Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2020 i Trail

This is normally a time of year that feels like the end rather than the beginning, with the long days and hazy nights of summer vanishing fast into the rear-view mirror. But after the year we’ve had, this still feels like the start of our 2020 adventures. And a good thing too, because autumn brings unique qualities to the mountains. Be that the damp sponginess of the grass beneath your feet, that telltale chestnut tint starting to flicker across the landscape, the deafening honk of migrating geese, the roar of red deer, or simply the welcome sight of quieter footpaths as the crowds of summer disperse. And since we know you’re still itching to get out there and enjoy the last few mountain months of the year, we’ve given you…

THIS MONTH’S WINNER Am Basteir Isle of Skye “This is Hayden (age 13) on his way down from climbing Am Basteir and Sgurr nan Gillean via the West Ridge, which included an abseil on descent via The Chimney for some extra fear factor. A truly brilliant day – as ever in Skye when the sun comes out! This was his 208th Munro.” Des McDonald, Cumbernauld Tryfan Snowdonia “Here’s my 12-year-old nephew, Corey Morrison, from Stevenage, halfway towards conquering the North Ridge of Tryfan on his first trip to Snowdonia. ‘It’s a lot bigger than I thought when we were camped at the bottom!’ It wiped him out for two days but he loved it!” Sam Taylor, Cardiff Helm Crag Lake District “This is me, my fiancée Laura and our 18-month-old…

[SMASH THE SEASON] 8 WAYS TO PLAN GREAT AUTUMN WALKS 1 Start in the woods. They look great right now. The Trossachs in Scotland, Borrowdale in the Lakes and the Rhinogs in north Wales are all good for ancient woodland. 2 Camp high for views. Pitch your tent high up for glorious views and golden light as the sun sets. 3 …or camp by water. The reflections on a lake surrounded by trees will be beautiful, and the dawn mist rising off the water is something else! 4 Plan in a pub. And yes the double meaning is intentional. Plan your route from a pub (why not?), and make sure your day ends in a rustic, welcoming establishment with pie, fire, ale and dogs. 5 Catch the deer rut. It…

Is this the ultimate in down jacket design? Inspired by the 1970s ingenuity of its founder, Fjällräven’s new down range takes some beating. Let’s begin with a story… Over four decades ago, Åke Nordin, the founder of Fjällräven, found himself frozen to the core as he spent a miserable night in a hand-dug snow pit during a bitterly cold winter expedition in Sweden. He decided that, once the ordeal was over, he’d develop a jacket that made it impossible to feel the cold. The result was Fjällräven’s original 1974 Expedition Down Jacket; two down jackets stitched together. To commemorate Ake’s ingenuity, this winter Fjällräven is releasing a brand-new collection of cold-weather jackets under the umbrella of the 1974 Expedition Series, all inspired by the much-loved original, which still forms part…

Once you set foot on the Isle of Arran, you will vow to return and indulge yourself in all this small, but perfectly formed, island can offer the adventurous and wildlife-loving walker. But visitors to the Isle of Arran will respect this island’s communities and environment; treading lightly over the granite-topped ridges, heathery hillsides and sandy coasts. This linear, north-south journey, over the highest point on the island, will reward those who love to capture rocky architecture close up. And the sweeping mountain drama unfolds in Glen Sannox, like a beckoning lover. In their clutches, on your final, steep and rocky ascent up to Goatfell’s higher ridges, you are then released on to a curvaceous parade of granite tors, leading carefully to your highest point on Goatfell. With stunning views…

Ingleborough is an impressive mountain no matter what direction you view it from and is without doubt the finest of all Yorkshire’s tops. The iconic outline of the summit has had an irresistible pull on generations of hillwalkers, and the view from its flat plateau of the surrounding summits of the Yorkshire Dales and the distant Lake District fells is very impressive. Ingleborough reaches a lofty 723m and is the second highest summit in Yorkshire, with only neighbouring Whernside being bigger at 736m. Traditionally it is usually the last peak bagged by those undertaking the classic Yorkshire Three Peaks Walk, and what a finale it makes no matter how tired you are at that point in the 39km/24 mile challenge. This route ascends Ingleborough through traditional limestone country and is…

1 NY315169 From Grasmere centre (or Swan Inn) take 555 bus to Swirls Car Park (hourly, takes 13 minutes). Cross into the main Swirls Car Park east of the road. Ignore a track at the back right, and instead take a signed path from the back-left corner. The path is well built and well used. It crosses the lively Helvellyn Gill and goes up to the left of it, recrossing higher up below a waterfall gorge. The path zigzags up the bracken spur to the right of the gill. At the 700m level the spur steepens and the path threads between small outcrops, to arrive on the level spur above Browncove Crags. (Oddly, Brown Cove itself is 1 km to the east, on the eastern side of the main Dodds…

ROUTE 10Beinn Eighe ROUTE 11Liathach ROUTE 12Beinn Alligin Forget the National Three Peaks. Try taking on the three classic peaks of Torridon in one incredible weekend of ridge walking heaven – Liathach, Beinn Alligin and Beinn Eighe. These most ancient of peaks are framed with a backdrop of wildness rarely seen anywhere in Britain apart from the far north-west of Scotland. These peaks are huge, and they feel it. Over three days, you’ll climb 4000m and walk 40km across six Munros and two Trail 100 mountains. You’ll need a head for heights, strong legs and bucketloads of heart but you’ll earn memories to last a lifetime in return. The best order is to go east to west, starting with Beinn Eighe. It’s a long day and if you’re lucky, you’ll…

LAKE DISTRICT ST SUNDAY CRAG Part of the Fairfield massif, St Sunday Crag’s arrow-shaped summit sits apart from the famous horseshoe; the dot above the ‘i’ of the horseshoe’s western arm. To the south-west it narrows to a point, dropping in a thin ridge to Deepdale Hause. Two blunter spurs form the barbs of the arrowhead: the stubby Gavel Pike and Lord’s Seat to the east, and to the north the short, sharp drop to Blind Cove, beyond which the continuing ridge leads onwards, eventually depositing the walker in Patterdale at the shores of Ullswater. Seen from further north along the lake, St Sunday Crag forms such an intrinsic part of the skyline above Patterdale that it is occasionally and affectionately referred to as ‘the Ullswater Fell’. But this saintly…

THE NEXT GEN Nope, this image hasn’t been Photoshopped. Yes, there really is a 3-year-old on this knife-edge Alpine ridge! If you don’t see the family resemblance, this ultra-cool little dude is mountaineer- extraordinaire Leo Houlding’s son, Jackson. For his 40th birthday celebrations, Berghaus ambassador Leo was joined by his wife, Jessica, and their children, seven-year-old Freya and three-year-old Jackson. Together, they spent four days on the round-trip to climb the north ridge of Piz Badile, on the border of Switzerland and Italy, carrying all of their equipment and supplies, and staying overnight in alpine huts and bivouac shelters. Just your average family weekend away then! WIN! £130 MERRELL BOOTS Mountains for the Mind partner Ellis Brigham is giving away a pair of Merrell MQM Flex 2 Mid GORE-TEX walking…

I ’d never exercised intentionally, let alone gone up a hill ‘for fun’. So when two friends took me up Ben Lomond as a birthday present and a way to de-stress from the pressure of difficult professional exams, I thought I’d drawn the short straw! I’d love to say it was an amazing transcendent experience, but it wasn’t. I struggled the whole way up, not just with my fitness but also the stares – I was the only hijabi and the only brown person on the mountain. While I didn’t take away an instant love for hillwalking, I did take away a confidence in myself and my abilities. It wasn’t until I was going through a difficult time in my life, about a year later, that I returned to the…

The Lost Valley, Glen Coe. I had heard the name and jumped in the car purely on faith. It did have a lot going for it to make it a reasonably sure thing, of course. It’s smack in the middle of a mountain meat market. It’s got a name worth priming your glands over. There’s a famous, big mountain involved. It must be worth a 400-mile punt. My reasons for going to Glen Coe on this particular morning were just that shallow. You can’t give an impulsive wally like me a colourful book with names like The Lost Valley in it and not expect such a reaction. The more I read, the more the image galvanised itself in my mind. You don’t have to be Indiana Jones - or even…

Lumens a unit of measurement of brightness. In directional lights like a headtorch, as opposed to household light bulbs, the measurement refers to the amount of useful light in a 90º cone. Lux a measure of illuminance or ‘amount’ of light. One lux = one lumen per square metre. Direct sunlight is approx 32,000-100,000 lux, a full moon night is approx 0.05-0.3 lux. Burn time the amount of time it takes for a headtorch to drop from full power (30 seconds after being turned on) to 10% of its full brightness. Lighting distance the maximum distance the torchlight can travel before dropping to 0.25 lux. Wide beam a more diffuse, uniform light, best for close range activities like reading a map. Spot beam a narrower, more precise beam which covers…

As many Trail readers will know, there are three types of fun to be had in the great outdoors. ‘Type I fun’ is pure enjoyment all day long: an easy wander among the fells on a glorious summer’s day, with clear skies and views for miles. ‘Type II fun’ often doesn’t feel like fun at all. Sometimes, it feels more like suffering. But these are the epics that linger long in the memory: crushing your first graded winter route, dealing with the heart-in-mouth and hands-on-rock exposure of a tricky scramble, or triumphantly reaching a summit cairn in truly horrible conditions, buffeted by wind and blinded by spindrift. And then there’s ‘Type III fun’, which isn’t fun either at the time or afterwards, but which you chalk up as a learning…

At 850m Slieve Donard is the highest mountain in Northern Ireland, and it dominates the town of Newcastle in County Down. It is the focal point of the majestic Mourne Mountains and the magnificent Mourne Wall crosses its summit. Newcastle is a great base for exploring several mountain and low-level walks in and around the Mournes. The town derives its name from a tower house built by Felix Magennis in 1588 at the mouth of the Shimna River. Having been erected on the site of an earlier castle, it therefore became known as the New Castle. The early stages of this route rise alongside the gorgeous Glen River, its crystal clear waters tumbling from the mountain slopes. A superbly constructed path climbs to a saddle between Slieve Donard and Slieve…

Poor old Y Lliwedd. If it was in the Lake District it would be considered one of the finest peaks in the national park. Here in Snowdonia, Y Lliwedd is considered an afterthought, the last bit of the Snowdon Horseshoe, and as such is rarely climbed for its own sake. This sorry state of affairs is due to several factors; Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) towers 600ft above, it doesn’t quite reach the height of 3000ft, and across the cwm Crib Goch steals all the limelight from what is in actual fact a twin-peaked ridge mountain straight from the top drawer. This walk takes in two airy perches where you can peer, jelly-legged, down a 1000ft crag, an easy but exhilarating scramble, a quiet, seldom trodden mountain sanctuary and, if you’re that…

1 NY337085 The most convenient start is the large lay-by on the west s¡de of A591 at the north edge of Grasmere. Continue up A591’s footpath towards Dunmail Raise, then take the tarred driveway with the footpath signpost towards Winterseeds. Keep ahead between the houses into a field above. A faint grass track heads to right, through a gate, then up the left edge of a field to another gate. Now leave the track and head up to left of a wall to a kissing gate at the top of the field. 2 NY340090 Turn left above the field wall on a path between wide-spaced walls, with fine views across to Helm Crag. After a sheep pen, drop left to the confluence of Tongue Gill and Little Tongue Gill. Turn…

1 NG936566 The most intimidating of the three days. Check the weather forecast. Park in one of the lay-bys and take the path heading steeply north alongside the Allt a Doire Ghairbh, scrambling through a couple of rock barriers. Head to the top of Coire Liath Mhor where, below a large cleft in the mountain, the path turns right (north-east) and zigzags through rocky terraces. Be weary of using loose boulders for foot placements. The path eventually exits into a bealach. From there, turn right (east) to the summit of Stuc a Choire Dhuibh Bhig. 2 NG942582 Return to the bealach and continue up west. The ridge becomes blocky and loose. There is a shelter just before reaching the true summit of Stob a’ Choire Liath Mhor. From there descend…

One of the many things to be postponed during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic was our monthly calendar of Mountains for the Mind group walks, but thanks to the amazing work of the volunteers at Black Dog Outdoors they’ve been back up and running since July in smaller groups to comply with up-to-date government social distancing guidelines. But despite less participants attending each walk, there are now more events taking place each month, with a wider range of dates and locations to choose from. The aim of each guided walk is to spread the message that walking in the UK’s hills and mountains is great for your mental health, as well as to provide a safe and sociable group environment to do so, with each walk led by…

1 BOILING Reliable and simple If you’re carrying a stove. A 1-minute rolling boil kills protozoan parasites and most bacterial and viral pathogens. As my friend Huw would say, “lots of bubbles, no troubles”. Filter out any sediment before boiling and remember it doesn’t neutralize chemical pollutants. 2 CHLORINE TABLETS Chlorine tablets kill bacteria, viruses and giardia, but not protozoan parasites. They’re easy to use and popular for overseas trips - simply drop the tablet in water and wait. If the water is over 16°C then it can be safe to drink within about 30 minutes, but colder water may need to be left overnight. It will taste a bit like a swimming pool, so add squash for a better flavour. 3 FILTERS Filters tend to be lightweight, easy to…

TOUGHNESS For winter and mountaineering use where the trousers may be worn all day for clambering through snow and ice and over rock, it’s important that the fabric won’t tear or split. Heavier-weight fabrics tend to handle the abuse better, and some of the tougher trousers are reinforced around the inside of the ankle to protect them from crampon spikes. PACKABILITY Ideally, during warmer months waterproof trousers will spend much of their time in your pack. For that reason, it’s useful if they pack down into a neat, compact parcel that doesn’t weigh too much. ZIPS Zips down the outside of the leg make it easier to pull on overtrousers while wearing boots. Full-length zips that go from ankle to hip are the most convenient, while shorter zips that only…

There is fierce competition for the title of ‘best horseshoe walk’ in the Lakes. Do you favour the rollercoaster ride of the Kentmere Horseshoe? Or perhaps you prefer the ruggedness of the Mosedale Horseshoe from Wasdale Head, or the majesty of the Newlands Round from Little Town? Another strong candidate is this walk: the Coledale Round from Braithwaite, a highlevel, summit-bagging loop of Coledale Beck. It is one of the finest walks in the northwestern fells – and an efficient outing for Wainwright-baggers. There are many versions of the round, and we’re going to start with an ascent of the shapely eastern ridge of Trail 100 peak Grisedale Pike, where you are greeted with panoramic views over Keswick, northern leviathan Skiddaw and ahead to the brooding cliffs of Hobcarton Crag.…

Cnicht is almost 4000m lower than a famous mountain in Switzerland but its appearance, when seen from Porthmadog or Croesor, has resulted in it being known as the ‘Matterhorn of Wales’. It rises above oakwoods and old quarry inclines like a perfect pyramid and its name is thought to derive from the medieval word for knight – apparently it was thought the summit resembled a knight’s helmet. The climb from Croesor is straightforward and popular, with fine views over Tremadoc Bay and down into the arrow-straight valley below the Moelwyns, but there are other routes too. Gelli-lago might sound like an ice cream parlour but this old farmhouse on the lane between Nantgwynant and Nantmor is now a bunkhouse and the starting point for an interesting wild circuit from the…

ROUTE 7 Helvellyn by bus ROUTE 8 St Sunday and Fairfield ROUTE 9 Helm Crag and Langdale Pikes ULTIMATE WEEKEND ▲ 3 ROUTES The Trail 100 are the tops that gotta be got. And Grasmere’s got plenty of ‘em! Over three long days, you can start filling up your list with five big ticks on it. A bus ride up to Thirlmere winds you up, from where it’s a long ridgeline back again, even if it only takes in one of the crucial cairns. But that’s just the legwarmer for an intriguing outing to the north-east, and a little-used path up the side of St Sunday Crag for a look along Ullswater. Return by an airy ridgeline over Cofa Pike, and you’ve bagged a couple more. Finally, a long ramble…

Red Cuillin ISLE OF SKYE EXPERIENCED BY Oli Reed, editor I forget the name of the mountain summit I was gazing off the top of when a golden eagle flew almost beneath my feet, no more than 10 metres away, but in many ways the peak itself is irrelevant. We must have seen six golden eagles that day on a cracking horseshoe route through Skye’s hugely underrated Red Cuillin hills. As we stopped for lunch on a claggy summit, I walked to the edge of a crag and gazed into the murk for any sign of a break in the weather. What I did see was a lone golden eagle drift silently out of the grey swirl, incredibly just a few feet lower than where I was standing, so close…