Snow, Giggles and Hiccoughs - My 1st attempt at a Winter Bob Graham

Mhairi's winter BG report - December

Hi there. Thought I'd send round a wee report on my Bob attempt for anyone who's interested. I have a lot of people to thank for support so I didn't want to leave it until the next newsletter! I'll try to keep it brief...(post script, I didn't manage to do so, sorry).

With the weather contitions as they were, I agonized the week before my attempt due to the multitude of conflicting advice I was given, varying from postponing till summer, to going for it to me being "ambitious" (=silly) to outright stupid. Of course I knew all that but I wanted to give it a go anyway as I don't often get a good window of time off work and frankly I felt like having a jolly good adventure. Besides, the weather was set to clear and freeze it was a full moon, it might just be perfect...

Charlie, JP and I made good time up Skiddaw though I must admit my nerves got to me somewhat at the start and I felt pretty rotten. The going however was very good underfoot and the views under the moon were amazing. I was quite excited thinking about running round the back of Skiddaw low man to reach the summit in such good time. Unfortunately as we crossed the style and turned to the ley side things changed considerably and the snow wading began. The path round the back to the summit was obliterated and we got to the next gate to find about 12inches of it only poking out of the snow! It was hard going and I started to realise what I had let myself in for, but thought surely things would improve.

After a drink of ice (best to take the top off the water bottle and swallow straight from the bottle as the ice tends to clog the mouthpiece) it was down to the valley through more deep snow then snow covered knee high heather and mud (lost the path oops). Hmmm, not quite the beautiful firm frosted terrain I'd hoped for but it would improve for sure... (I'm going to have to start condensing the tale here).

Deep snow, bogs, Caldew, Mungrizedale common, more deep snow, really quite hard work!... yeay top of Blencathra and firmer footing. Cue freezing wind ++++++. Buffalo and down jacket necessary. Crampons on down Halls Fell ridge - thanks to Charlie for speedy route finding (wait up, not quite so speedy there guys, this feels a bit serious). Feeling bit tired, hooray for coke and warm van to look forward to at Threlkeld. 4 hrs 20 first leg - not good but conditions would surely improve on leg2. Surely.

Minor issue with John having lost van key in pub in Keswick so no coke (though there was some hot orange) or any of the stuff that I spent 2 hours packing, mainly coke (but here, have some hot orange) + very worried John (with hot orange) (but no coke). Thanks to Helen and Paul for lending us their van and kit. I felt really bad by this point, really sick (I never usually feel sick on long runs, and we've only just started!!! I'm already in severe doubt because of conditions and feeling rotten but am coaxed up Clough head by friendly pacers. The view from the tops is worth it, and the hope of wind scoured icy ridge running.

So I get the view at least, though alas a lot more snow plodding and wading. Its really quite hard work and I start to think about stopping already - I am really not feeling good and its snowy and... pout. (nobody said it would be THIS bad up here!). People keep making me retch by waving various bits of food in front of me, and Dave comes to the rescue with that time honoured BG essential the Jelly baby as well as managing to keep the water just off frozen by tucking it inside his jacket. We get to Sticks, the first obvious escape route and am just starting to feel tiny bit better and I have to admit am having quite a lot of fun. The cloud draws in then clears repeatedly and the moon lights up the hills with silver. We don't feel the cold so much though hair and noses and brows are frozen.

Dan's nav is exemplary and really quite something to see as he leads us easily and directly from top to top. When Helen slips over for the 3rd time I tell her to put on her crampons (which are hanging ready around her waist) as I can't bear for her to do so again. The jelly babies are starting to be quite frozen now and Paul goes over on his ankle (ouch). The snow is still making running very difficult but we're at Dollywagon and Dunmail is really close. Thigh wading starts in earnest on descent form Dollywagon and continues intermittantly but earnestly thereafter in fact. Though relatively, Fairfield is easier than Seat Sandal which has assumed gigantic proportions as Dan makes 'steps' for us in the ever collapsing very deep snow. Alas the descent isn't awfully much easier though a good bum slide helps ease my thighs a bit which are now cramping, again unusual so early on but there we go. Never mind, I've got lots of electrolyte that I bought specially and packed specially in the van that I have, temporarily, forgotten that we don't have a key for and hence is still parked in Keswick not at Dunmail.

There is slushy snow covering the road, Steel fell looks vertical (anyone got my ice axe?) and leg 2 took about 5 hours 40, eek. However, there is coke (thank you Rich and hooray for all night garages) and a warm car and a change of clothes. Once I have established that there is not salt or electrolyte and decided against licking the road to see if the gritter has been past yet, I settle on cup a soup, but I think its one of the low sodium healthy ones, what does a girl have to do for some salt around here?!

I carry on even though I knew after the snow depth round Grizedale Tarn and also how far behind I was that it wasn't going to happen. If conditions had improved it would still have been possible I think but the deep snow wasn't letting up. So on we went, Will and Richard giving some excellent company and looking after me well. Will even found some electrolytes shot bloks which helped and Rich gave me honey roasted nuts which I sucked for the salt, and my legs continued to cramp but were kept under control. Cramp for me is 100% related to electrolyte intake, so it was a bit frustrating knowing that it would have been simple to remedy, but I do need an awful lot of electrolyte to keep me ok and we just didn't have enough as mine was locked in the van (though just to be clear here, although I may have been more comfortable with electrolyte, I still wouldn't have completed!!).

Strangely however I did feel better on 3 than 2 and again, it was just so beautiful, especially when the sun rose on Sargeant Man. The deep snow continued to be a massive hinderance unfortunately, and more often on 3 than the other legs, people started falling into snowy holes frequently which eventually became unbearably funny. This combined with 50 minutes of solid and severe hiccoughs across Langdale didn't aid with oxygenation of my blood! I managed to get actually stuck on a couple of occasions, somehow with my legs and poles tangled and had to be dug out whilst being incapacitated with laughter. We didn't see anyone until Rossett Pike and by that time I had decided we were going down. Well I say that but in fact still I was consumed with trying to decide wether or not to carry on. I would have liked simply to get round, but that meant putting people out quite significantly as I was on for about 30 hours by then and it was a bit too long to expect people to wait and also I would rather try again to make it round in time. I had to admit I had been hampered by conditions, although part of me still feels disappointed and a little bit soft that I pulled, but it does leave me fit enough to try again in a couple of weeks...IF and only IF conditions are better.

Rich and Will coaxed me up Bowfell which became quite tricky at the top again due to collapsing snow steps and then we were treated to some horizontal ball bearing hail and high winds on top. (Bowfell did cure my hiccoughs though). I can quite honestly say never a dull moment the whole way round!!

All said I think I had one of the most fun and awsome runs trying this and am certainly glad that I got out there and had a go. My original promise to myself was that I would stop if conditions were too bad and they were really from the back of Skiddaw but am really glad we carried on. The memories will kepe me going through my busy period at work this Christmas. I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from climber Paul Pritchard...

"The failures I have experienced in my life far outshine the mediocre events of my life. I have always thought big and gone for the most daring option and many times I have failed but thats just the way it goes..."

A big thank you to eveyone who helped me on Fri night and Sat, I am very grateful indeed. I have to give a very special thank you to John who in fact had a bit of a nightmare as I was off galavanting in the snow. After searching madly all over Keswick for the key, contacting the police to report it missing and organising to borrow kit from various frineds, he was (in no particular order) then not able to get any sleep at all (without our van), stopped by the police (though not the same police he contacted about the key) for "curb crawling" late at night in Keswick (actually looking for anywhere he could get some coke for me), in a van that wasn't actually his, had to get a lift back to Endmoor (thanks Dave) to get the car and find the other (also missing) van key in our topsy turvy DIY building site which doubles as a house, then drive back up to get the van from Keswick, fill the petrol car with diesel (or at least start to) as well as trying to ferry pacers back and forth. And all after a full on week carrying round lumps of oak tree and slabs of slate at his work. Pah, makes the Milk Tray man look like a right pansy!