This looks tasty

This is an e-mail from (www.nav4.co.uk) sent by Paul (paul@teamhaglofs.com). You may also find the following link interesting: http://www.nav4.co.uk/heb2b/nav4-12

Tour de Helvellyn       [en hiver]

The inaugural event took place on the shortest weekend of the year. Despite early morning snow and blizzards, the organiser – Joe Falkner managed to keep things going, out of the 80 odd potential entrants 59 started, which was a credible effort considering the difficult travelling conditions. So with full winter conditions in place the event started with staggered start times between 7:00 and 9:00am, albeit with some late arrivers due to the snow. The forecast for the day was good, so Joe stuck with the full-route course, a respectable decision, as we were all up for the full adventure! The race started in Askham, (nr Penrith – yes it is miles from Helvellyn!), but it was straight on to the north east fells, heading west to Howtown. First checkpoint at Martindale Church, then over Boredale Hause to Patterdale and Glenridding another CP here. The whole place was deserted, with the snow lying we were afforded some extra special vistas. No time for picnicking though!



Starting relatively late on and with the benefit of keeping up a pretty good pace, it was quite pleasing passing runners, in my usual style the descents were done at a semi-lunatic speed as this affords maximum thrill – especially in the snow! By Swirls car park in Thirlmere there was only one set of foot prints in front – I had made an identification… Inov8 Rocklites, size 9.5, male Caucasian, 5’ 10’, 160lb. After 2 more miles of intrigue the perpetrator was ahead, filing water bottle from a frozen stream – busted! (and on that subject - 37 miles and only being able to get water which is so cold it burns was really, really unpleasant!!! A hot drink is promised next year I believe!). At Dunmail (where I had met this other guy with the Rocklites) we had confusion trying to find the CP, we had both assumed Dunmail bridge as the FB over Raise Beck (at Dunmail). Being in a rush at the start and being lazy, I had not bothered to mark the map from the CP GRs provided, eventually in this case the CP was found to be 3/4km back on the bridge at Birkshaw Gill – how annoying! We both um’ed and ah’ed and then thought bugger it, its a long enough trog without adding more to it, so we unilaterally decided we would push on and vouch for each other if quizzed, thankfully later-on at the end no one was particularly bothered.



The climb up to Grizedale Tarn was ice ridden and here some form of grip would have been helpful (I knew I should have put the Katoola’s in! …along with the flask and the…). It was not long before Tarn was reached – nicely frozen too! Another quick descent lay ahead into Patterdale. I was eating well and this kept the energy levels up – which I have to say is key to keeping going on these long events! …this enabled me to maintain good physical and mental alertness – so being sure not to miss the Patterdale CP – which was identified as ‘Church (manned)’- however there was no one about outside, so what do you do? - you go in of course …only to find ‘erm’ no marshal, but instead a church service underway. Best leave! ....there he was over the road! The route then retraced the same path back to Askham, still a way off but it felt like the home run! I dug in and tried to maintain a run up Boredale Hause, but had to give in to a walk about halfway, the views where breathtaking, so I few snaps where taken - no time to hang around though, as there was a cold east wind that was biting through my moderate (but very effective ‘Haglofs’) clothing; I had a bunch more spares in the rucksack though. No other runners around now, in fact no one around! it was tempting to ease up and coast along, but I was keen to get back to the warmth before dark, so kept pushing the pace.



The lights of Askham were eventually in sight, it was just after 4:00 when I turned into the village hall. A pleasing time of 7.23, I did not know whether this was the fastest time, but knew it was pretty quick, eventually a couple more runners turned up, one being Pete Waywell , who had set off late, after some sums his time was worked out as 7:27 – a relief for me and glad I kept on pushing hard. Full credit to Pete though, I always thought of those ‘Wesham’ boys to be road-runners!



This event has the potential as a classic, needing much respect and resilience. Good work Joe!



[photos to follow]

Open 5 - Slaidburn [...and a Win in the Male Solo!]

The first of this seasons Open 5 events (1 of 5) kicked off in Slaidburn today boasting a record number of competitors - 330, proving the Adventure Race bug is spreading! For those not familiar the O5 is a 5hr Run/Mtb navigation event, you plan the routes and distance to suit your preference, so it can be quite tactical. The Haglofs team were in full representation. The sun was shining, however underfoot/tyre conditions were not unsurprisingly muddy, with the run section taking in the local farmland surrounding Slaidburn (which can make for surprisingly tricky navigation!) and then venturing [for the keen] on to the top of Waddington Fell. The cycle took us on much familiar ground primarily being spent in Gisburn Forest, featuring a lot of the red route, local knowledge (for Mick and Alex) was a slight help here - i.e. knowing when to take the faster forest road sections instead.

We collected some pleasing results, Alex did quite well in the Male Solo too and came away with a cheshire cat smile, getting 1st place!  

Happy Adventuring... next one in early Dec - NY Moors.

Dirty...?

Open Adventure - The New Season

The new season of Open 5 events starts this weekend on the 7th November 2010, We have a full compliment of racers. Paul and Alex doing the Male Solo categories and Karen doing the Female solo with Mick joining forces with John Murfin in the Male Pairs.  Hopefully we should have some new Blog material and an update on the how the racing went early next week.

The RAB Mountain Marathon 25/26th Sept  (Alex Pilkington)


Up in the Eastern Fells again …my 2nd visit this year to this area of the Lakes for a Mountain Marathon. The omens where not looking good for me on this years RAB as I was dosed up on Beechams trying to shake off a head full of sniffle and snot. Not doing it was not an option as the RAB is a favourite of mine – quite small and low key and a simple format – two classes: elite - 7&6hr and standard - 6&5hr, both score - which adds in the 3rd dimension (route planning) to the existing challenges of navigation and running. The weather on Saturday was crisp, clear and cold – the views would be stunning. The event started at Bampton, with the start a 30 min walk up the fell, all very simple and easy. The hard bit came when we dibbed and got the map – it went for miles going past Kirkstone and right up to Pooley Bridge, checkpoints everywhere!! It took a while marking on all the active checkpoints (about 30), I planned a rough route that was ambitious but do-able with a number of short cut options if needed, as usual all the plumbs where in hard to get places. The first few and last few checkpoints areas are always full of people, which makes finding it confusing and harder – I always make a hash of the first control, and in usual tradition I did this time - I ran up a hill to soon – only a small hill though which did not cost too much time or effort, eventually I was on my way nicely passing teams every now and then. The running felt good and my legs felt pretty strong, and as usual I tried to keep up a routine of eating and drinking (even though you don’t feel like it!).

After 3hrs in I got to Mosedale Cottage (a bothy), roughly where I reckoned to be and at the start of the fells proper. By now the big climbs started to take toll and my rate of progress seemed to really drop-off, at the 4-5hr mark I had to re-evaluate my route, being at Kirkstone, I was pleased to have got an juicy 50 pointer, but realised 2hrs was not that long to get over to Martindale and get to a checkpoint or two on the way. The fells suddenly seem to feel totally empty, no other competitors and no other walkers around. With these events it is strange how having ‘so much time’ suddenly turns into ‘so little time’, by the last check point near to Angle Tarn (on IHMR route) I had 12 min to do 3km, downhill on fresh legs may be a slim chance, but in my now wobbly state it took me 21 min – 9 min late back bah!, incurring 15pt penalty. The run in was entertaining as I kept getting passed by the same guy, there where lots of paths through the bracken and he kept getting the worst line – it felt to me like tortoise and the hare! Midway camp was in the beautiful and remote Martindale. The usually MM culinary delights where on offer (No Ansley Harriot this time though!). As the last teams came in the results where posted and up dated, to my surprise I was 2nd elite – surely not possible? (first was Steve Birkinshaw – which I was a little way off), I was getting passed by several teams in the 2nd half… so I thought I would be lower placed. (In the morning I found out I was in a more realistic 4th place behind Shane Ohly and then Tom Brunt).



I took a few extra luxuries this year, still managing a 12 litre sac though! I had a warmer sleeping bag (needed as almost a frost!) and a thermarest neoair (guaranteed good kip!) and of course my Haglofs kit, which performed fantastically in the varying conditions. Day two had start times from 7am to 9am, I was off for around 7.25, there was some cloud on the tops at about 600m, otherwise nice and clear. Marking up my map on day two, it looked a right mess - controls crossed out – lines here and there, eventually I had it marked (sort of like a 5yr old would do!) up and had a nominal route planned – a less ambitious route today! Everything felt good after getting warmed up (which took ages for the hands!). The route was kind of a reverse of yesterday, I laughed at the Angle tarn checkpoint - it was on the spur of land jutting in to the lake, this morning it was populated by 3-4 tents, wild camping – little did they know best part of 200-300 people would be running through their camp before 10am! At about 2hrs in, I met up with good friends Charlie and Nick (Ultra Runners), who where a bit lost trying to find a really obvious checkpoint on a stone wall!! Surprisingly they had a similar route planned to me and where going at the same speed so we ended up pretty much doing the remainder the day in a group (Charlie was really impressed with his route and thought it was unfair for me to follow them round!!), but it was good to be entertained by some simple (crude) Leeds humour! They also had a good stock of chocolate as well, as I had eaten all my stuff! We finished in fine style, with a few minutes to spare, managing to use up time to pick off a few low scoring (but worthwhile) checkpoints. After the usual plate of Wilfs/Scotts Bean stew we waited to see the results as the final teams came in, I was pleased to see that I was in second place on day 2, which brought me into 3rd place overall, which I was pretty pleased about considering the difficulties on the first day.

Pleased to finish.... ready for some food!

Tour de Ben Nevis

A quick drive up to Fort William last weekend as this little MTB race was intriguing me. One big lap of Ben Nevis, with a few sprints thrown in just like the real tour. My kind of race, it sounded like an Adventure Racing stage without the need to change kit and go running afterwards.

It was billed as a race with the cotton wool removed, and it had things like survival bags and maps on the kit list. Great! In reality, the course was pretty well marked and marshalled, albeit no quite the same as a lap based race.

I paired up with Si Bullock for this, as it would be a bit more social and we would push each other on a bit.

We started in Fort William and were to go round the Ben counter clockwise. Starting with a long climb on a road with a 1km sprint special stage near the top. Si was taking his time to warm up and we lost the leading few riders slightly. Heading to Kinlochleven Si shot past me on the rocky downhill, as did the talented team Orange rider Hannah Barnes. I made a note to myself to sort my downhill skills out as I saw Si casually waiting for me at the bottom.

Shooting up hill fast and furious the course eventually turned into bog and we were hiking about 6km in the rain but pushing hard, as this was a timed special stage too. After that the final third of the course was  flat out fast making our legs sting as the finish seemed quite close.

We finished in 4 hours 44 min, 10th overall and winning pair. We were really pleased with this and the smart slate trophy we picked up. Maybe we could have been quicker, but we didn't care. It was a great race, and one for the highly recommended list.

Check out www.nofussevents.co.uk and the sweet video below from the folk at www.mtbcut.tv 

Not all the Team Pulled out of Terrex

Poor Mick's bad luck with his eyes was an unavoidable situation that tested us as a team to the full, both getting him and us off the mountain safely in a howling gale and then working out waht to do next having had no sleep for two days and two nights! So how the race went for Karen...
Here's my race from the beginning, including the drama, the tears, the smiles, the hard push, the feeding, the weather and the chaffing!!!

I was quite stressed running up to the Terrex with one of my jobs testing me to the full, so I was actually quite pleased once I had packed (the cat wanted to join me!) and started the drive up to keswick. I was supposed to be there Wednesday evening but finally got there Thursday lunch time, just in time to watch the boys finish marking up the maps and then registering at the Planet Fear shop, picking up last minute kit and re-packing my stuff into the Haglof's tranistion bag.

The prologue started at 7.30pm and was a relay. I was to do the run/swim leg. I am not a sprinter by any means of the word so the run out to the lake was a little fast for me and I got over taken but kept my position in the water (just) and dragged my soggly body back into the changeover. The whole prologue only took us 1 hour and 12 minutes and the winners took an hour so we had to trebble our time difference to find out how long we had to have in a "time out" section half way through day one of the main event. Next was a pub meal and early to bed as we had to be at 4am.

My alarm did not go off and I was woken at 4.30am, so now only had 15 minutes to dress and get a coffee and make sure I had my water bottles filled and kit ready to go. Luckily kit was done the night before, I missed the coffee, dressed and ran (well jogged) to the bus in town that was to take us to the start. I had forgotton to fill the water bottles!

THE START - Moorcombe Bay - we were gonna run across it, round it and through the sand, and sea for 25km. I pannicked. I cannot run on the flat and hate running on beaches, not a good start! Paul didn't believe me (he thought everyone can run, especially on the flat!). No - I avoid tarmac and flat running like the plague, it hurts my hips from about 10 minutes in, this was gonna hurt big time! We were told to run out to sea till  we saw some laurel bushes and to follow them, I had no idea what to look for on this bleak landscape of muddy sand and shallow water, but sure enough we came across some laurel bushes (well more like twigs!), do they grow there? Or does this "Queens Guide" plant them (we were told a "Queens Guide" was on hand to guide us through the quicksand). Anyway, we plodded on at my rather painfull slow plod. poor Paul was going out of this head with panic at my speed, I was going too slow for him to cope with, he kept counting teams behind us and telling me we were nearly last. Not a great way to start a three day race so i told him to stop being so negative and live with my speed as it will get me to the end and in two days time I will still be going at this speed and not to worry. He went off to take some photos and we all calmed down and settled into my pace!! We eventually got to the transition after about 3 hours of plodding and now had to sit down and serve out 36 minute time penalty. excellent. we had a few sarnies and cups of tea and a team chat and got on the bikes (at last!) for satge two - an epic ride that turned out to be about 15 hours!

STAGE TWO: BIKING: After a few hours I started feeling very unwell, I felt so bad, why did i feel this bad 6 hours or so into a race, I hadn't gone off too fast, i'd eaten, drank, it must have been the sand!!! Alex pushed me up the hills (why was i so bad on the bike - my best discipline - agh!). We (well the boys) had to make some new descisions based on our new slow speed to cut out a few tacticle checkpoints so that we got to transitions in good time and not try and do the whole course and chase cut offs - we were too slow. I of course went into my usual downward spiral of blaming myself for letting the team down. I moaned, cried and moaned some more all the way round a run orienteer section that was tussocks from hell and alot further than I was promised!!! My tummy was so bad i had to hold it whilst walking (couldn't run) but we eventually got through this run from hell in the tussocks from hell, whist cursing the event planner!!! We then went to a pub for a much needed toilet stop for me and a drink and some crisps to plan our next move. We biked some more and I stopped eating my home made cake - it worked, my tummy started to feel better, i perked up, smiled, joked, biked better - the cake was under cooked - what a plank i was - should have stuck to sarnies!

STAGE THREE: KAYAK:We had a fantastic stage three - in the boats on coniston with a moon, flat mill pond waters and stars, we needed no lights, just the eerie glow of glow sticks on our boats as we sped up the lake. We overtook loads of boats, this was a boost, we loved our stelth boats and we all felt good at last. Smiles all round.

STAGE FOUR: RUNNING - the run was over Furness Fells and none of us had been here before and it looked like a short hop to the next stage - oh how wrong we were - gorse, rough wet tussocks, night time nav errors and nearly an hour to find the first check point - but then again most of the field seemed to be up here doing the same headless chicken act as us! We found it eventually and found a good track off the hills, had a 10 minute power knap in he woods and got to the next transition in good spitits even though it had started to rain. This transition had some tents with mattresses in, a toaster and cups of tea, heaven, we went for breaky and short sleep. We all passed out immediately and enjoyed an hour of heaven in the dry tents.

STAGE FIVE: Kayaking on Windermere: this was a long one, we worked it out to be 33 km of kayaking or was it miles - either way - a long way with only a few nodding dog sleepy moments - so hard to stay awake when sitting down! Wine gums got us through with a few pro plus tabs to boost the heart rate to above sleep levels! It rained like a monsoon on and off all the way up Windermere, but we were warm and feeling good.

STAGE SIX: A short and easy bike ride, except we had a minor hicup in the middle when Paul stopped for a "comfort break", I waited at the next junction to let him know we were turning right, I saw him coming up the hill and he acknowledged me and the right hand turn so i sped off, forgetting to stop at the next junction cos I thought he was right behind me, oops - I went back for him (he'd gone the wrong way but realised and came back) so we went on and at the next junction there was no sign of the other two and Paul and I had no map or any clues as to which way they went. Paul hunted through his bag and found one of the other maps with just a bit of this section on it and we worked out we had to turn right just as loads of teams turned up and turned right - we found the other two at the next junction - I had a teddy's out the cot moment and told them off for leaving us, completely fogetting that I had infact just done the same to Paul moments before. we all forgot about it quickly and carried on feeling fit and fast on the bikes and ready for the next big mountain stage!

STAGE SEVEN: A quick change just before the rain started and we were off onto the Langdale Fells for a spot of scrambling and a long night section. We went up Easy Gulley instead of Jakes Rake as it was changed at last minute and then out onto the fells, following a bit of BG routes and picking up our chosen control points, we were going to do a shortened version and get to the abseil somewhere near Scarfel Pike in good time to get off the fells about midnight. The scrambling and running was fantastic, I felt great and my running was going really well. Alex was still able to tow me up the uphills to keep our speed a constant steady one, we were all eating and drinking well and having a great time, we were nearing half way through the event. As dusk fell on us at the base of a massive gulley and scramble that eventually bought us out on Scarfell Pike. I have no idea where we were as I never saw the map! A very wiered experience and am not sure I like not knowing where I am and where I am going. Especially as the clag rolled in, the wind picked up to gale force and the rain was again monsoon like. Just as we were clambering over the boulders on Scarfell Pike, Mick commented on his health. He was having trouble seeing through one of his eyes, it had all gone blurry and he could not define where he was putting his feet. We decided this was a bad way to be and we should not be dragging him over rocks and boulders where he was slipping over alot so we headed straight for the path off and down to Langdale. Unfortunately this took a very long time, trying to spot cairns in the bad weather, keep Mick up right and in good spritis (which must have been hard for him with his eye sight shutting down and having no idea why!), we were moving so slowly by now we were all frozen and wearing everything we owned. I was scared of our situation so I think Mick must have been petrified. About 3 hours later we ran into transition at the pub (which was shut!) to find the place teaming with people trying to sleep in bivi bags in the pooring rain. There was no space at the inn so we bedded down in our bivi just outside the toilets, froze for half an hour before Alex and Paul got up and went to find somewhere for Mick, they put him in a support van with the heating on. They then spent the next hour trying to persuade me that my bivi in a puddle was not the best place for me, i was going hypohermic and I then got put in the van to recover too. At day break the medics looked at Mick and in the end the descision was made to pull him from the race to go to hospital, he had green gunk coming out of his eyes. he was gutted and a broken man, I felt so bad for him I couldn't hold the tears back.

STAGE EIGHT: We silently packed our bags and got on our bikes with a last hug for Mick and went out into the pooring rain and cycled to Ambleside to find a cafe and think about what to do next.

CAFE: wow this was a good idea, the bacon and egg sarnie and capucino was heaven. Alex had a slight co-odination problem and tipped his full english all over his lap. The owner took one look at us and bought him out another one free of charge. How nice are people just when you need it.

An hour later the sun had come out and we had the daunting prospect of cycling up Kirkstone Pass on the famous road climb "The Struggle". To be honest I thought it would beat me, bash me, ruin me and throw me onto the tarmac, but there was a film crew half way up and I stormed it - no dibs down and just span it out all the way to the top with a head wind. And it it didn't even warm me up much. We were so unable to generate heat in our bodies by now that sweating was a thing of the past! The Struggle is so much easier on a mountain bike, I had only ever been up it on my road bike. I loved it, I was on a high and I felt good. next up was a long roady ride to Pooley  Bridge (we had cut this section short to miss out going over High Street in a massive head wind).

STAGE NINE: At Pooley bridge we found Alex's wife and kids, sun and food from a farmrs market. Excellent! Apart from the fact that we now had a small problem of two, two person kayaks and only thee of us! We had to wait for a team who also had gone down to three people so we could combine our resourses and paddle as a three boat possy. team May Contain Nuts were the unfortunate victoms and we spent a few confusing minutes trying to work out what to do. Their team member would paddle if they needed him, Alex would paddle if we needed him but was going to pull out of the event (very dissapointing as it flet like our team had given up) and Paul suddlenly decided he didn't want to paddle a necky boat and pulled too. I was suddenly Team haglof Uk all by myself. I joined May Contain Nuts and we formed "May Contain Haglofs". we used our Tahe Marine boats (the boats all teams seemed to like as they were such good looking boats), I teamed up with Maria and the two Matts went in the other. I said good bye to haglofs and got on with my race - I needed to finish this thing I had started if it was going to kill me. Alex, Paul and Mick may have got me through the first two days but I now needed to get through the next two with people I did not know and who did not know me. Very wiered changing teams, learning new dynamics, changing their dynamics and fitting in. Maria and I got on very well from the start, although she was so cold from lack of sleep (they had probably only had an hour and a half since the start), when we got to Patterdale at the end of the lake after being blown there by a supperb tail wind she was so cold a marshal had to give her a fleece to wear. We had a confusing time in transition as no one could get our dibbers to swap into new team and we lost all our points from the last section  in the confusion, so the marshals had to add them on manually later. we eventually left.

STAGE TEN: Running up and over Helvelyn via Swiral Edge, into a fierce headwind but thankfully dry. We plodded up here with Team York Mountaineering and night three started to close in as we came off Raise. The veiws were so vast and clear from the storm clearing all the clouds and hase away we didn't use head torches untill about 10pm. Another magic run and I felt stronger and stronger as the run went on, I felt on fire, so different from the first day when I could hardly move forwards. Why do I get better the longer these things go on? Mind you by the next transition I was ready for a hug and luckily we bumbed into a mate who obliged. What a buzz seeing friends, thank you Mike for the hug - it worked. well along with a bit of tea urn hugging. I had now perfected the art of urn hugging to warm up - the organiser james decided I had a fettish for urns, well maybe I do now - they are good hand warmers and they make tea!!

STAGE ELEVEN: More biking. This time I decided two pairs of cycle shorts would be needed, it was cold, i was frozen (apart from my toasty warm hands) and i didn't need to sit on a bike for another minute let alone another few hours! We cycled off on a very nice track but poor Maria was having her bad moment and could not cycle properly for it, the boys were also so tired that they couldn't cope with her moment and it all got a bit tense. I decided not to add my input as I was the outsider along for the ride and they needed to sort this themselves, this was a hard thing to watch and I am so glad it did not happen in my team. Eventaully they all decided that bitching about it was the way forward, it was even more difficult now and for the next few hours the boys blamed Maria for ruining their race and Maria went from bad to worse so we headed for the last transition and a sleep. We unfortunately beat our transition bags there so we had a freezing cold sit in our survival bags with a little help from the marshals who felt sorry for us not having our kit with us, we got tea and coffee and cheese on bread sticks. How nice were they. A few hugs from them and a sleep of about an hour and a half and we woke the boys at 4.30 am to set off for the orienteering.

STAGE TWELVE: The boys were still a little angry and irrational so i stuck my oar in and said that a few positives in the chat may go a long way so after a couple of mnutes of sulking and then alot of going wrong on finding the first check point and we all started laughing and smiling again - phew - I can deal with smiling and laughing alot better! And we were so close to the finish. Eventually we found (well the boys found) all the check points and we all cheered up.

LAST STAGE: back to the transition and onto Canadian Canoes and a gentle (you can never seam to race a candian canoe on flat water!!!) around Derwnt water in the morning mist with the sun rising and ever warming us into an hysterical paddle for all of us. We all went completely doolally, not being able to string a sentance together or even remember our own names, we were so happy and laughed alot at everything and everyone around us - we were gonna finish this race!

We landed the baots after about 2 hours of paddling and ran through Keswick to finish all holding hands and hugging at Moot Hall.

Alex was there to meet me. We got a finishing medal and more improtantly a bottle of bubbly. I drank alot of this - mainly to ensure I did not get into my car and try and drive! I drank 3/4 of the bottle before I managed to pull myself away from the finish line and get to a shower and back for lunch with haglofs and the prize giving. I spent the evening in the pub with lots of teams and marshals - a perfect ending to a fantastic event.

So - thank you Haglofs for believing I could do this, thank you Alex, Paul and Mick for helping me get through this (next time I would love to finish the race with you as I think we make a good team and a very well balanced one - even with me in it!!) and thank you Bruce (course palnner) and James (the guy who made it all happen!), all the marshals for their smiles, hugs, tea and support, it goes a long way and I hope I looked like I appreciated it at the time, cos I sure did. Also a big thank you to Team May Contain Nuts (Maria, Matt and Matt) for letting me join them and continue my quest to bury the dissapointment of Mick's unfortunate early retiral and from a few years ago to bury the demon of not finishing one of these events in Scotland - i have now completed an epedition race and I have swollen ankles to show for it!

You can see all the videos HERE

The decision to quit

A few hours have passed since we pulled out of the race. The News is that Mick's eye infection is not serious and no damage has been done.

The team were moving well during the second night of the race, and we had every reason to be very positive.

After reaching the summit of Scafell and experiencing the full force of the foul weather we decided that making progress through the checkpoints was to be a pretty fruitless task, and that we would be better off hot footing it back to transition. Then getting on with the rest of the course before the weather had the chance to take its toll on our bodies too hard. I think it was a good decision, and would have probably seen us well set for strong final day without having lost that much (if any) time.

Mick had started to complain about his eye sight almost as soon as we started to descend through the boulder field. He was complaining about the depth of his vision, and was struggling to see where to put his feet. He was walking by feel and every step became a fumble. We had no choice but to wrap up in all our clothing to stay dry and slowly make safe progress off the mountains.

Moving slowly but consistently we made it back to transition at about 2:30 am. Like every other team, we were cold, but we were not too tired. Before Mick's eye problem our plan was to transition fast and to go off on the bikes fully clothed and looking for a warm place to stop and eat. Sleeping in these conditions is always a bad idea, as it often makes the situation worse. Because the body is so fatigued, despite wrapping up in all available clothing, survival bags and shelters you will still wake up shivering having had virtually no quality sleep.

With Mick's eye we had no choice, the medic advised us that it needed rest. We bedded down in the soaking conditions knowing that although Mick's eye would be closed and more comfortable, we would all be quickly getting hyperthermia with a rapidly reducing set of options to overcome it.

Sure enough, an hour later we all woke up shivering in a pool of our own condensation in the inside of a foil survival bag, the rain had by now, and despite our best efforts, soaked another set of clothing.

The Decision

For me the game plan was pretty simple. We had to get warm and dry. As there was nowhere at the transition for this to happen, we had to go off on the bikes and find somewhere. Once warm and dry, perhaps in a public toilet, B&B, cafe, or bus shelter, Mick could rest properly and we could make a level headed decision in the morning. Alex and Karen, and to some extent myself, were keen to move off towards Ambleside in search of this warm and dry place. Mick seemed to think he could ride a bike, but  to my mid this was a risk as we could find ourselves in a position where Mick could not ride his bike, and we would be a significant distance from any support if we needed to retire.

It was now about 5am, and the Stickle Barn cafe would not open for another 4 hours, by which time our hyperthermia would put us out of the race anyway. We were initially told the barn would open at 7am, making a tempting option of waiting for it to open, getting warm, sorted, take stock and make a decision purely on the eye and not hyperthermia as well.

We decided to move out of transition in search of somewhere warm, now thinking that the daylight would enable Mick to see better and the improving weather, mixed with a bit of physical effort would start the defrosting process. We had lost all hope of maintaining a reasonable race position now, so the decision to continue was purely a self preservation one, as even quitting the race at Langdale would mean a lot of time getting colder and wetter. We agreed that if we could not find warmth, or indeed that Mick's eye was too bad to cycle safely that we would call the emergency number or the emergency services.

Just as we were preparing to leave, another medic with more experience of eyes had a look at Mick's eye. James Thurlow came to advise me that she suspected an eye infection and recommended immediate treatment at a hospital. That piece of the puzzle was all we needed to hear, you would never risk anyones' sight for anything, least of all a little race in the lake district. Mick went to hospital, and the three of us rode to a cafe in Ambleside, on route to Pooley Bridge.

The race report on sleepmonsters.co.uk suggested that we were "not capable" of making the decision. I think this was very unfair, as the decision was, until the final assessment from the new medic came, about the choice between hyperthermia while Mick rested the eye for a while (as recommend by the medic), or to avoid hypothermia but potentially being stuck on the route with a semi-blind team mate and an epic retirement process ahead.

You don't just quit a race like this. There are so many things like this happening to all the teams that you really need to try and stay in the race, stay strong and healthy, well fed and hydrated and keep moral high. Adventure Racing is all about the team against the mountains, and the mountains always win. We aim to take pleasure out of our battles, and triumph comes through overcoming adversity, but there is always adversity.

Easy life

Prologue done! Not looking too bad. 36min penalty to serve. Now having a good meal in the packhorse pub in keswick. Bangers and mash! Yum.
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Map marking

Well we have the route maps and the course looks great. Some epic sections! Lots of details to get our heads arround!

Look at the concentration.
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Climbing Kit

Well! The team climbing gear is all here. Harness, 2 carabiners, 1 belay device. Very light! Full run down to follow!
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OPEN24

So was it good training (the open12) for the open24 - yep apart from the weather. Team Haglof's (all four of us) took Friday off and went to north Wales for a few hours sea paddling the day before the race. Mainly to try our boats in some rough water and waves etc - the weather was like being in the med, sun and flat water. We paddled from a sea side cafe near Conwy and saw dolphins (porpoises) and seals, it was like being on holiday and we were all expecting this weather the next day for the start of the race. NO - it was pants weather! The sea kayaking was cancelled and another sea akyak section was added (Menai Straights) but we were bussed off to Anglesea for the prologue of an open water swim and some coasteering.... This was coasteering with jelly fish - loads of them! I had short sleeves and pannicked everytime I touched one - they are worse than seaweed on flesh!













We also got a lift in a large RIB boat through some massive waves to the start - what a roller coaster ride that was at the front of the boat....

The start was changed to a bike ride with a short run in the middle of it. My legs were back and I felt good. We then got to play in our boats in the Menai Straights, with a battle against tide and wind to start with but then turned round for a supperb surfing paddle all the way to Menai Bridge before a slightly better battle back against the tide to Port Dinorwick for another biking section. Poor Alex wasn't feeling so good (must have been all the sea water he swallowed) so I did quite a bit of the navigating on the bike but we finished with a massive uphill to Ogwen Cottage at the top of Llannberris Pass - just to kill our legs off before the night stage over the Glyders.

After not eating and drinking enough on the Open12 I had some new sarnies, a mate had suggested banana and peanut butter, umm these work for me - loved them. My other race favourites were the cheese and home made pickle and parma ham with cheese. I managed to eat and drink really well.

We thought we had picked a good route - untill we saw the path - or should it be a pile of rocks - we wasted alot of time clambering and scrambling and we couldn't find one check point of 15 points. Poor Alex did a big fall at one point and I thought he'd hurt himself badly but luckily there was just a few scrapes - phew - that would have been a major rescue.

We must have wasted alot of time on that section and by the time we got back to some better running ground we were exhausted but hooked up with mates Emma and Dave who had done something equally as rubbish as us and we all got back to transision about 9 mins late - loosing 18 points (all because we were looking for a 15 point checkpoint!!!!)

Next was another short bike ride, my legs stopped working here as it was early morning and I kept falling asleep, same on the next run too but got woken up by the time we got to a special stage in a mine - we had to nav down a stream, then we were let loose to look for checkpoints in a whole section of tunnels and caves, then we had to get in an inflatable before more wading to get out - it was excellent....

Then we were onto our last biking section (with a special stage of some orienteering in the middle of it). My eyes kept shutting and I kept falling off my bike going up hill as I kept falling asleep. Loads of people overtook us - not fair - am not used to that so much on my bike! We did ok when we got onto singletrack (lots of the checkpoints were on the the Marin trail at Coaed y Brenin - this woke me up and I loved the riding - happy again - but as soon as I hit a fire road uphill again I would fall asleep and loose all power in my legs - eventually i ate some jelly babies and this did it - i was back, we plodded round the short orienteering route and then flew back down to the finish (we should have done the medium course as we had about 10 or 15 mins spare - bu*ger) - we came 5th and were only 15 points behind the team that were 4th - bu*ger!

We were extremely pleased though - and I have learn't to eat jelly babies earlier!!! Although as I said earlier the sarnies were wonderfull and as I liked the taste of my food for a change i ate well - just need to sort this falling asleep on boring uphills on bike bit now!!!

Open 12 - Wensleydale North Yorkshire - An Account by Alex Pilkington

Wensleydale paid host to this years Open 12 event, based from the idyllic dales village of West Burton where nothing much happens. It is however famed for its village green & coyts ground together with a fiercely competitive local team, so when the Open Adventure team arrived it added a whole bunch more of competitive teams! The weather for the weekend was to be sunny and hot all the way! The format of the event was kept in suspense until the briefings, all we knew was that it was going to involve an overnight camp somewhere, getting wet (possibly more than once!) and either a climb or abseil.

We split into pairs for this event, so I partnered Karen and Paul and Mick went together. This was my first taste of a ‘proper’ adventure race, even though I do most of the sports in their own right I was really looking forward to this, despite it being just over in the next dale to where I live.

The event on day 1 was 7 hours and it kicked off with a run stage, which was located on the beautiful Wild Boar Fell, the team decided to operate as a foursome in preparation for the Terrex, because we had not competed together as group before it would be good practice. We where well matched and completed the run stage in efficient style in about 2:20hr collecting all bar two check-points. This led us into the first special stage – Hell Gill… with water levels low, the gill was all but a trickle, and this is Yorkshires answer to the Verdon! We dispatched this little teaser in a little over 20 minutes, collecting two 50 pointers, this brought us into the transition ready for the cycle. The nav options on the cycle where numerous, but we knew that a couple of checkpoints would have to be dropped. We worked out a good circuit that took us to all the big hitters, taking in some of North Yorkshires best trails, with views to admire [if only we had the time!] After a short but heavy shower we soon found that we had only 5 to get, with 2 1/2 hours to spare it did seem possible, but like all things done against the clock - time speeds up! and we knew we had to leave 30min for the final special stage, so this meant dropping a couple which as it happened where well out of reach. The finale to the day was the dive down to the bottom of Hardraw Force, 10ft under we had to dib the last checkpoint, this was refreshing and was a great way to clean the muck and sweat off. The day ended as good as it started, with a picturesque camp in the wooded glade below the force. We had our day 2 briefing as well, where I was sickened to be told that a 600m open water swim had to be done! This was my worst nightmare - swimming is not my thing! This was now on my mind...




Day 2 - we where greeted with a 100ft abseil, despite a long queue we eventually got our turn, it was a tandem abseil and was all very safe! After an hour and half of waiting we whizzed down the rope, unhooked ourselves and launched into a 16k run, collecting a bunch of checkpoints along the way which meander west then east then up and over to Semer Water. The day was hot and as the run progressed the water started to become appealing, 2 hours later we where on the shore, I had worked out the swimming rucksac would be good (it had air in it). I paddle as far as I could, but the inevitable came and I had to leave the comfy mud bottom and swim, I did crawl, breast-stroke and some in-between stroke that I invented, it suit and it worked! and yes I was passed by a few people, but my goal was just getting across the comfort of the land! It only took 20min, so I was pleased, something I would never have chosen to do! Getting back on the bike felt great, the route home was straightforward, although one checkpoint was just beyond us. We crossed the finish in good style, with both teams finishing 5th in their respective category. This was a credible result despite Karen still having 'BG' in her legs and Paul coughing and wheezing all the way round. As usual the event was superbly organised with full credit to all those helping!

Alex Pilkington

LAMM start

With a leisurely 8:50 start time, we crawl out of the Haglofs camper van. We are on the score class. 7 hours of control hunting to come. Good luck to all!
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Karen's Bob Graham Round

We didn't make it - boo - but we both have a storey to tell!!!
Prep - we thought we were prepared - we had rece'd alot and helped on other attempts and been given out good luck cakes (thank you Karen Davison and Janet McIver)







Leg One - well before that - there was sooo much traffic on M6 we (me Alex and Paul) thought we were gonna have to change the start time. Luckily it all went smoothly and we picked Britta (Fellrunner and run247.com editor) and Ben (brittas boyfriend and superhuman runner) up at Dunmail and got to Keswick with 30 mins to spare - time for a few nervous toilet visits and a few photos and we were off. I was on such a high - everyone had said that by the time you get to Moot Hall for the start you should be bursting to run - I was - and the others had to keep reigning me in - i was far too enthusiastic but Britta kept me in check. Hillary bloor met us in the car park at the start of Skiddaw for a big cheer and a hug then Paul was further up the hill and we made good time up Skiddaw, the air was still warm and it was fantastic running with people carrying your stuff, feeding you every half hour and watering you every 15 mins. Ben opened gates and mended trekking poles and ran ahead to check things out - Support is great - i love it!!! We got to Threlkeld about 10 mins up and found our next crew plus a load of Macc Harriers waiting for some Stockport Runners. Paul Farmer (Alex's fiance) was there with our kit and food, yummy pasta and a cuppa coffee for me followed with some of Janets special coffee and choc and rum cake.

Leg 2 - Alex Pilkington and Paul Baker then joined us, Alex is part of my Adventure Racing Team (Team Haglofs)but we had never raced or run together before - i was keen to make a good impression as we were to be doing a four day event in August. Paul was a friend of Alex's who'd done a few rece's with her last year. Alex P knew the leg well and we had pulled him in on this leg late on thursday evening when we found out our navigator for leg 2 couldn't make it! Alex was gonna start at Dunmail with us. So thank you Alex for a rather late change of plan and for such a supperb piece of navigating us round the Dodds and onwards. We both still felt great and made good time on all our hills keeping to schedule. But just after Helvellyn I started slowing and feeling a bit yuk and not eating much, well i could put the food in my mouth but it sort of stayed there - i couldn't chew or swallow and by Fairfield i was in a right state - I hate Fairfield - it was sooo hard getting up that. Britta coaxed me up Seat Sandal and i felt a bit better going down to Dunmail. More food - i was fine - eating more pasta and changing some clothing, more coffee and some people to join us. Britta and Ben went home from here - thank you both for such wonderfull support.
Leg 3 - Paul Vousden and Mick Kenyon (both Team Haglof's) and Swatts (Stephen Watts - fellow Macc Harrier) joined us here and we plodded up Steel Fell. I gradually got slower as we made a descision to go up High raise before sergeant man and came off it wrong and started to slow down (well i did - but Alex was storming along and encouraging me), I kept telling Alex to start running her own BG and not keep waiting for me - we had enough support. By Rossett Pile she did just that as Stu Walker turned up with more water for us - we had a kit, water and food shuffle and I carried on with Alex P, Mick and Stu while Paul and Swatts ran on with Alex (who just bounced off into the distance like a real runner) - I plodded on behind getting more and more demoralised and sickly and felt really horrible. I felt like lead and couldn't eat or drink or smile. i swore alot and hated this leg with soo much passion I swore I would pull out at wasdale and never attempt it again. I even considered going off the hill earlier. The boys kept me going and ignored my whaling, tears, swearing and moaning and eventually after a minor breakdown on Scafell Pike I got to Broad Stand and found paul Farmer there with ropes and a camera - i found a smile and then loved the climb up broad stand and cheered up (mainly cos I knew I was gonna give up and get in a car at wasdale.
Wasdale - no one let me give up - Rachael and David Lawrance were there and they fed me bacon sarnies and tea (apparently they had fed bacon sarnies to alot of people and gone hrough 25 rasheds of bacon!), they found my clothes, packed me and my supporters off and sent me up Yewbarrow - apparently i was carrying on!
Leg 4 - God it sounds so short when you write about it - it is not short, it is not easy and at this point I wanted to die! but i picked up a bit and got up yewbarrow in good time. We had no navigator at this point but Mick had done this leg years ago and David and Stu got their maps out - luckily after a bit of search by David on top of Yewbarrow we found the top and then i discovered my new found eating plan - I can eat as long as I stop - or sit down - as long as I am not moving I can eat - luckily David had a rucksack full of cheese and pickle sarnies. And I remembered all the tracks and lines on all the hills - phew!
I had lots of sit downs for food and moaning but spirits started to get higher as i slowed down and started to recover - i knew I wasn't gonna make it and I had to crawl up some of the up hills as hands and feet were slightly more stable!!! I even made up a new website - "The Failed BGR" - people who have tried and failed can register their attempts, write a report, get a certificate it looks just the same apart form a big red FAILED on it!). Mick spent most of this leg persuding me to carry on at honnister as it would be good for me to complete it is one go. I knew he was right as this would mean that I then would never have to do it again - complete it - even outsie the 24 hours and i could walk away - but I had no energy or drive and I wanted to cry! The chatting and walking cheered me up though and I even ran down the last hill into Honnister and got into the car park and surprised everyone by announcing i was carrying on!
Surprised looks - they all thought I was bonkers - maybe I was - poor Alex had just pulled out so i asked her if I was bonkers - she said yes but do it - it will be good for my head. I felt great so I asked if anyone wanted to join me - no-one did so after tommy soup I put a rucksack on and took off by myself! BONKERS - DEFINATELY!
Leg 5 - i felt great - I stormed (slowly) up Dale Head and took the camera out for self timed top pictures then spent ages phoning people and texting and telling everyone I was bonkers - but at least I was happy and not in a car thinking i should have carried on - phew - it was good for me. The midges were not good for me - the phone calls were good for me - people telling me I was bonkers was good for me. The run (yes run) off Robinson was great apart from now my feet hurt and started to get blisters, i tried to run the road bit but started phoning and texting again - i was soooo proud of myself for carrying on i wanted to cry - and for a change I didn't - the emmotional wreck was behind me and I was gonna make it.
I did make it - in 27 hours and 54 minutes. I even beat my mates Racheal and David to Moot Hall - got the pix and got in the van to meet up with Karen, Janet and Mike in Cockermouth for a raher lovely shower, a bbq and at last some wine - apparently i rambled on and on - on a complete high till midnight then slept like a baby in a really comfy bed - I was sooo happy
I write this on Tuesday and I am still on a high - what a great day in the hills (I have forgotton the bad bits already!)
Thank you to all the supporters and Alex promses to have another go in September, I have said I will do road support!!!

Sunday 30 May. Two Miles up the A6 North of Kendal is the small Hamlet of Selside, this was the Event location of the Cross Cumbria Trailquest event. It is pretty rare these days to find a 5 hours Mountain Bike Trailquest and had not realised until getting to the village hall that I was to be out longer than the usual 3 hours. Paul had already arrived and registered when I got there, we were going our own separate ways for this one with Paul in the Male Solo class and me (Mick) representing Team Haglofs in the Male Vet category. I had not ridden in this part of the Lake District which meant every track would be a New Adventure. The weather was ideal with the previous days rain clearing to give dry conditions. I glimpsed at the map at the give out and did my usual strategy of heading off towards a checkpoint (CP) whilst still working out a route plan for the event. I new the North of the map was the hilliest and headed off there first to do the big climbs of the day with fresh legs. The first time I came across Paul was when he was heading back down a hill I was heading up, I had gone too far up the hill but Paul had gone further and was back tracking.
The reason was that the CP was pretty well hidden and there was no tape to help out. This was to become a theme of the race, you definitely needed the CP descriptions to hand as they were all well hidden and became a bit of hide and seek game finding them. I headed up to Barrowdale (which is a fantastic spot and I will be going back to check it out more in the near future). Paul was on a mission and was powering up the hill while I was taking a more relaxed approach taking a few photos to use on the blog! Whilst doing so another competitor caught me up and I thought time to pull my finger out, there were a fare few gates which me and the rival took turns to open and close, and before long the advantage of the teamworks I had caught Paul back up. We summited the hill above Barrowdale and Paul veered off to the right on an indistinct path whilst I favoured continuing on a similar indistinct path. I had got it right and managed to open up a few minuets lead over Paul.
 

The race was to continue with a similar theme, we kept toeing and throwing right down to the South of the map, Paul had pulled away from me and went to collect a couple of CPs I decided to skip, time was knocking on, I planned a route back to event centre that maximised the points on the return route. Paul took the gamble to pick up more points, due to the CP's being well hidden this took longer than anticipated, and he then had to sprint back in a more direct route. I made good time on the return and finished 10 mins early and I was left wondering if I should have gone for another CP. The food and hospitality was excellent, I got chance to catch up with Mike Toyn and we compared routes. Mike won overall (1st overall and 1st Male vet class) and I came in second in the male vets. A good event that challenged all riders in a great location.

We are all Stars

This weekend was spent out on the water, for the adidas TERREX, anyone choosing to paddle an elite boat is required to have at least 2 paddlers holding a 3 star Kayak British Canoe Union certificate.  Windemere Canoe and Kayak organised a coaching and assessment weekend for the 4 of us plus 3 other guests, and I arranged the weather.  Hard call to make a call on what was best the coaching or the weather, both were fantastic. 


Steve Styan was our tutor and very much tailored the weekend to our needs, so we managed to brush up on the skills we don't usually use when we have our heads in race mode and also get some tips to helping us conserve energy on longer paddling stages.  We also had chance to use a variety of boats including, Playboats, Single Sea Kayak, Tandem Sea Kayaks (including our own super sleek and fast Tahe Marine Wind Duo and the rather more beefy, rounded and slower Neky Amruk), Canadian Canoes and a rather tippy surf ski.  The superb weather gave us plenty of chances to brush up on our rescues without getting cold.

During the weekend we even got to see Paul (Haglöfs) without his usual style wearing some more relaxed clothing, I better add this was not his own personal wetsuit!
The weekend was a massive success and to top it all we all got our 3stars!  A big thank you to Steve for the coaching and the fun weekend.

Steve  is running a 3 star white water course later in the year with the weather promising to be just as good

Back to Basics

Well the weekend has passed with another race or 2 under our belts.  With Alex away with work and Karen on family duties it was left to Mick and Paul to fly the Haglöfs flag. The great thing about doing lots of races is that you learn from every race you do......or that is the theory.  Last weekend we decided that we would ignore all the basics and every rule in the book and do our thing!   The event was Open 5+ and the location around the North of Coniston in the Lake District.  We knew the area relatively well (or thought we did).  The race was made up of a trail run with optional orienteering, mountain biking, with optional special stages and short kayak stage on sit on tops. We had arrived at the event centre slightly late and this gave us little time to prepare and study the maps (1st lesson to be learnt - arrive early). We then listened to the briefing and more or less went straight to the start of the trail race.  We decided to the run and skip the orienteering totally (worth 120 points) so we could get a good start on the MTB and get through the special stages before any queues built up. (lesson 2 never miss a special stage, we skipped pass the orienteering section without even looking at the map, which turned out to be short and relatively easy and we threw away easy points). The mountain biking started well and we were ahead of schedule when we got to the Special Stage 1, this was a water jump into freezing cold water and a small climb to exit the old mine workings through a tunnel.  On to Special Stage 2 and a very easy scramble and again through the tunnels of the mine workings hunting down a Checkpoint (CP) in a dead end tunnel.  The Special stages had not taken us as long as we thought it might take and we now were confident of clearing the MTB stage.  We continued and made good progress but there was one CP that was causing us concern, there appeared to be only one route up and over  Tarn Howes dropping into the steep valley and back out again the same way (it was a big pointer and we felt it had to be done).  If only we had looked on the more detailed map used on the run, although all the roads leading to the CP were out of bounds there was a permissive bridleway that we had not picked up on the 1:50k map (lesson 3 - check the detailed map if you have one).  This cost us very dearly meaning we took a much longer detour up and over the energy sapping hill.  We were then racing the clock to get back in time to get to the kayak stage and in our rush went straight past a valuable 25 point CP, it was too late before we realised and we conceded it was not to be our day.  We carried on and cleared the 2.5km kayak at good speed (1 minute late back).  It was a good day out but racing we made some really basic and stupid mistakes and one we should remember to make sure we don't repeat!  Saturday night was spent winding down from the race with a few beers watching a Reggae band.


Sunday Paul and Mick joined other racers for a social paddle, plenty of time to discuss their mistakes and go through "if's and but's" whilst paddling 23 miles(up and down Windemere). Can't wait to get the next race done so we can put these demons to rest.

BG training

Well having announced my weekend for my BG, Alex (my Run Like a Girl running partner) and I went out on the Kinder Dozen for the weekend to get some good downhills in our legs before our attempt in 3 weeks time and to plan a bit of our attempt weekend. We ran for 5 and a half hours on saturday in very gusty gale winds, froze and then went out for a further 3 hours today (sunday) - slightly warmer today!

Mick has asked to help us out on our attempt and hopefully both Paul and Alex from Team Haglof can too??? Next May Bank Holiday weekend. Hopefully see you on the hills boys...

Fellsman Pictures 2010

Saturday 8 May, The legendary  Fellsman took place (62 mile fell race), although I did not enter this year I ran up a couple of the hills with my camera.... see the photos Fellsman 2010 pictures here>>>

Karen's Alps Trip

Just come back from an extremely good trip to the Alps, finishing off a Haute Route I started last year but had to cut short with bad weather and then climbing the Breithorn near Zermat and then over to Chamonix to climb Mont Blanc. We had a supperb time (Alex, a girl friend I run and ski mountaineer with) and myself in excellent weather getting all our goals for the the trip done. We started a Haute Route last year and finished it off this year by climbing up from Arolla to the Vignettes Hut above 3000m the day we arrived, hot and hard work, then ski'd over 3 big passes all above 3000m into Zermat and then a quick ascent of the Briethorn at 4165m before heading back to Chamonix to make our attempt on Mont Blanc.

We decided we needed one more acclimatisation night above 3000m so we phoned the huts but the one we wanted was full so we satyed at the Cosmique hut at 3613m for a first night and ski'd the Valley Blanche and back up again for a second night - well half a night as we breakfasted at 1am and started climbing at 2am up a really serrac'd face, over Mont Blanc du Tacul, Col Maudit, Col de la Brenva and Petit Rochers Rouges to the summit of Mont Blanc by 10am.  We then booted off North Ridge to Col du Dome Gouter and Ski'd down to the Grand Mulets Hut and through some big avalanche debris from 2 weeks ago to the midi station and a glass of celebration wine. Then we spent a few days doing some rock climbing and some running in the valley. As you can see from the pictures we had supperb trip which has proved to be good training for the next adventure with Team Haglof. I can't do the Open5+ but will be really ready for the Open12 and Open24 as warm ups to the big one in August - the Terrex