ML Assessment

Well, it's assessment week.

Found out earlier in the week that Ginger is going to be involved in my assessment - this is good and bad news.

Good, because: a) it's always a pleasure to be in his company b) it kind of completes the circle for me as it was him who trained me and c) I'll undoubtedly learn loads even though it is an assessment.

Bad though, because: a) he takes no prisoners b) he moves across mountains the way mere mortals move across bowling greens c) he is completely anal about all the fungi, flora and fauna stuff and d) he night navs like a bat.

More important is the fact that I don't want to let him down - so the drive back to the Cairngorms is a bit stressful to say the least.




The first morning saw us getting settled in and doing a bit of a mountain walk with Pete Hill. This covered all aspects of group management; entertaining your group, floral, fauna, wildlife, geology and as always, the weather. I was joined by 3 other hopefuls; Mark, Ian and Ally, who had been on the same training as me in April.

We spent some time in Coire an Lochan before descending down the Goat Track to the Coire Cas car park. All the while, Pete would ask us to confirm our positions and where we were.

When we got back, we started on Emergency Procedures and improvised carries. I had been well schooled in this and opted for the simple, fast and effective methods.

Ian however, spent 15 minutes tying an elaborate rope stretcher, before lying on it and asking us to move him.

Pete, with a few deft tugs of the rope, reduced this ensemble to a crumpled heap, before giving him a second try. When this feat of engineering was completed for the second time, the three of us had already demonstrated our favourite 3 lifts and were waiting patiently - moral of the story is KISS (keep it simple, stupid).

A review of the written papers and day one was complete.

Day 2 had us up in the Corries again for severe ground day (plus group management, weather etc.. it doesn't stop just because you're playing with ropes!). We belayed, abseiled, belayed, lowered over and over until Pete had seen enough examples. Then we were beasted back to cars to look for a river to cross; sadly, the levels were either too low or high, so we postponed until Friday.



The next 3 days saw us beasted over the Cairngorm Plateau by the one and only Ginger. Searching endlessly for misty, crappy conditions, our meanderings took us over the top of Cairngorm and down towards Cairn Lochan. This was good however; as visibility was so bad, it was starting to look as though a night nav may be unnecessary.




We picked a good campsite and settled in for the night. However after dinner, Ginger announced that we were going on a night nav so he could have another look at us.

Great fun!

The next morning I was tasked to get the group to the top of Ben Macdui, the second highest mountain in the UK (1309m). Visibility was poor at first, but a temperature inversion meant that we soon climbed above it, with various mountains peeking above the clouds - fantastic!




More micro navigation followed with the attendant lectures on flora, weather and Cairngorms history before making back to the camp.




The last day saw us heading back to the cars and looking for a river to cross and this time we were in luck.

Again, simplicity was the order of the day and we all managed to get across safely, but coldly under the close scrutiny of Ginger.

Heading back to Grantown on Spey was the most nerve racking 30 minutes of the week. Chat in the car was subdued as we all wondered if we'd passed. Ginger, like Pete, had given nothing away and you don't get daily feedback - you get it all at the end.

When we arrived at the hotel we ordered tea and awaited the decision of the judges. I opted to go first and sat down with the two assessors with my heart pounding. Thankfully, there was no delay and Pete told me I had passed.

Yes! the reward for about 5 months of effort. I was chuffed to bits on a range of fronts - that the time away from home each week had paid off, that I had succeeded in rubber stamping my hobby and that I hadn't let Ginger down by having to fail or defer me.

Thanks to everyone who helped me along the way - Rich S for the big push and encouragement from the moment we thought it up in Finland. Rich M, John D, Paul B, and Ian S for being willing 'punters' along the way and for the the words of encouragement on all my Quality Mountain Days. Champo for his help and support during the training and coming with me up some of the Munros in less than clement weather.

And a huge thanks to Ginger. For the training, the support, the encouragement and the example.
Now we need to register for the Winter Award.

Davie

ps - The B+B was excellent - http://www.kinrosshouse.co.uk/ and a huge thanks to Jane and Gary for all the support - THE place to stay in the Cairngorms.

Cairngorms, 12th September 2008

This weekend saw Davie in the Cairngorms to get some practice for his ML assessment with willing 'punters' Champo and Ginger, who came along to give some moral support.

We set off from the Coire Cas car park and headed up into the Coire an t Sneachda identifying flora, fauna, birds and wildlife en route. When the conversation dryed up on these topics, we then looked at glacial erosion, geological features and weather patterns.






All good stuff.


We arrived at the base of Fiacaill Ridge and had some lunch by the boulders. The ridge looked awesome, with some climbers barely visible on its crest.


After some ropework and security on steep ground stuff, we decided to get onto the ridge and give it a bash.




Gulp! this is a Grade 2 scramble with some great exposure and it's way more vertical than other ridges I've seen.





But, we topped out safely before heading over to bag Cairngorm (1245m) and doing some micro navigation practice on the plateau.




We dropped down from Cairngorm to Stag Rocks and the views were immense. Looking down at Loch Avon was simply breath taking.




From Stag Rocks we dropped down to the Saddle, ostensibly to find a bothy for the night. however it was starting to get dark and weather was looking threatening, so we decided on heading over to Ryvoan Bothy, some 6kms away with Bynack More (1090m) between us and it.


I won't bore you with the details of our flog over the mountains, but we arrived at the bothy at 11:30pm that night, having skipped dinner to keep moving.

The bothy was empty (practically) and once we'd turfed out the only inhabitant to the tent next door, we got settled down for the night.




A quick walk out the next day to Glenmore Lodge and we were back in Aviemore in good time for coffee, cakes and some retail therapy - pure Verdes.


Looking forward to next week now!


Davie

End to End including the National 3 Peaks

The things you do for Charity…

Our challenge was to ride from John o’Groats to Land’s End taking in the National 3 Peaks en route.

We departed at 8:00am with our first objective to reach Fort William by Lunch. We rode what has to be one of the most beautiful coastal roads in the UK, the A9 from Wick to Inverness. The weather was fantastic and the scenery was stunning. Some sections of the route have an Alpine feel with recently well surface tarmac and lots of flowing bends, bliss! Once refuelled at Inverness it was off to Fort William via the A82 along Loch Ness. Another amazing road that seemed to be very quiet for a sunny Saturday in August.

We arrived at Ben Nevis around lunch and were greeted by our ‘Mountain Support Team’ who had decided we were mad and needed all the help we could get if we were going to complete the task. With no time to spare it was out of leathers and into walking boots to start the long trek to the summit.

The pace was good with Ian and John leading the way but by the mid way point we had our first casualty; Pete had a blister the size of a two pound coin on his heel. His training had started only 4 weeks before when he thought he would try the hills as well as the ride. As he could no longer maintain the pace, he elected to stop and rest up while the rest of us continued to the summit.
We arrived at the summit and managed to get a couple of photos in the cloud before setting off back down. After a descent of about 150 metre’s Pete appeared! Having rested for a while he felt recharged enough to give the summit a go. The rest of the team carried on back down to get some hot drinks prepared as I turned around with Pete to go back to the summit. It took us about an extra hour in total, but it was worth it for the photo at the summit!
Back in the car park we got dressed into our leathers and started the trip to the Lake District. We stopped in the Little Chef at Dunbarton for some energy before hitting the motorway to Penrith.

The motorway seemed long and boring after the fantastic A roads in Scotland, but at least the miles past quickly in the dark. The closer we got to the start of the next climb the narrower the roads got until we were on single track with only drunk ramblers staggering back to their tents for company. It was around 11:30pm when we arrived at Seathwaite to start the night climb up Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England. Pete decided he would miss out this one as his toe nail had come off on the descent of Ben Nevis and with the huge blister that had burst, he would need all the rest he could get if he was going to go any further.

The route we selected would be a little longer than most Three Peak challengers take but easier to navigate we hoped. The first section to Sty Head Tarn gave no problems apart from being scared half to death by the green eyes of sheep reflecting from our torches! But then it got quite difficult. From here visibility was reduced to about 2 metre’s due to hill fog and navigation proved to be quite tricky at times. We made it to the summit after about 3 hours and started our descent. By about 5:45am, dawn was breaking and we were glad to have a better view of the route. We didn’t make it back to the car park until about 7:00am and by now had been awake over 24 hours.

No rest for the wicked…
Back on the bikes heading for Wales we stopped at some services on the M6 for breakfast. Just as we left the M6 the heavens opened and we got our first real down pour of the trip. With heavy luggage, rucksack and waterproofs, I was not enjoying the A470 to Betws-y-coed. I can see why it is a haven for bikers but when the rain is heavy and all you want is sleep, I wasn’t that interested!

We arrived in the car park at Pen-y-pass to be met by the team that had done all the mountains so far and another friend, Bob Birchall, who had driven from London to make us lunch!

After a quick bite to eat the boots came out again along with the sun. Although his feet were in a bad way, Pete decided to give Snowdon a go. We set off up the Pyg Track in wonderful sun with fabulous views down the valley but as we neared the summit we met the clouds.

Just before the summit we met John D, Ian S and Davie on the return leg. We said our farewells at this point as our journey would continue from this point in a different direction. After a brief stop at the top for photos we took the steeper descent to the Miners Track as it is a little easier on the feet although a bit longer. By this time the cloud was getting lower and lower and we were starting to get quite wet.

Back at the car park we sat in the van for some Chilli and rice and once dry and fed, the leathers were back on and we were heading for the M6 with 400 miles left to go. I imagine the A5 from Betws-y-coed is a fabulous road on a sunny day, but in the rain, in the pitch dark, it felt as it was the longest 50 miles I have every done on a motorcycle.

Once on the motorways we planned to stop every 100 miles for fuel and coffee. The M5 past quickly and we were soon on the A30 heading to Penzance. After midnight the roads were pretty much deserted and at each stop it was harder and harder to get motivated to carry on.

On the very last leg Pete finally succumbed to the need for sleep and fell into a Travel Lodge with about 70 miles to go. I continued with daylight starting to appear until I arrived at Land’s End at 6:11am on Monday morning.

On arrival, the only problem I had was that the hotel didn’t open until after 7:00am. At this point I couldn’t hold back the need for sleep any longer and put my walking coat, gloves and woolly hat on and fell asleep on the bench outside the hotel.

The total time to complete the trip for me was 46 hours and 11 minutes. Pete arrived mid morning after 3 hours sleep in the Travel Lodge.
John o’Groats to Land’s End was 1079 miles covered on the road and about 25 miles on the mountains.
The total mileage from home and back again was almost 2000 miles.

Richard S

National 3 Peaks, 29th-31st August 2008

The spirit of Verdes has never been so apparent as last week.

Rich S and his pal Pete, both dressed as Power Rangers, decided to motorcycle from John O'Groats to Lands End, taking in the National 3 Peaks en route (and just to break up an otherwise monotonous journey).

With a week to go, and only one taker in a supporting role who was going to cook at Snowdon for them, I decided that in order to protect my investment, I should really make a token effort to support my employee.. ahem... mate.

More or less at the drop of a hat and with no hesitation, Ian S, John D and Sharon all decided that it was game on. All we needed was some sun cream.

Pure Verdes. No plan, no preparation, no training. Just bags of oomph.

Of course, we didn't plan on beating 24 hours as we would be driving and supporting ourselves.

But, if the opportunity arose....

We arrived in Kinlochleven at our old haunt, The Tailrace Inn. after a cracking 5 hour drive. A few training pints and a pie and we were all set for the rigours or a bit of hill walking.

The weather was kind on the Saturday. A light breeze, some sun, a bit of drizzle and not too heavy cloud. Just what you need for the Ben.

The Power Rangers arrived at around noon and we set off to get it done. The going was ok and we all made it safely to the top in around 3hrs. Early days, but we had a sniff of under 24hrs in our noses, so we jogged most of the way back to the car.

1 down.

As it was my car and the road to Scafell was quite windy, I elected to drive to the Lakes. We made great time and even beat the Power Rangers to the car park at Seathwaite, mainly because we passed them as they slept and munched energy burgers.

We set off for Scafell at midnight and the evening was warm and humid, a portent for things to come. As we made Sty Head tarn (dead on schedule) the fog rolled in and all of a sudden visibility was around 2 metres, with head torches merely reflecting back on us.

Navigation was 'picky' to say the least and my major concern was the safety of the team. However, we managed to gain the summit after 3hrs so we weren't too far off the pace.

The problems started on the descent, with route finding through the boulder fields around Ill Crag hellish to say the least.

We managed to get back to the mother ship after 7 hrs of walking and for the first time we could see a sub 24 fading away.

Ian took the wheel for the race to Snowdon and we again made good time to the car park. The Power Rangers were no where to be seen however and we started to fear the worst.

Had they been nicked? Had small children stopped them for an impromptu autograph session? Had they fallen foul of small, coal smeared men, singing in close harmony, bored with sheep molesting? This was Wales after all.

Soon we heard the open pipes of Pete's Ducati coming up the valley and we knew that at least one Power Ranger hadn't become a miner's plaything.

We set off up Snowdon via the Pyg Track with great views up to Crib Goch and managed the summit in around 2 hrs 20. Descent was via the rail track as the train wasn't running.

Ian and I happily meandered our way downwards until we heard the sound of a large piece of decrepit machinery, straining its way up the hill. At first I thought it was Pete's Ducati but then we realised that the train WAS running. Taking refuge behind a 'NO TRESSPASSING ON THE RAILWAY' sign, we got the map out and made like tourists as the train chugged past.

We realigned ourselves onto an alternative path and made good time back to the finish.

Time taken in total 28 hours... not bad for a lash up attempt on a self supporting basis.

And testimony to what Verdes can do when it puts its mind to it.

Thanks everybody for a fantastic weekend.

And well done to the Power Rangers who made it to Lands End in 46 hours - brilliant effort.

Davie