Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2024 i Trail

GET 50% OFF Ordnance Survey All first-time Trail Subscribers get 50% off OS Maps, the Ordnance Survey’s digital mapping service. That’s the equivalent of 607 paper maps in your pocket! PAGE 26 There’s a statistic buried in the pages of this magazine that blew my mind – which is that 26% of respondents in a recent Lake District survey admitted to knowingly littering in the National Park. One in four people! I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I’m fairly confident not a single one of that 26% reads Trail, and equally sure that anyone who lists hillwalking as a passion would have answered ‘NO’ in thick capital letters to that question. There’s no doubt that our most popular mountain regions have started creaking under the pressure of visitor numbers,…

MOUNTAINS FOR THE MIND Ramsay’s Round is one of the great challenges of mountain running – a classic 24-hour endurance test, taking in 24 summits, including Britain’s highest: Ben Nevis. You need to be fit, both physically and mentally. Dan Beaumont, who had already completed the UK’s three other classic mountain running challenges – in Northern Ireland, Wales, and the Lake District’s Bob Graham Round – recently gave it a go. Having nailed the other three challenges inside 24 hours, Dan narrowly missed out on Ramsay’s Round due to “filthy” weather, but came away with great memories, not least meeting up with the run’s founder Charlie Ramsay both before and after his run. Charlie is still going strong at 81 years old. He created his ‘Round’ in 1978, when challenged…

WHAT’S A MISTAKE THAT YOU’VE MADE IN THE PAST AND WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM IT? MATT LE VOI WML, RCI & Director of Lakeland Mountain Guides lakelandmountainguides.co.uk I remember walking up onto Esk Hause in winter, a place I’d been hundreds of times so I was barely navigating. Before long I was in a whiteout with no reference points and feeling quite disoriented. I was actually so thrown by the conditions I thought I was moving up and right around to the back of Great End, and when the view cleared I was near the cross shelter so I’d gone up and left! This reminded me to not be complacent with my navigation when the conditions are marginal, as if I’d put some strategies in place early enough I’d…

Keela Belay Pro Jacket £120 A classic ‘belay’ jacket. It’s baggy, not particularly flattering, but ideal to pull over the top of your other layers – including a hard shell – to stay warm during rest stops, camps, and while belaying when climbing. The synthetic insulation means getting wet is not an issue. Salewa Pedroc 2 TirolWool Responsive Hybrid Jacket £220 Salewa’s TirolWool insulation does things differently. It combines wool from sheep on the alpine pastures of South Tyrol with polyester fibres and naturally occurring minerals to create an insulation that’s warm, breathable, and thermally regulating, even when wet. Rab Mythic Alpine Down Jacket £320 This is a prime example of why down remains a popular choice. It’s incredibly lightweight, yet astoundingly warm. It won’t be as tolerant of damp…

The high, rolling hills between Moffat and Peebles in southern Scotland offer a chance to gain the high ground with relative ease, then stride out for hours on end over long, broad ridgelines. There’s a sense of space and openness here that you won’t get in more densely-packed mountain groups, with fair-weather views rarely stretching less than 70km in each direction. There’s also a sense of remoteness and, although paths are testament to the fact that walkers do come this way, you’ll probably only encounter these rare beasties on sunny weekends. With A-roads and a single-track road behind you, the walk starts from a high point between the Talla and Megget reservoirs. It heads into the Borders Forest Trust’s Talla & Gameshope site, an area that, like the charity’s neighbouring…

TRAIL MAGAZINE 5 Peak District GRITSTONE EDGES The Peak District was the first of the UK’s National Parks, designated in 1951 following a Mass Trespass on Kinder Scout by locals claiming their right to access open moorland. Thanks to these early campaigners it’s now one of the most popular places for outdoor recreation in England. This walk spends much of its time on high ground, taking in the tops of some of the park’s finest gritstone edges on clear trails that wind across the windswept moor. This is rock-climbing country, and climbers flock from all over the country to pit themselves against the grit. Froggatt alone has nearly 500 graded routes, and nearby Curbar is home to the classic HVS ‘The Peapod’ – a crack wide enough to wedge an…

1 NY235297 Having caught the X4 or 554 bus north from Keswick to the Ravenstone Manor Hotel, walk to the driveway on the hotel’s southern side. Just before a large Forestry England sign for Dodd Wood, you’ll see two paths on the eastern side of the road. One heads south, parallel with the road; the other heads east, climbing steeply through the trees. Take the latter. 2 NY237297 Stepping up on to a level forest path, cross diagonally right to continue the climb. Go through a gate, stepping out into open country. Keep to the stony path, soon swinging away from the fence. 3 NY240300 On reaching the ridge – and your first view of Skiddaw’s western slopes – bear left along a less well-trodden path. This heads out along…

CLIMB A STAR OF THIS ISSUE P18 IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR PROPER ADVENTURE, VISIT BRITAIN’S MOST REMOTE PUB AND PENINSULA FOR A WILD WEEKEND OF WALKING. WALK IT The first thing you need to consider if you want to go to Knoydart is how you’re going to get there. Inverie is the only settlement, and with the nearest road being a hard 15+ mile trek over the wilds of the ‘Rough Bounds’, or a 30-minute ferry ride away, it’s an adventure just to reach it. But when you do, it’s obvious that’s what makes it so special. The inhabitants of Inverie have joined forces to create a community that thrives in this wild and beautiful place. Welcoming visitors from all over the world, Knoydart’s hospitality starts at the community-owned pub,…

Wow, you lot take some seriously good photos. As ever, we’ve had hundreds of high-quality entries to our Mountain Photo of the Year competition, which always makes the task of creating a final shortlist feel almost impossible. The 2024 standard has been as impressive as ever, from starlit wild camps and sparkling sunsets to cloud inversions and familiar landscapes dripping with drama, this final selection of 12 sums up everything we love about walking, scrambling and sleeping wild in the UK mountains. So now, it’s over to you. The public vote will count as one of the five final votes alongside our judging panel of Kat Lawman, Tom Bailey, Louise Parker and Nadir Khan; which means your opinion really could make the difference in terms of who walks off with…

Ownership of Knoydart has a complicated and interesting history. The largest of the estates has been owned by The Knoydart Foundation since 1999, a charity run by the community of Knoydart. The pub, too, has come under community ownership after a buyout more recently in 2022. Despite being cut off by road from the mainland, the community is thriving with its pub, school, post office, tea shop and regular year-round ferries. A hydroelectric scheme provides sustainable power and everyone is kept busy with tourism, hospitality, construction, forestry and farming. But the people of Knoydart have not always had it so good, with a long history of clearances by landowners, which forced the eviction of many of the Knoydart population – which at one time was almost 1000. There’s a strong…

■ GOOD HABITS Bodge a windshield for your stove from a sheet of tin foil. Cut enough to fit around the circumference of your biggest pan, allowing extra space for the handle and an overlap where the ends meet, then fold it over several times to make it more robust. Cut another section for the stove to sit on, reflecting heat from the ground. ADVICE FROM MOUNTAIN RESCUE “It may seem obvious but remember that the weather on the hills can be very different from when you arrive in the car park. On a recent search, we started out in lightweight clothing, but by the time we reached the missing group, we were in thick swirling fog and strong winds – we were met by some very grateful but also…

For a long time, the choice of insulation was simple: down or synthetic. The pros and cons of each were well established. Down insulation provided optimum warmth to weight and excellent compressibility, making down jackets the best choice for portability, and for the coldest temperatures. But it had one great weakness: damp. Get down wet and all its wonderful insulating properties would be lost. For wetter conditions synthetic insulation has always been preferable, the trade-off being that it tended to be heavier and bulkier. But with hydrophobic treatments for down, and technical developments in synthetic insulation, the differences between them are eroding. And with Mountain Equipment’s new Aetherm Precision Insulation in the Oreus jacket, these may have been erased altogether. Designed to be windproof, lightweight and packable, Mountain Equipment tells…

Owned by its community of roughly 110 people, the dramatically beautiful Isle of Eigg is dominated by mighty An Sgurr – a towering pitchstone monolith formed 58 million years ago by a volcanic eruption. Looking up at its sheer, columnar cliffs from the south-eastern approach, the 393m hill looks to be the preserve of rock climbers, but the ascent from the north turns out to be untechnical and surprisingly straightforward. An isolated high point, a rocky summit ridge leads to the real summit, with three precipitous cliff-faced sides and unrivalled views of the scattered Hebrides and mountainous West Highlands. On a clear day Rum, Coll, Muck, the Western Isles, Skye, Ardnamurchan and the mountains of Lochaber form a panoramic backdrop to the cliffs and coastline of Eigg. While the most…

TRAIL MAGAZINE 6 West Highlands ACCESSIBLE MUNRO ROUND The great expanse of Scotland poses the challenge of there being too much choice! Hundreds of bold sky-high summits and even more elusive, lower hills. On clear days, their isolated peaks and connecting ridges trace far-reaching 3D maps; enticing further exploration. Of course, many hone their focus on the list of distinct summits above 3000ft – the famous ‘Munro’s Tables’ identified by Sir Hugh Munro in 1891. And this particular walk from Glenfinnan Viaduct, at the northern end of Loch Sheil, enjoys a logical horseshoe route encompassing two characterful Munro peaks, as well as three more summits – all offering some of, perhaps, the finest views in Scotland. This route could be followed as described (anti-clockwise -providing a shorter, more direct ascent)…

9 NY287291 Turn left out of Skiddaw House, following the rough vehicle track north-west. 10 NY284298 After 800m, as heather briefly gives way to greener vegetation, take a faint trail heading north-east – back up into the heather. This climbs Great Calva’s south ridge, eventually reaching a cairn at the southern end of the summit area. Continue easily along the ridge to the main summit cairn. The views from here are extensive, taking in the North Pennines, the Galloway hills and, to the south, the central Lakeland fells, including Scafell Pike. 11 NY290311 Descend with the fence on your right. Cross the stile at a kink in the fence about 480m beyond Great Calva’s summit. A clear, but peaty path heads north. After about 200m, it swings north-west – wetter…

1 SH702459 Leave the car park and turn right. Go left at the end of the road and continue uphill. The road becomes a footpath and enters Maen-offeren Quarries, with big slate tips on either side. Bend left around boulders,with thickets of rhododendron to your right. Follow the path as it climbs through woodland, marked with a series of yellow-topped posts. At the top of the rise are remnants of an old tramway and a huge cable drum – this was actually the last gravity incline to operate in North Wales, transporting roofing slates up until 1976. Turn sharp left up a loose scree slope to gain a broad track. Turn right towards the old slate cutting mills but then go left almost immediately uphill along another track. This becomes…

1 SH683454 Leave the car park and go through the metal handgate, walking up the track beside the waterfalls into Cwmorthin Quarry. Turn left and take the slate bridge over the river. Pick up the clear track that winds around the western edge of the lake. Continue along the stony track beyond the end of the lake, which is edged with upright slate slabs, wired together to form a fence. These are distinctive to North Wales and are known as ‘crawiau’ (‘craw’ being a piece of waste slate). Pass the atmospheric ruined chapel of Capel y Gorlan, formerly a Calvinistic Methodist place of worship. Past the chapel are the ruins of Rhosydd Stables, built in the late 1850s by Rhosydd Quarry to house the ponies used to carry its slates…

■ YOU! We’re giving you the chance to vote for your favourite image now the final shortlist has been chosen, and the public vote will count as one of the five final votes alongside our four judges. ■ NADIR KHAN An acclaimed adventure sports photographer and filmmaker who specialises in mountains, Nadir’s photography is published in Extreme Scotland and Extreme Lakeland. ■ KAT LAWMAN Winner of Mountain Photo of the Year 2022 with her shot of the stars aligning on Snowdon, Kat is a qualified ML, photographer and bookkeeper! @overthe mountainsunderthestars ■ TOM BAILEY Trail’s long-serving photographer has probably captured every mountain in Britain, and specialises in documenting people’s experiences in the outdoors. ■ LOUISE PARKER After several decades as Trail’s art editor, Lou knows everything there is to know…

Of all the creatures in our uplands, the contender for the gnarliest, most Trail reader-like mountain inhabitant may surprise you. It spends its life high in the mountains, night and day, rain or shine, or snow for that matter. Welcome to the ptarmigan. Before we go any further, it’s pronounced with a silent ‘p’, so it sounds as if you’re saying ‘tarmigan’. They belong to the grouse family and are a similar size, with a wingspan of 54 to 60cm. In the UK, they are only found in Scotland, high in the mountains, normally above 2,000ft, but in the west they occasionally inhabit lower elevations. They are ground dwelling and, consequently, their main defence is camouflage. In summer the body of a ptarmigan will be a mottled mixture of browns…

SCOT MOUNTAIN HOLIDAYS offer a 6-day Knoydart Winter Wilderness trip and bespoke packages. Find out more at: scotmountainholidays.com/tours_new/knoydart-winter-wilderness SAIL TO INVERIE: Several daily sailings from Mallaig to Inverie by Western Isles Cruises. Sailings take 25 to 40 mins. westernislescruises.co.uk/knoydart-ferry-timetable WALK TO INVERIE: 24.5km (15 miles) and 963m of ascent from Kinloch Hourn (hard, best done over 2 days, with a lovely wild camp spot at Barrisdale Bay). Or walk from Glenfinnan (40km, 1293m of ascent, harder than from Kinloch Hourn, generally done over three days). ACCOMMODATION: Knoydart campsite, Long Beach. Great location. Basic amenities with composting toilet, washing-up facilities. No electric or showers. £10 per night Also see the “Wee Hooses” and the Bunkhouse, all run by the Knoydart Foundation. knoydart.org…

One rainy morning in June this year, well before the summer holidays, Kate Appleby got a message from a friend telling her that he had found an abandoned campsite on a fell run and was unable to clear it all up. Kate pulled on her waterproof jacket, stuffed some rubble bags into an empty 65-litre rucksack and set off with a friend. A few hours later she arrived at a quietly rippling tarn, steel grey beneath the drifting clouds. The only sound was the wind sweeping between the hills and their own voices as they surveyed the scene. Beside the tarn a collapsed tent and two patches of scorched earth, with melted glass and metal mixed into the ashes, marked an abandoned campsite. A double air mattress and camp chair…

■ INTRODUCING AETHERM PRECISION INSULATION The most important component of the Oreus jacket is its Aetherm filling. Created with multiple strands of recycled polyester fibres interlocked within a reflective layer, Mountain Equipment’s patent-pending insulation means the unique 3D structure of Aetherm provides unparalleled performance characteristics not found in other synthetics. The Oreus provides exceptional warmth, is remarkably lightweight, highly packable, and feels more like down when worn. The interlocking recycled polyester strands allow moisture to dissipate rapidly and air to pass through the fibres to speed drying and retain warmth when wet. Because Aetherm is engineered as a flat sheet, it can be precisely used within the Oreus without the need for stitch-through baffles which can cause cold spots. ■ TREAD LIGHTLY As is increasingly (and quite rightly) the norm…

Yeti Rambler 532ml with HotShot Cap £30 Yeti has made a name for itself among style-conscious van lifers, and the 532ml (18oz if you prefer) flask would certainly be just the job for morning coffees on the campsite. Nor do you need to have a camper van – the Rambler has been designed to fit most cupholders. But, most importantly for hikers, it’s rucksack compatible too. The hotshot lid features a secure leakproof stopper which is removed to reveal an easy-drink cap, which itself can be removed for trouble-free cleaning. And it’s available in a spectrum of colours. Super Sparrow Straight Thermos 1000ml £32 In many ways this flask is a typical ‘thermos’ (with a lowercase ‘t’). It’s a double-walled, insulated flask that holds a litre of fluid which it…

Classic Eryri landscapes underfoot and for the eye; with rugged ground and dramatic views of familiar summits. If you fancy a change of scene and character, consider this outing from the village of Capel Curig (meaning ‘Curig’s Chapel’). Usually quiet, with a remote feeling that belies quite how accessible this high ground can be, this parade along the eastern reach of the Glyderau mountain range is well worth any slight detours from old favourites. Expect varied terrain, sometimes wet underfoot, but if you catch a dry day with good visibility, you’ll be well rewarded with glorious views to some classic Eryri mountains, especially a close-up look upon Tryfan’s craggy east face, on descent from Y Foel Goch. Capel Curig offers an excellent base from which to explore, where the rocky…

TRAIL MAGAZINE 4 Peak District MOORLAND CIRCUIT Autumn is the perfect time to visit the area near Longshaw, Padley Gorge and the Burbage Valley. You may be lucky enough to see (or hear) stags roaring their territorial claims during the autumnal rutting season as you descend moorland near White Edge Lodge. Then, a little-known craggy viewpoint overlooks the Derwent valley before more woodland descends to Padley Gorge. This contains one of the Peak District’s rare woodland streams surrounded by beautiful beech trees (and other deciduous species), and is particularly beautiful in autumn as the leaves turn golden auburn-brown. Rising above Millstone Edge, over heatherybracken moorland, you will pass the bouldery gritstone outcrop of Over Owler Tor, with a fabulous view out to the Great Ridge, Hope Valley and towards Stanage…

18 NY287291 Go through the hostel gate and turn right, following the property’s wall round to the right as you join a path heading south-east. This crosses a bridge and goes through a gate about 800m beyond the hostel. 19 NY237297 Immediately turn right, climbing beside a fence on the right. Skiddaw House, surrounded by a protective group of conifers, is visible to the north-west. After crossing a stile near the top of the first rise, head out along the Burnt Horse ridge. Lonscale Fell’s dark, north-facing slopes look formidable from here. Our route will climb easier slopes to the west of this, bypassing the craggy ground. Drop off the ridge into a slight dip where another stile is crossed. Head straight up the grassy slope ahead, beside the fence.…

1 SH705457 Leave the high street and walk uphill. Take the marked footpath at the end of the close. Go through the hand gate and continue along the path, with slate tips ahead. Go through a gold-painted hand gate and cross the track to pick up the footpath through a kissing gate, with slate tips on your left. The path continues around a small stand of spruce trees. Beside a barred gate leading into a field, take the left-hand track that climbs uphill through bracken. The path is marked with a yellow-topped post. Bear left at the marker post and head left of the slate tip ahead. 2 SH714461 Pass a small, roofed slate shelter at the top of the rise. You are now entering Diphwys Casson slate mine. Go…

KEY FACTS The Highlands of Scotland are full of remote glens and vast expanses of mountain solitude. These are harder to find in other parts of the UK – hard, but not impossible. The Carneddau of north Wales is one such place, where the wilderness of the Highlands peaks comes close to being replicated, and the great news for fans of narrow scrambling ridges is that it’s home to one of Eryri’s best. Also known as Crib Lem (and misprinted, deliberately or otherwise, on OS maps as Grib Lem), the Llech Ddu Spur climbs from the valley bottom near the head of Cwm Pen-llafar to merge into the northern face of Carnedd Dafydd, alongside the dark wall of Ysgolion Duon (the Black Ladders). The location alone is enough to make…