Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2021 i Trail

It’s time to look forward and dream. To a year where hopefully the only restrictions will be time and that pesky thing called money. To a year where the mountains are open and the great outdoors is the endless playground we’ve always known it to be. But what’s that you say? You don’t know where to start? Well, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve decided to map the next 12 months out for you, with suggestions for which peaks to climb in which months, ranging from epic winter ascents to summer strolls with the family. And how can we guarantee these peaks are good? Because we’ve taken them from the Trail 100 bucket list, which just so happens to be our very own hand-picked selection of the 100 best…

ECO-FRIENDLY ACCOMMODATION We’re starting the new year as we mean to go on, with an increased awareness of our impact on the planet. So this month’s Picks are dedicated to eco-friendly mountain-related stuff! And we’re finding it hard to find accommodation more environmentally-savvy than The Quiet Site near Ullswater in the Lake District. This year alone it won numerous awards for its 10 years of ethical and sustainable efforts, including sustainable energy, water conservation and eco development. There are tent pitches, cottages and five new eco-cabins available, and they have teamed up with two other green campsites in the Lakes to offer ‘Pod n’ Pedal’ breaks to minimise your carbon footprint even further! thequietsite.co.uk CARBON CALCULATOR When you take your next trip to the mountains, consider the carbon footprint you’re…

FEBRUARY Ingleborough Yorkshire Dales Ingleborough is a bit like your first love. It probably won’t end up being your all-time favourite. It’s not the most memorable. The sexiest. Or the most exciting. And you’ll probably make a few rookie mistakes along the way, but climb it as a beginner and it will hold a special place in your heart forever. Looking way more impressive than its 724m stature, rising abruptly out of the Yorkshire Dales, it’s a mountain that has mass appeal. From Yorkshire Three-Peakers, to weekend city escapers, the spiderweb of trails that wind up to its bold tabletop summit plateau attracts all walks of life. And that’s because it has something for everyone. It’s the ideal place to introduce someone to the mountains, with its relatively short approaches…

JUNE The Mosedale Fells Lake District In come the coaches and minibuses. Out pour their occupants in shiny new kit bought for the occasion. Up they go, a collective throng with a single purpose. A train of boots and backpacks following the tracks to their destination. Chatter. Noise. People. Everywhere. With daylight hours at their longest, June is when many Three Peak events take place. In Wasdale Head, the quiet valley-end hamlet in the western Lake District, this influx of visitors tramping en masse to the summit of Scafell Pike is particularly intrusive. But Wasdale and the surrounding fells are among Lakeland’s most spectacular; it would be a crime to ignore them all due to the popularity of one. So, turn your back on the crowds and wander into Mosedale,…

SEPTEMBER Blencathra Lake District Good ol’ Wainwright wrote that the most daring ascent of Blencathra “can be traversed only à cheval at some risk of damage to tender parts.” That’s quite a mental image, and so if you manage to scramble up the narrow arête that is Sharp Edge in a more dignified manner than Alfred, with his legs akimbo, you’ve surely got reason for celebration! But whichever way you manage to get up it, Sharp Edge is the crowning glory of Blencathra’s numerous ridges, and is cause for celebration whichever way you look at it. It’s high. It’s stunningly exposed. And it is magnificently do-able with a head for heights in the right conditions. It’s probably the best Grade 1 scramble you’ll find in England, and a quiet September…

8 KEY USES FOR A WALKING AXE 1 For balance and support while walking, especially when going up and down snow slopes. 2 In an arrest, to prevent an accidental slip becoming a disaster. 3 As a grip and support when scrambling. 4 To cut steps in steep, treacherous situations, or across smaller patches of snow when it would be a bigger hassle to put crampons on. 5 For probing the snow to check the depth or the condition of the powder you encounter. 6 For knocking snow off your crampons if it starts to ball up. 7 To cut platforms into snow, for you to stand or sit in during a rest. 8 To stick the handle end into the snow and use as a brake when bum sliding!…

Less zip, more zzzzzz... Aside from relatively small details, sleeping bag design doesn’t change much. But Sierra Designs’ Cloud 800 (£335) does away with a major component: the zip. Instead, an integrated ‘comforter’ tucks into an internal pocket, wrapping the sleeper in a cosy insulated blanket. Sierra Designs says this reduces weight, is more adaptable to a range of temperatures, and offers a less restrictive night’s sleep with more of the feel of home bed comfort. Hot dots for toasty results 10 years ago Columbia launched its iconic Omni-Heat 3D thermal-reflective lining. Now it has added Black Dot technology to its Omni-Heat arsenal, including on the new Three Forks Jacket (£270). Black dots on the outer surface of the special heattrapping fabric capture solar radiation, turning the jacket into a…

Loweswater feels somewhat understated and overlooked. It lacks the mass appeal of Derwent Water, the ruggedness of Wast Water, or the beauty of Buttermere – but it oozes charm. It is a peaceful little lake, with its own bothy, waterfall and a mixed woodland of alder, oak, lime, chestnut, ash and sycamore. The village of Kirkstile boasts a top-notch post-walk watering hole (The Kirkstile Inn), and the surrounding grassy, rounded hills are tranquil and pleasant. It is to these hills that this walk sticks, creating the closest thing possible to a high-level, peak-bagging circuit of the lake. The route bags five Wainwrights – Fellbarrow, Low Fell, Burnbank Fell, Blake Fell, Gavel Fell – in a productive day in the hills. The highlight is Low Fell. Alfred Wainwright wrote that Low…

The Black Mount traverse, between the two ancient inns of Kingshouse and Inveroran, has long been considered Scotland’s premier pub-to-pub route. But being a linear route that means a car at either end, and who wants to be a designated driver when there’s a post-walk pub involved? Besides, for the short light-limited days of midwinter, half the Black Mount traverse still makes for a full-on mountain day. What we want on a mountain day is mountain atmosphere. Mountain atmosphere up on the mountain, and mountain atmosphere afterwards in the bar. So after the long pathway curving into Stob Ghabhar’s hidden eastern corrie, after crunching the crampons up the firm old snow of its north-facing wall, after the sudden and stunning view south across Loch Tulla and the airy ridgeline where…

1 SD698969 Cross the footbridge by the Cross Keys Inn and head straight up the lower slopes of Yarlside (named Ben End on the OS map). Climb north-west over easy but steepening contours to a subsidiary summit at 590m. Turn north across a dip and continue to the cairn on top of Yarlside. 2 SD685985 Leave the summit by walking north for 200m. Descend north-north-east over very steep slopes (with a few patches of scree) to the saddle on the south side of Kensgriff. Go straight over and climb to the small cairn on Kensgriff. Continue north-east to descend a pleasant grassy ridge to a marshy col with small pools. 3 SD691997 Turn north-west and take the steep grassy path up to the cairn on Randygill Top. Go right, in…

I strongly advise you to approach the Langdale valley from the tiny road that comes over the pass near Blea Tarn, as the view of the Langdale Pikes just before you reach the tarn is among the best in the Lake District. Trees pepper the foreground, then that familiar outline of the Pikes rises like some fantasy kingdom. Continue driving over the pass and you’ll get a look into the northerly branch of the upper Langdale valley. I did it recently and was taken aback by the enormity of this part of the valley. We’re going to be walking back out through it. But first, let’s get started. There are a couple of car parks near to the New Dungeon Ghyll area at map point 1 (NY295064). More importantly, there are…

Stac Pollaidh Assynt “Michael Byrne taking in the views on a stunning Saturday evening in September on Stac Pollaidh. Our new favourite wee mountain.” Gillian Watson Pyrenees France “My friend Adam and I (2nd and third left) traced the footsteps of brave WWII refugees, soldiers and resistance on the Chemin De La Liberté Freedom Trail across the Pyrenees from France into Spain. Challenging enough with all the modern trimmings – you can only imagine how hard it was for those who tackled it without the kit and being pursued by Nazi troops.” Chris Anderson, Colchester Angle Tarn Lake District “This trip was almost 10 years in the making. After beating cancer, strokes, back problems and a hernia operation, me and my dad Gary managed two nights in the tents before…

Shall we all just agree to forget about 2020? Too many plans gone to waste, too many walking boots left unmuddied, too many mountains unclimbed. It’s hard to predict or plan anything at the moment, but that’s not going to stop us cramming your heads with as many ideas as possible for adventurous mountain trips in 2021. The Trail 100 is our hand-picked bucket list of the UK peaks we believe every hillwalker has to climb in their lifetime. Unlike the Wainwrights it isn’t limited to just one region, and unlike the Munros or Corbetts the mountains aren’t chosen by height. This is a list collated by Trail’s 30 years of experience walking and climbing in the UK’s greatest ranges, and includes peaks of all shapes and sizes, for all…

MAY Askival Rum From the spring Equinox in March, the length of the days in the north of the country stretch out ahead of those in the south until, come the summer solstice in June, there’s just over 18 hours between sunrise and sunset in Inverness compared to a little over 16.5 hours in London. Of course, summer in Scotland brings with it more than just an extra hour-and-a-half of day; it also brings midges, which means any extra time could be spent sheltering in a tent or running for cover from the black swarms of bloodsuckers. But in May, before the wee biting blighters have reached maximum density in the Highlands, you can still have 15.5-17.5 hours of daytime to play with in Mallaig. Why Mallaig particularly? Because this…

OCTOBER Ladhar Bheinn Knoydart Did you know that Scotland has a Big 5 of wildlife? They are, in no particular order, the red deer, the golden eagle, the harbour seal, the red squirrel and the otter. All of them can be found in Knoydart, that rugged peninsular on Scotland’s west coast that’s as easy to reach by boat as by land – probably easier. If you catch the catamaran that skips out of Mallaig to Inverie Bay, you might even see one before you set foot on Knoydart; Annabelle the seal is a regular inquisitive visitor to Mallaig harbour. Once on Knoydart, it’s useful to have a goal in mind and summiting Ladhar Bheinn is perhaps the most rewarding. Standing proud in the centre of Knoydart, offering unrivalled views of…

I used to work with a complete idiot called Rupert. Every Monday, he’d roll in looking like he’d spent the weekend hanging out the window of a fighter jet, spouting anecdotes about stolen goats, burning sofas, and the inevitable drunkenly destructive stumble home. He’d then turn to me with a smugly cocked eyebrow and say: “How about you, Ingram? Been at the Lego again?” Just once, I wanted to walk in and say, “Well, actually, Rupert…” followed by something monumental that would stun him silent. So, years later, when Andy Bateman rang me and asked if I’d like to spend a weekend at 4000ft in a snowhole, I immediately thought of Rupert, and said “Okay.” And the funny thing is, I really thought I knew what was coming. But really,…

THE LATEST INNOVATIONS IN OUTDOOR KIT The thing about mid layers is that you don’t often see them. Sure, while in milder months it’s not unheard of to wear a fleece as an outer layer to stave off a subtle evening chill, in winter mid layers tend to be just that – a middle layer between your base layer t-shirt and your outer hard shell. And the better they are, the less exposure they get. While a less effective fleece might require you to repeatedly open and close your shell’s main zip to vent or trap air as required, the perfect mid layer manages to regulate your temperature and humidity without too much intervention. It’s for this reason the Berghaus’ Pravitale fleeces have been much loved. And now there’s a…

Lots of people know what it’s like to feel cold – just think of frozen commuters waiting around at the bus stop, or standing forlornly on train platforms. But unless you’ve been up a mountain in winter, with the wind slamming into your body and howling around your ears as sleet stings your nose and cheeks, you don’t know what it’s like to be really cold. In those kinds of conditions, you need a jacket that will deliver warmth even if gets wet. You don’t want a down jacket – not even one with a water-resistant shell and a fancy hydrophobic fill – because, as any good outdoor instructor will tell you, if down gets wet, it’s rubbish at keeping you warm. Which means that with a down jacket on,…

KEY FEATURES YOUR TESTER James Forrest A prolific peak bagger and wild camper who’s climbed hundreds of mountains in the UK and abroad, James gives his gear a serious thrashing on every trip. Rab Storm £45 Excellent value, good cuff, dexterous, women’s fit Mid-range performance, no stand-out USP Rab’s extensive glove range features 17 pairs that are more expensive than the Storms, with seven pairs costing an eye-watering £100+. Of course, these higher-end products provide superior warmth, bombproof waterproofing and premium materials. But unless you’re ice climbing or hardcore winter Munro-bagging, they’re overkill for the average hillwalker. The Storm gloves, however, provide the best bang for your buck in Rab’s range, with good features, weatherproofing and warmth at less than £50. Synthetic insulation known as Stratus keeps your hands protected…

If you’re fed up queuing behind people on the more popular summits of Snowdonia, then this is the route for you, as you’ll not be within 2m or even 2 miles of a single soul on this beautiful walk through the rugged Rhinogs. In fact, you’d be forgiven for half-expecting a dinosaur to come plodding slowly through this small tract of untamed wilderness at the southernmost tip of this popular National Park. Home to vague paths that peter out into heather-covered boulders, squelchy bog and huge scrambling rocks, this lake and mountain landscape will test your navigation even on a perfect blue-sky day. And in misty conditions you must have good mountain experience and compass skills, or you could end up wandering down a steep-sided bank of rocky heather, into…

There is much about the South Pennines that draws those in the know to the area. Perhaps it is the mill towns full of great pubs, restaurants, and music. Or the solitude that can be found in a landscape that is still a secret to most. Whatever you are looking for it can be found here. This route takes you from the atmospheric church in Heptonstall, to deep valleys with amazing waterfalls and abandoned mills. Then out onto the ancient packhorse routes that once linked the beautiful hillside communities to the growing cities of the industrial revolution. Arriving at Great Bride Stones, the strange geological features of sandstone worn by time, you are rewarded with grand Pennine Views. From there the wild moors beckon. The pathless moors offer real solitude,…

ROUTE 7 Cautley Spout & The Calf ROUTE 8 Yarlside & Green Bell ROUTE 9 Stennerskeugh Clouds & Harter Fell If you’ve taken the M6 up to Scotland you’ll probably remember the sweeping curves when the carriageway is suddenly hemmed in by the steep slopes in the Lune Gorge. The hills to the west are rugged and a little bit rocky, but those on the east rise swiftly in smooth flowing contours. These are the Howgill Fells: a compact and distinctive cluster of open hillsides, deep valleys and easy-going summits. Wainwright famously described the range as ‘a huddle of squatting elephants’ and viewed from several miles away it’s just about possible to see what he meant. You can spend a full day in the Howgills without even seeing another soul…

GO THERE... when winds are low and the snow is reliable When winter hits the hills around Fort William, walkers looking for adventure with a little cold weather frisson will, more often than not, head straight to the Carn Mor Dearg Arête ascent of Ben Nevis. It is after all one of the most well-known ridge traverses on the UK mainland, managing to be both airily exciting and relatively straightforward at the same time. But what if you’ve already done it and fancy a change? What if you want a bit more time and space to yourself, rather than joining the cramponed queue along the arête? What if the weather and avalanche forecasts simply put that side of The Ben out of bounds? Whatever the reason, as luck (or rather…

JANUARY Coledale Round Lake District There are two types of winter in Britain. There’s the type that most of the population experiences. Dark, grey, cold, damp, monotonous – the sort of relentlessly dismal conditions that have you pining for spring the second the clocks go back in October. And then there’s the type you find in our mountains, a transformation so extreme that the first time you climb out of a foggy valley and into that secret white world you’ll wonder why you’ve ever walked at any other time of year. When you time winter conditions right – fresh snow beneath your boots, blazing sun above, cloud inversion spilling out of the valley – you’ll know what all the fuss is about. Those familiar hills and fells you’ve trodden so…

AUGUST Pen y Fan Brecon Beacons There’s a burger van and public conveniences in the car park. Normally I’d turn my nose up at this sort of thing – I’m a hill snob at heart. But this isn’t about me. My daughter is 6, and she’s about to stand on the highest bit of ground she’s ever stood on. Plus, she’s bound to need a wee before we go. The path that gently ascends Pen y Fan’s western slopes is part of the Beacons Way. It’s particularly well-constructed (I’ve driven on bumpier roads) and nearly always busy. Again, this isn’t a problem today. It means my little girl (and, perhaps more importantly, her mother) knows we’re not doing anything wild and dangerous. This is a family outing on a family…

NOVEMBER Great Gable Lake District Many of us are content to wear a poppy and observe a silence for the lives lost in conflict on 11th November at 11am. But every Remembrance Sunday a remarkable thing happens on a Lake District mountain. Hundreds of people gather on Great Gable’s summit to pay their respects at a remembrance service. Organised by the Fell & Rock Climbing Club there is often thought to be up to 1000 people in attendance. And yet, Great Gable, as you’ll probably know, is no easy hill. It’s a gnarly beast. A proper mountain. Nonetheless, on this one mountain, on this one day of the year, people aged 5 to 80 swarm up its rocky flanks in this anomaly of a pilgrimage. There are many routes up,…

For many young people, a week away in a residential outdoor centre is the first experience they’ve ever had of being in a wild place, of seeing a mountain or stepping foot off a path. It can be life-changing not just because it introduces them to something new, but because it can show them that they’re capable of things they hadn’t imagined. Outdoor residential centres provide jobs in rural areas, help teach respect for the outdoors and hopefully begin a lifelong love of it. But right now these residential centres are in trouble. For outdoor education the winter months are usually quiet, followed by a boom of school parties, youth groups, family trips, Duke of Edinburgh expeditions and skills courses from March to October. But in March 2020, this didn’t…

WHAT IS IT? A group of red and brown sandstones and shale found up the northwest coast of Scotland. It lies in distinctive horizontal strata, seen most clearly in Applecross and Torridon and spectacularly on Liathach and Beinn Alligin. WHERE? From the Isle of Rum in the south, along the Sleat peninsula of Skye and north along the mainland from Applecross to Durness. It’s divided into three subcategories – the Stoer group, which is the oldest, and the Sleat and Torridon groups. See The Old Man of Stoer, Suilven and the hills encapsulating the Bealach na Ba. HOW SLIPPY? Not very. A reliably grippy rock. AND ANOTHER THING The earliest signs of life found anywhere in Europe, primitive single-celled algal organisms called stromatolites, occur in Torridonian sandstone near Lochinver.…

SPIKES A typical walking crampon will have 10 spikes, with most of those pointing down. Crampons for steeper terrain will offer 12 spikes, with the front points being more horizontal. Specialist climbing crampons tend to have a more aggressive spike pattern, and may have adjustable and/or removable front points that can be adapted to the terrain. STIFFNESS The stiffness of the crampon is limited by the part that links the forefoot to the rear spikes – usually a metal bar of some kind. For winter walking more flexible crampons are fine and will fit a wider range of boots. For steeper or more technical terrain, stiffer crampons paired with stiff boots are required. BOOT COMPATIBILITY Crampons are often given a ‘C’ rating to indicate which boots they can be used…

As far as walking pubs go, you’ll find it hard to beat the location of the Ben Nevis Inn. Set in Glen Nevis, at the foot of the mountain, it offers a bunkhouse, a pint and good evening food after a big day out. The perfect setting to see out an adventure. The Carn Mor Dearg Arête is a big day out whichever way you tackle it. The usual route starts out at the North Face car park and loops back around, but ours starts out from the Glen Nevis side and literally finishes at the pub. This approach is far more interesting too. It starts by winding along the Steall Falls path before taking a sharp detour and climbing up through a remote and wild-feeling little coire, then scrambling…

Cwm Dudodyn is a hidden valley that rises north-easterly from Nant Peris to Bwlch y Brecan in Snowdonia’s Glyder range. As Welsh cwms go it has little to attract the walker. However, the trio of mountains that surround it are real Snowdonia giants and the walk over them is both tough and exciting. After a steep ascent beside the Afon Las through Cwm Padrig and past Cwm Cneifio, our way reaches the high-level Llyn y Cwn amidst wild and rugged Glyderau terrain in a breathtaking setting. From here we traverse the summits of Y Garn (947m), Foel-goch (831m) and Elidir Fawr (920m) in a spectacular skyline walk that has stunning views in all directions with the panorama to the east taking in the Ogwen Valley and the Carneddau range of…

1 SD698969 Your walks all start by the historic Cross Keys Inn, from where the mile-long sweep of Cautley Crag will grab your attention. You’ll also spot Cautley Spout as it tumbles 200m down a long shady ravine and this route climbs past the falls on the way up the The Calf – the highest summit in the Howgills. Cross the footbridge next to the inn and turn left on a good path up the broad glacial valley. Keep above the right-hand side of the beck and continue steeply uphill on a zigzag path up the side of the Spout, with several opportunities to peer into the narrow gorge. 2 SD680975 The path turns left at the top, crosses Swere Gill and continues along the west bank of Red Gill…

Just like a game of football, Wast Water is a lake of two halves. Wasdale Head has England’s biggest hills. The lakeside ones may be lower, but they’re just as challenging. Or perhaps more so: the shoreline below the Screes is England’s toughest low-level path, while the crossing of Yewbarrow is just as steep and scrambly as its neighbour Great Gable. For every 100 walkers on the steep, engineered path up Scafell Pike, the way past the pools and waterfalls of Nether Beck carries approximately nobody at all. Wasdale Head has, of course, its famous same-named Inn. Well, down at the other end there’s a matched pair: the Screes and the Scales. So when it comes to Wasdale, winter could be time to explore the Nether regions. ROUTE 10 The…

SOMETIMES MAKING ONWARD PROGRESS IN THE SNOW-COVERED MOUNTAINS REQUIRES SOME IMPROVISATION OF TECHNIQUE... RIDE IT? What exactly is going on here? That tiny green thing in the middle – is that a person? But why are they... riding the ridge? Well, that person is me, and I’ll tell you exactly why I’m straddling the snow like a novice cowboy. You see, I’d started out from a wonderfully solid and wide bank of snow back near where this photo was taken from. But as I’d wandered out along the ridge, it became narrower and softer. Far from being a reassuringly frozen crest of hardened névé, it turned out to be little more than a loose drift of snow shaped into a near-perfect arête by the wind, with anything remotely solid hidden…