Nice work. Thanks for the updates en-route. And that last pic is great.
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Backpacks and blisters - the walking thread
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Originally posted by Paul S View PostJust out of interest what did mountain rescue, the police etc. say to you about what happened? I'm always curious as to what they say to people after things like this. Were they supportive of your decision or did you get a critical debrief?
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I walked the tourist path of Ben Nevis last Saturday. It was for a good cause, Pancreatic Cancer Scotland, but that cause nearly ended me. I am 19 stone and rising, my overall fitness has been woeful for a while and i was carrying a pesky cough. I did manage the trip although i was expecting to feel exhilarated at the top but all i could contemplate was the fact i had hours of walking back down ahead of me. My work colleagues gradually disappeared on the climb and just after halway til i got to base camp i was on my lonesome. Mentally it is so tough to suffer in solitude. Anyway we raised nearly £1000, which my work will match so not a bad effort.
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Originally posted by Nocturnal Submission View PostGood effort, sir.
I've climbed Ben Nevis. It's not that easy, especially in poor weather.
Did you make the climb in poor weather?
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- Mar 2008
- 19051
- Revelling In The Hole
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Originally posted by multipleman78 View Post
Thank you. The weather was fine most of the way but did get very cold near the summit. The visibility up there was minimal and at times quite hazardous.
Did you make the climb in poor weather?
Yes, I went up in October 1993. The reason I remember the date was that I'd gone over to Rotterdam to see the famous Netherlands-England WC '94 qualification game and then set off for Scotland the day after I got back. It was cold, -10C with the wild chill at the summit or something like that, and very icy underfoot, which was a problem on the way down in particular. I'd badly broken my wrist a few years beforehand and wasn't anxious to do it again. I hit the deck a few times but to no great ill effect, but at least one of our party suffered a fracture on the descent.
I'd done a bit of climbing in the Cairngorms (Ben Macdui, Braeriach, Cairn Gorm and one or two others) but in much better weather, though it's still pretty cold and windy at the top even in the middle of summer.Last edited by Nocturnal Submission; 12-06-2019, 23:10.
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Well done MM, and a great photo.
Never done Ben Nevis or been near it. In March 83 (aged 18) some mates and I were camping in Wales and had a go up the Miners' Track of Snowdon. Got to Glaslyn, the highest cwm lake which was where the snowline began. At that point we met a squaddie on his way down who instructed us in no uncertain terms not to go further.Last edited by Sits; 12-06-2019, 23:00.
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Originally posted by multipleman78 View PostI walked the tourist path of Ben Nevis last Saturday. It was for a good cause, Pancreatic Cancer Scotland, but that cause nearly ended me. I am 19 stone and rising, my overall fitness has been woeful for a while and i was carrying a pesky cough. I did manage the trip although i was expecting to feel exhilarated at the top but all i could contemplate was the fact i had hours of walking back down ahead of me. My work colleagues gradually disappeared on the climb and just after halway til i got to base camp i was on my lonesome. Mentally it is so tough to suffer in solitude. Anyway we raised nearly £1000, which my work will match so not a bad effort.
I've climbed Ben Nevis twice successfully, once in summer and once in winter, plus a couple of failed attempts when I turned back due to weather or risk of avalanche. About five years ago I finally did it in winter with ice axe and crampons and had an eerie summit where the sun had broken through but the clag swirled around giving a sort of willow-the-wisp feel to the place. On the way down I came across a group of youths from Edinburgh trying to climb without ice axe or crampons. I told them to turn back on the basis they wouldn't get another 100 yards without them. They turned back 20 minutes later after making another ten yards. On another occasion coming down I came across a chap from Glasgow who was heading for he halfway lochan where he told me he was going to camp in the forest. I told them there was no forest, not even a single solitary tree as it was about 2,000ft above sea level. He told me he was Scottish and knew this place well and wasn't being told he was wrong by someone like myself (an Englishman I presume). I do wonder what happened to him. Then I helped search for a missing pair of climbers in the northern corries a few years ago. Their bodies weren't found until the snow melted a few weeks later. Where they were found they I reckon I had walked right over them.
But well done MM, really well done, Ben Nevis is a lot harder than people realize.
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Originally posted by Paul S View Post
Well done MM, top effort. That tourist path is very difficult especially on the way down as you have no doubt discovered. Going down is always harder than going up as you are tired and the amount of pressure you put on your joints is greater than on the way up. From the halfway lochan a good way down is to descend on the northern side down towards the golf club. It's further, but not as steep.
I've climbed Ben Nevis twice successfully, once in summer and once in winter, plus a couple of failed attempts when I turned back due to weather or risk of avalanche. About five years ago I finally did it in winter with ice axe and crampons and had an eerie summit where the sun had broken through but the clag swirled around giving a sort of willow-the-wisp feel to the place. On the way down I came across a group of youths from Edinburgh trying to climb without ice axe or crampons. I told them to turn back on the basis they wouldn't get another 100 yards without them. They turned back 20 minutes later after making another ten yards. On another occasion coming down I came across a chap from Glasgow who was heading for he halfway lochan where he told me he was going to camp in the forest. I told them there was no forest, not even a single solitary tree as it was about 2,000ft above sea level. He told me he was Scottish and knew this place well and wasn't being told he was wrong by someone like myself (an Englishman I presume). I do wonder what happened to him. Then I helped search for a missing pair of climbers in the northern corries a few years ago. Their bodies weren't found until the snow melted a few weeks later. Where they were found they I reckon I had walked right over them.
But well done MM, really well done, Ben Nevis is a lot harder than people realize.
Your tales were brilliant especially the numpty from Glasgow. I wonder how long he searched for that forest.
Excuse the phrase but that must have been chilling, knowing that you had walked right past or over those poor climbers.
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Maybe they should rename the trail from "the tourist route". It might only be 4 and a half thousand feet, but the climate and terrain is as unforgiving as it would be at Proper Height further south in Europe. But folk seem to think they can saunter up in trainers and t-shirts if it's sunny at the bottom. The three peaks challenge type stuff For Charidee seems to attract a lot of ill prepared eejits as well.
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My friend's made it as far as Hornillos de Camino which I think is about 350km in. But he is now complaining about pain in his shins ... I can see him abandoning at some point and getting the bus to the last leg of the walk.
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- Mar 2008
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Completely forgot to update you on the Everesting thing that I referred to earlier in the thread. This is mainly because it was a ridiculous thing to do and doesn't really count for this thread. As you may remember, it involved 56 of us in teams of 8-10, going up a local hill 7-8 times, after which each team had climbed the height of Everest between them. We had a fairly varied bunch including a few mums using pushchairs and even carrying their babies and couple of guys who did the whole thing running (although I found out that one was a UK champion mountain runner). I didn't practice for it (well, it's just walking, isn't it?) and even did a Parkrun the day before. However, I didn't realise that it would be 17.5miles in total - half uphill, of course - and would take me 5 hours. I ended up aching worse and for longer than after the 10k run I did on Sunday. Obviously, with the repetitive ascents and descents, it was boring after a while scenery-wise but a nice social event and we raised £3k for a local hospice.
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My friend did have to bus around 140km of the walk but after a few days' rest made it to Santiago today. He's now taking the bus to Finisterre tomorrow which apparently is the last leg that many walkers do. Finisterre being like the one in Brittany or Land's End in Cornwall, the last bit that sticks out west.
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Originally posted by Bordeaux Education View PostCompletely forgot to update you on the Everesting thing that I referred to earlier in the thread. This is mainly because it was a ridiculous thing to do and doesn't really count for this thread. As you may remember, it involved 56 of us in teams of 8-10, going up a local hill 7-8 times, after which each team had climbed the height of Everest between them. We had a fairly varied bunch including a few mums using pushchairs and even carrying their babies and couple of guys who did the whole thing running (although I found out that one was a UK champion mountain runner). I didn't practice for it (well, it's just walking, isn't it?) and even did a Parkrun the day before. However, I didn't realise that it would be 17.5miles in total - half uphill, of course - and would take me 5 hours. I ended up aching worse and for longer than after the 10k run I did on Sunday. Obviously, with the repetitive ascents and descents, it was boring after a while scenery-wise but a nice social event and we raised £3k for a local hospice.
The fact that it costs $4k to walk up a bloody awful hill 17 times (or fewer, or more) over a weekend has kept it firmly on my "not gonna happen" list. Nice concept though (and nasty hill too)
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I caught the bus from Taunton to Bishops Lydeard this morning to catch the the train to Minehead courtesy of the West Somerset railway and their S&D 2-8-0 locomotive. From there I walked the 9 miles to Porlock, my first day on the South West Coast Path and if all goes to plan I should be in Bude by this time next week. The SWCP is 630 miles in length, which means I have walked 1.5% of it. We'll, it's a start!
Last edited by Paul S; 13-07-2019, 17:05.
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