bonus for me, outside of the euphoria that surrounds the whole thing.

My bike riding will also be a big factor in terms of endurance training for the mountains.

Bike goal: 3,278 miles. Subsidiary goal – to do the Prudential Ride London in less than 5 hours (this might be beyond my physical means as it would mean an average of >20mph over 100 miles, but a boy (or an old man!) has to dream).

Mountains:

The aim is to do two of the Seven Summits. I have singed up for Elbrus in August, and barring disasters will sign up for Aconcagua at the end of the year too. I don’t think I can realistically say I will do much more than that (!), as it will take all of my time to train and be ready for them, on top of a few bike rides here and there. I do have a bit of a busy day job too 🙂 I will have to be very fit for both mountain trips, as both involve a huge amount of load carrying, the likes of which I have never done before, and the latter involves trying to get to the somewhat alien and dizzy height of 23,000 feet.

Subsidiary goal: To do the 3 Peaks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Three_Peaks_Challenge

I’ve always wanted to do this, but have just never had the outlet, or a group of people who wanted to do it with me. But then I’ve never really tried asking either, so back to the above “you have to put time and effort into these things….”.

If anyone out there therefore has a 3 Peaks adventure planned, then you may just be helping me out, that’s all I’m saying 🙂

Happy New Year everyone, and I hope it is a great one for you, whatever (big or small) adventures you have planned.

Life is oh so short

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It has been so ridiculously long since I have put up a blog post, that it has taken me some time to find out how to log back into this site. Sad!

I thought I now needed to do two things here though, if even only for posterity. One is to update anyone who doesn’t know already (that is if anyone actually still reads this site outside of anyone who knows me :O) of what has happened re my intended trip to Aconcagua. And then secondly to tell a bit about my future mountainous plans.

Aconcagua

Firstly an update then on Aconcagua. In short, it isn’t going to happen, well not this year anyway. I won’t dwell here into too many of the reasons why, but in short, my father got diagnosed with terminal cancer this summer, with a prognosis which talked about a matter of months, as opposed to years, in terms of life expectancy. I cancelled my trip practically the day that I found out, simple as that.

I mentioned in my previous post that I’d say something about my decision about who to go with, and I thought I’d still take time here to tell a bit about what happened there too:

So basically when I chose my (also aborted, that time due to two broken heels :)) trip last year, I had booked with Jagged Globe, whom I went with on my Alpine Introductions Course, and who I have found absolutely excellent throughout. They would, and perhaps should, have been my natural choice for this time around, but something told me to search around and do a bit of due diligence here and there, and so I did.

There are actually not a lot of firms who do Aconcagua trips, and they basically are divided into three categories. There are local firms in Argentina; there are a few UK firms (e.g Jagged Globe or Exodus for example); and there are the bigger international outfits (mainly US-based) who focus on Aconcagua as it is one of the Seven Summits.

I had ruled out the Argentinian outfits straight away. Maybe they offer the best value, or even the best expeditions. I just don’t know. My thinking was that there is so much to know, and so much to go wrong, even before you get there, that I’d rather be in the hands of someone closer to home, and who speaks my native language, just in case. Then I started reading this year’s Everest coverage (and what an incredible, and also very controversial, season it was) and began seeing some names appearing to me from the operators over there. One name kept appearing and also jumping out to me, and it was International Mountain Guides (IMG).

IMG have been going since 1986, and they cover the four corners of planet earth in terms of the mountains. They lead expeditions to all of the Seven Summits, and therefore put people on Everest every year. I first heard about them from reading Alan Arnette’s wonderful blog (http://www.alanarnette.com). He has climbed with them himself (including on his own Seven Summits bid), and so if that is not an endorsement in itself then I don’t know what is.

Literally from the moment I enquired about availability, I got nothing but first class, prompt (bordering on immediate) replies from them. It was also very personal too, as in they wanted to know about me, to make sure there was a fit for both sides. I was contacted (surprisingly) by one of the founders, Phil Ershler, who was brilliant in every regard. Most importantly for me, there was no big hard sell. In fact almost the reverse was true – I had to pass and prove my worth, and they invited me to ask all sorts of questions of them to make sure that this would work. I’m glad to say that it most certainly did, or would have done anyway.

One of the other key factors about IMG for me, apart from reputation, safety record, success rates etc., was about the way they actually climb the mountain. Instead of an ‘armchair ride’ (as if this is ever likely at 23,000 feet!), IMG like their clients to do the mountains expedition style. In other words, you carry your own stuff, you do carries up and down to each camp, and you put up your own tent etc. Everyone mucks in basically, it is a team, and you need to graft, hard, along with everyone else. Good.

Anyway, basically almost as soon as I hap put down my deposit, I had to call them and tell them I wouldn’t/couldn’t go after all. The very satisfying thing was that instead of saying “sorry but you’ve lost your deposit” etc (which under their terms and conditions they would have been entitled to do). they said they’d hold it over for me for a future trip. That to me just vindicated my decision to choose them in the first place.

What next?

Having cancelled my trip, I have spent most every weekend up in the North East visiting my Dad in hospital, and now in his Nursing Home. He’s still hanging in there, and my time with him is precious, and so it should be. I haven’t been able to plan anything else meantime though, and so that, being selfish for a moment, has made me a bit stir crazy.

So a few days ago, I got, for a host of reasons, to deciding that I needed something, anything, to look forward to. And to cut a long story short, here it is:

Mount Elbrus

Mount Elbrus….

The above is the tallest mountain in Europe. Now many people think that particular honour goes to Mont Blanc, but Mount Elbrus is about 1km higher, at 5,642m (18,510ft). It is a dormant volcano, in the Caucasus Mountains, which are in southern Russia, close to Georgia. I have booked my trip for next August, and all I can say is that I dearly hope it comes off. There is lots to learn and know about Elbrus, and my education has begun with great excitement and vigour.

Mount Elbrus is of course also one of the Seven Summits, and if I can reach the summit (I have some work to do in many respects between now and then), then I would look to try to do Aconcagua next winter too. I won’t get too carried away yet though.

To go back to the title of the post, life is very definitely too short. This one will be for my Dad.

I’ll post more soon, promise.

I’m back :)

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Having spent a long time not blogging (simply, I’m afraid, because there was nothing exciting to blog about), I’m now back to tell you that I have something to say.

It’s this: Aconcagua!

Having spent the last few months out of gainful employment due to redundancy, and also having had the disappointment of last December’s planned Aconcagua climb cancelled due to my two broken heels, it hasn’t been a jolly time on the planned expedition front. Having now however found myself a new job (which I actually started properly just today) then I just couldn’t ignore the mountains.

Why so hasty, you might ask? Well, I’d defend my hastiness in several ways. Firstly, I decided some time ago that I worked (and hard, mostly) because it afforded me the opportunity to do things that I wanted to do. And secondly I’ve been thinking all year about mountains, almost any mountain in fact. I wanted for example to be able to try and go and do Mont Blanc in the summer, but various things (like not knowing when I was going to be working again) have stopped me from being able to commit to it. Thirdly, my Dad is not in the best of health right now. He has a bad (chronic in fact) back condition that has left him incapacitated in bed, and has carers looking after him three times a day. Life is too short for us not to be able to at least try to realise our dreams and ambitions, and this is one my main goals right now, simple as that.

I’ve also been through a lot of soul searching, and also a lot of due diligence as to which company I want to go with to take me there. But I’ve now chosen them (it was ultimately a really easy decision), and my forms and acceptance papers have just (like five minutes ago) been sent off. More on that in a subsequent post. I go this coming December.

Aconcagua is a ridiculously tough undertaking. This is 7,000m. 23,000 feet. The tallest mountain in the world outside of the Himalayas. It has a 30% success rate of summiting. I’m a million miles away from being ready for it, and have a very very tough six months ahead of me. That journey starts here today. No illusions, but lots of drive and ambition. “Excited” doesn’t even come close to how I feel right now.

Aconcagua

Aconcagua

Day 9 – Khao Lak to Surin Beach (Phuket)

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December 10th 2012

And so the last day of the trip rather unceremoniously arrived with a 6am wake up call in the very hot and sticky resort of Takolaburi, just north of Khao Lak on Thailand’s south west coast. I was glad that is would be the last early morning of packing, getting ready, checking out of a hotel all by 7-something in the morning. It is a (sort of) holiday after all 🙂

And so by 7.55am we were off and rolling towards our final destination, the island resort of Phuket, some 70 miles to our south. Passing the tsunami warning station in the first 100 metres brought a sober warning of the dangers of the area that we were in, and shortly after leaving Khao Lak we saw an even more sobering memorial to the disaster of 2004.

The tsunami warning station just north of Khao Lak, quite a sobering sight.

The tsunami warning station just north of Khao Lak, quite a sobering sight.

The police boat that was carried onshore in 2004 at the scene of the Khao Lak tsunami.

The police boat that was carried onshore in 2004 at the scene of the Khao Lak tsunami.

This was another boat, this one a police frigate, which had been carried 2km inland on that fateful day. The place where it still lies is being turned into a tsunami museum, and there are many pictures on display already outside as either tributes to lost loved ones, or another very sad one that I saw of bodies lined in trenches covered with ice to prevent decomposition.

We then hit a good pace towards the island of Phuket itself, eventually passing over the bridge that connects the island to the mainland.

A brief stop for a group shot on the bridge over to Phuket.

A brief stop for a group shot on the bridge over to Phuket.

Upon arriving in Phuket it was almost like being in another country altogether. The roads became generally busier, the road signs bigger and more ‘international’, and the landscape/vegetation less dense and jungle-like. Our resort, Surin Beach, was probably 35km or so down on the west coast of the island, and we eventually got off the busy roads, and skirted our way along the coast and past the airport on back roads. We also had some very threatening clouds overhead, practically the first ones we had seen all week, although they thankfully never broke, but it did get pretty dark for a while.

On the north of Phuket at last......

On the north of Phuket at last……

....and then onto the quieter back roads down to Surin Beach.

….and then onto the quieter back roads down to Surin Beach.

And then all of a sudden we were in the resort of Surin Beach, and at the Manathai Hotel. It was over, just like that. It had been again another great and varied day’s riding, and it was almost an anticlimax that it just sort of stopped. Surin Beach is certainly a lot more westernised than any other place that we had seen along the way too, and so it was almost a shock to the system to be taken into what was like being in another world.

The (very) end of the road - the Manathai Hotal, Surin Beach, Phuket.

The (very) end of the road – the Manathai Hotal, Surin Beach, Phuket.

The Manathai Hotel was as good as anywhere we had been all trip, and so once again Spiceroads did us proud with their choice of accommodation. Following a brief dip in the most welcome private plunge pool I have ever been in (actually the only private plunge pool I have ever been in, but very welcome nonetheless), we had our final farewell dinner to the Spiceroads guys down on the beach.

The final tale of the tape for the day per my Garmin is as follows:

http://app.strava.com/activities/31802837

So altogether we had covered around 850km (around 520 miles) in the 8 days cycling, and for me, it was just the ticket. The terrain was never too challenging, and the pace never too quick, but ultimately I got what I came for and more. The roads in Thailand are in great condition, and apart from the odd rabid dog or moped riding the wrong way, you never ever feel threatened in any way by other road users like is so often the case in the UK.

It would be remiss of me not to finish this series of posts without a final word about Spiceroads. I picked this company blind, from so many on the internet, and other than a couple of Tripadvisor reviews, knew nothing about them at all. It was a leap of faith, a last minute decision, that could, very easily, have not been anything like it promised. In simple terms, they absolutely overdelivered, which is so refreshing, and made for a great time all round. From the quality of the bikes, the accommodation, the food, the backup, the communications, and the friendliness, from the time of booking until the time I got home, they were brilliant in every way.

I often judge companies that I deal with in terms of how they perform when something goes wrong. With Spiceroads, you just knew it wouldn’t go wrong in the first place. From the little touches (you never had to ask for anything – I never asked for my water bottle to be filled, it was just done for me automatically, like 10 times a day), to the timeliness, to the advance organisation at every hotel we stayed in, and restaurant we stopped at, it was all perfect. They had thought of everything, and then made sure it happened. I honestly couldn’t think of one thing to criticise them for at all. Unlike so many travel companies I have dealt with, you didn’t have to fit in with them, they were there to make you get the most out of your trip, and that is excellent.

Oh and even more finally, to Dirk, David and Phillipa, thank you for being such wonderful travelling companions. It is strange sometimes being thrown together with people you have never met before for 24 hours a day, but you were all just great!

And so into 2013 – Happy New Year to everyone. I want to get 3,000 miles cycling in this year (double my 2012 total), and don’t think I’ll be doing any running! My main aim is I think six (I’ve just plucked that from the air, but why not!) new mountain summits, of which Aconcagua and Mont Blanc are top of the list. Watch this space…….