Mountain Talk

Mountain Talk
Paul’s Blog – The OMM – Part 3 – Day 2

In between writing Part 2 & starting Part 3 I’ve found my third tick, have removed it but not sure where’s it’s gone to, this could be an itchy blog!

Our initial plan was to head for the Obvious Control BZ with it’s 30 points on offer, clearly most doing the Score courses felt the same although at least a couple of pairs set off in the opposite direction of my fantasy, of course they may have been on a Straight Linear Course

BZ was approx 2.5K from the start & included a climb of circa 1,000 feet. To begin with it was a straight forward track on a gentle climb that we partly ran but then we, like most others left the track over trodden rough ground climbing gently to the steeper slopes ahead. Once up on the cull where the ‘Saddle’ Control was there was a repeat of yesterday’s early mayhem with pairs looking left right & centre among the myriad of peat hags. Thankfully Barry spotted some more joyous activity over to our left & soon we’d bagged our first Control of the day some 52 minutes into it.

Next target was Control BI again with 30 points on offer, it lay some 3 kilometres to our North West & from there we would make our decisions on how to progress further. The terrain could best be described as arduous with numerous deep peat hags & bogs occasionally relieved by simply rough crap but at least once we’d covered the first kilometre we had sight of our goal, described as ‘Northern Crag, South East foot’. Un-like most we took a straight line on the final way into it as I’d seen a faster pair do this & make light work of a troublesome looking gully immediately below it. Now some 1 hour & 38 minutes into the day we already had 60 points bagged but sadly like yesterday we failed to maintain this scoring rate from here-on.

We decided to climb over the headwall above us to get a good view of what lay ahead before making the decision for our next objective. This steep climb of 100 feet or so was soon over & we stopped to make our decision. Two options over to our North East & East had attractive Controls (30 & 20 respectively) but had un-attractive terrain including more Peat hags followed by steep & rocky downward terrain. Decision made lets head North West over to Control BD 10, only 10 points on offer but an obvious feature described as ‘Lochan South West side’, indeed we could pick out it’s location as ‘beyond that cull somewhere’. Route was agreed although a couple of young bucks who were initially on our traversing line soon made a beeline alteration which maybe we should have had the confidence to follow.

Our route would cover about 3K over some peat hags & lightly tracked rough terrain but generally a bit better terrain than that into the previous control. This said it was a long way for 10 points taking up almost 57 minutes & may/should become part of a future review, our reasoning at the time being that it led to a arching way back to the finish that looked sensible.

Once the Control was bagged we sheltered under an enormous peat hag mushroom feature & layered up, again the wind was increasing & a threat of rain lay over to the South West. I studied the map & Control AB was the obvious next target one & a quarter kilometres away & again 10 points on offer. I also spotted two broken fence lines interceding with a third than ran across the summit we’d first need to skirt around. Setting off with two other pairs some way ahead I began to think they may be taking either the wrong line or were set on a different course & suggested to Barry we’d need to stay right if we were going to pick up the broken fence I wanted. We duly did this, picked up ‘my’ fence & Barry offered warm appreciation of my call. Unfortunately I failed to notice just how steeply the ground fell away below but it was doable with care & after little under 800 metres from picking up the fence we had partially re-climbed the next hill & bagged our fourth control.

We had a plan of attack to conclude of either 2 or 3 more controls before the finish, first up  was Control BQ (20 Points) described as Rocky Knoll (Boulder). Barry took an altitude reading from his watch of 606 metres & I took a contour reading from the map to confirm that the Boulder (we should have focused on Rocky Knoll) was 60 metres lower at circa 545 metres. The route to it was a 1.5 kilometre traverse around an Easterly summit which soon had us joining other pairs converging onto a similar course. Because we were focusing on a Boulder (hindsight should have re-checked that description) Barry said we need to be above it as it would be very difficult to see it from below. So we let the others go lower whilst we stayed higher checking Barry’s altimeter reading here & there. To not help matters others were above us but we soon realised they weren’t looking for what we were.

With Barry 10 metres above me we spread out to widen the search when I soon came over a shoulder to see what can best be described as a Rocky Knoll lay below to my front left. To cap it the pairs we’d been following earlier were crowded around it like Bees to a Honeypot. We’d found our Control 20 more points in the bag. 

We now had an hour & a half up our sleeve & decided not to go for two more Controls & just focus on Control CH (again 20 Points) & some 3 Kilometres away but on a direct route to the finish. If this went well we might just be able to add control CK (with it’s 20 Points too) which lay next to the finishing field. Things went anything but well.

With hindsight on the journey back to Penrith I’d say to Barry I think we went wrong by not keeping to a higher contour & the reason we went too low was because we were mixed up with other pairs who were on a Linear course & aiming for a lower Control not shown on our map. I’d deduced this as a female couple had at one point called out to us to come back for their control to which I made it clear it wasn’t on our course, that said a very kind gesture by them.

By now we were reaching a major ravine feature but at too low a level, I’d previously pointed out to Barry where I thought our traverse over a subsequent cull lay & Barry pointed out  a bail out path that avoided the steep ravine. As we descended into the ravine the steepness of the climb back up to the cull rightly concerned Barry. He pulled us up & said we’d never do it & still finish within the 5 hours. Not sure even now if this was correct but I was more than willing to concede he was correct so we decided to bear left & down to pick up the bail out option.

By now minds were beginning to scramble a bit, we never picked up the bail out path & simply descended through various degrees of crap that went on far longer than either of us hoped. I was certain we’d need to pick up the road & use that to lead us into the finish but Barry quashed this hope by pointing out that it was not allowed to be crossed (there were X’s marked along it.

Finally we got to cross the main stream at the bottom of the ravine, here I went across 1 metre below Barry, my left foot slipped on an under water rock & my right leg went into the water with my shin bashing into a rock, sore (later a bit bruised & bloodied) but for now just another morale breaker.

After another half K we headed into a woodland both becoming increasingly concerned about time & probably my slower pace becoming an increasing concern for Barry. We were meandering in the right general direction albeit feeling that progress just wasn’t good enough. Then rising to higher ground we came to a stop peering down a suicide cliff. Game up I felt but Barry dragged us away & down to our right before we re-straightened our line through a gladded swamp. Thankfully this led to a single track path which in turn led to a wider grassed track on mostly solid ground, it also led in a straight line in the direction we needed to be on. We were now into our last half hour & roughly I calculated we still had a chance that I had previously given up on. How important this all felt at the time!

After some time we came to the woods end & met a Deer fence which would lead us to the final gate onto the event field, we could even see other competitors entering the field at the gate about a Kilometre away. A few hundred yards later a 2nd Deer fence blocked our path but the first fence had a gate that led onto the field. Barry confirmed ‘if we use that we could be disqualified it’s Out of Bounds’. Seeing no other option we used it resigning ourselves to ‘it will be what it will be’. 30 metres beyond the gate Barry looked back & saw several pairs running towards the other permissible gate from our previous line & then surmised very quickly that there must have been a track to their line from ours. ‘Do you want to go back Paul?’ It was a no brainer we’d been so far, done so well to throw it all away for the sake of a few late penalty points, we retraced our tracks went back through the gate & as Barry closed it behind us I found the alternative line a mere 5 metres away from where we reached our earlier dead end. Barry led on, I looked at my watch, a little under 6 minutes left with probably best part of a K to travel, could we? Barry sped ahead occasionally stopping to offer encouragement by sight alone mostly. I ran most of the few hundred metres to the field’s entrance gate through thick bracken. Once on the field there was no time to consult the watch we just had to run & run at any pace I could manage. This included running through two stream crossings which the day before almost everyone had wasted time using slippery planks & stepping stones. A further 300 metres beckoned, we crossed the line running. I stopped the watch as Barry dibbed in, the watch read 4:59:47, we’d made it with 13 seconds to spare, I informed Barry who’d been unaware of my maths on that final run in. We smiled, took on fluids proffered by smiling faces & then remembered to shake hands & congratulate each other.

From here they took my bag tracker off me (this a check that both members of a pair do the whole route) & they handed me a print out of our route. It corrected our time to 4:59:49, just 11 seconds but as I’d corresponded with Huw Price the day before our respected events (Huw doing the Snowdon Marathon), oh how those seconds count!

We went to the main event tent which was a hive of glowing fatigued activity where we relaxed with a cuppa & a hot meat & veg thingies, I only managed half of mine. Time to move on but exchanged brief well done with Hayley who had just come through the finish & was smiling too.

Back at the van we slowly changed & began the packing process, separately we just peed on the field both of us literally peeing blood, later at my hotel I would also shit blood too (sorry if that’s too much info).

By shortly after 1:00 pm Barry was driving us off the event field, he’d later stop at a services on the M80 so that I could get some edible food & a couple of bottles of diet coke, not quite Pepsi max but thirsty beggars cannot be choosers can they.

Next up a call to Dorina to confirm all was well & asked her if she could book me the hotel in Penrith that we’d stayed at back in the Spring, ‘yes my darling’, hanging up I said to Barry ‘she’s my PA as well’ he smiled & replied ‘I was just thinking’. By now the rain & clag we’d avoided throughout the 11 hours on the hill was firmly set in, how lucky we’d been.

Just after 4:00 pm we reached my car, no ticket, no broken windows & all wheels in place, transfers made we shook hands & congratulated each other again as indeed Barry did to me by WhatsApp the next day. I was soon checked in & visiting an M & S local food store 100 metres down the road to stock up on snacks & some vary good Amarone & Primitivo di Manduria.

Back at the hotel there was some kind of party (possibly Halloween) going on in the bar, looked very lively but definitely not for me. Indeed that morning in the mayhem of our tented village in the middle of nowhere I’d thought ‘if you showed a photo of us lot out here to a city slicker they’d think we were mad’.

Can I say to all involved a massive well done such a great, crazy, joyful & very well organised event, but you can keep your 125 to yourself Ellie Salisbury:)

Now to those stats:-

Day 1 – 5:42:57, 9 Controls, 160 points, amended to 194 for Vet category, 14.46 miles with 3,848′ of height gain.

Day 2 – 4:59:49, 5 Controls, 100 points, amended to 121 for Vet category, 11.98 miles with 4,974′ of height gain.

Overall – We finished in the bottom quarter of both the overall results & the Vet category but that didn’t matter, we were not disqualified, & finally, still just the 3 Ticks so far.

To all who’ve either taken an interest in this & to those who helped me in the lead-in a big thank you to you all & of course special thanks to Barry for both inviting me, guiding me through the process & for a wonderful two & a bit days in your company.

Paul’s Blog – The OMM – Part 2 – Day 1

We studied the map but in truth I let Barry make the initial decision for our first 3 targets (at this point I was still getting my head around the whole conception of it), controls AS (20 Points), CN (40) & AH (20) with further targets to be decided once we knew how our nav was coping with the terrain & the conditions.

To begin with it was like follow the leader as there was only one way onto the hillside, this climbed steeply single file for some 500′ or so before confusion saw competitors spread out in all directions with probably all of the Score competitors looking for Control AS. Here I should clarify that the various Straight line competitions will have only some of the ‘Score’s’ controls on their maps as well as other controls that are not on our maps, basically if you follow the wrong leader at any point in the day you could be heading towards a control that scores nothing for you. Rule number one don’t follow unless you are sure the direction is the one you want!

Control AS soon had created mayhem & we were in the middle of it. Here I was pleased that I could play a part in the remedy as I convinced myself that a contour ring feature on the map was above & behind us & that would lead us to Control AS. Barry wanted to skirt South first but I persuaded him to retrace our steps & then climb higher. In reality the ring feature was not the one I thought it was but with luck more than judgement our new direction did lead us to two pairs of runners descending from above (one of these was Lou & Ellie) both seeming pleased with themselves & in move on mode. I’d seen where they’d come from & sure enough we were soon tagging in to Control AS, we had 20 points & things suddenly felt better. At this point I suggested that if Lou & Ellie were heading down maybe we should review our plan but Barry’s call was to stick with the initial plan for now.

This was backed up by many other pairs moving forward & up towards Control CN, 2K away as the crow flies, sadly I’m not a crow. Soon pairs began to take different lines, a few took the high road, some the low road whilst we & others were on the middle traverse. This soon met an unforgiving looking headwall which we, like most, decided to avoid & drop lower to traverse below it. This led to some pretty un-pleasant & slippery exposure & was not at all enjoyable. Finally we reached easier ground & my nose for direction kicked in again as I pointed to a saddle above & to our right as the probable location of Control CN. Barry concurred & we began to climb steeply leaving several other pairs to stay on a different course, in truth they were probably heading for another control CU with it’s enticing 50 points. Our climb up was in the region of 500 feet but sure enough with several other pairs coming in from above from the East we all converged on Control CN, 40 more points in the bag.

Next up Control AH but first Barry & I layered up with an extra top & Barry added waterproof leggings (the wind had picked up & it was decidedly cold but still no clag). Whilst he did this I studied the map & suggested a plan ‘let’s descend due South to avoid the rocky terrain shown on the map which is on the direct route (think I still had the shock of that airy traverse on my mind) & then once in the valley we can turn West towards the control.’ Barry concurred & we were off, soon however it was clear that most competitors were making a beeline for the Control & Barry correctly over-ruled my option saying something like ‘if that many are…. then we are too’, good call as it was better terrain than I’d feared. We were soon at Control AH & had collected another 20 points.

Now it was time to agree roughly how we would proceed from here, the next obvious Control was AP with it’s 30 points & then from there I was interested in DC with it’s 40 points but Barry argued that it was a big climb (over 1,000 feet) & that the Controls description of ‘Re-entrant, lower part’ was going to be a bugger to find. Here I’ll clarify that all controls come with a brief description for example the AH we had just found was described accurately as a ‘Boulder’, really in Scotland is there only one?

We moved on to join a track which was the only easy terrain we’d find all day but by now over two & a half hours in the bag weight as well as exertions so far were taking a toll & even flat ground felt an effort to run on for me, Barry was faring better, clearly his rough terrain running skills were better than mine & taking less out of him. Unlike me he’d stumbled several times but didn’t seem perturbed by these, my more cautious braking approach was safer but more tiring.

I was pleased that my study of the map identified that two small cliffs lied ahead to our right with a stream running between them ‘lets find them & the stream will lead us to Control AP’. We found it, Barry led up the stream crossing from bank to bank frequently & sure enough there was ‘Ruin, north east side’ aka Control AP, another 30 points tagged. Just under 3 hours in & we had bagged 110 points.

Over the next 3 hours we increased the number of Controls bagged from 4 to 9 but only added another 50 points less than half of that accumulated in the first 3 hours. This felt anything but bad at the time as our navigation felt like we were improving with each move, however as I write this blog I am sure that at some point in the future Barry & I will sit down & review our route choices with the benefit of hindsight. Of course we must also factor in that we came away without injury & who knows what other choices may have resulted in.

We decided to give Control DC & it’s 40 points a miss, there were a couple of pairs up there trying to find it, & stay low instead & head for Control CC described as a ‘Re-entrant’. ‘Re-entrant’s’ can be a bit tricky to locate but I identified on the map two woodlands & two streams that should handrail us to it, Barry concurred but tweaked it by saying lets go above the second wood which clearly made more sense. Nearing the control we spread out with me searching East & Barry climbing higher to the North & Barry’s sense proved correct, CC bagged, 10 more points.

I haven’t mentioned the Deer. On our way from the third Control to the fourth Barry had spotted a large herd of Deer running high across the hill to our East, at least 30 or more. Then moving on towards Control number 5 he spotted a larger herd strung out over more than a Kilometre again high up & all moving at speed & numbering literally in the hundreds. At other times we’d see a single Deer close to us but always on the run, fantastic sights but note to self ‘must check for ticks!’ At time of writing I’ve found two.

We formulated a plan for our next two Controls BE (10 points) & BK (20 points). BE was 1K away over untracked marshland which Barry led us to perfectly & hit it bang on.

Next up Control BK with it’s 20 points described as ‘Southern Crag, 15m, foot’. The crag was visible from where we were despite it being 1.5K away & would be an easy control to find in theory but Barry changed his mind based on the clock was ticking & that this Control would take us away from the Campsite. So we re-adjusted to Control DB with it’s lesser 10 points. This was 2K away over again un-tracked ground with waist high dried thistle’s adding to the sense of pleasure. After a K we reached a large stream feature but hadn’t banked on having to descend a steep gorge in & out of it so I said lets come in from the South & not the North, this added safety but an extra half kilometre to our route. We found Control DB having had that annoying back track North to find it ‘Southern Ruin, South side’ having just witness one member of another pair coming at it from the North walking straight past it, clearly he was a bit scrambled nearing the end of a long day.

From here with just over 1 hour 15 minutes left we planned two final Controls the first of which was BG, with 10 points, ‘Western Stream’ & set off without delay, we overtook a few pairs but after half a Kilometre where we were due to descend to a bridge Barry began turning right & not left so I called out to him to stop. Next followed my persuasion that we needed to head for BG whereas Barry’s mindset had turned into ‘camp is right & not left, we don’t need to be late’. My retort was but left is only 7K to the finish, we have the time, clearly he had doubts but went along with my reasoning reluctantly. I tried to mitigate the stress by re-addressing the map & saying ‘when we get to that road we can make a final decision’, I felt confident that I could make it & felt that Barry was still going faster than me but he soon introduced that his dodgy knee was playing up, clearly genuine but brain & pain are often related, a day later our positions would be flipped around.

At the road I ‘convinced’ Barry & we turned away from camp again & began climbing steeply for 350 feet over two kilometres but soon bagged Control BG. We still had 45 minutes up our sleeve with 350 metres of descent & a final 150 climb to our final Control which was literally 2 minutes from Camp. The distance was under 4K as I explained ‘if you can’t run downhill don’t we can still make it’.

Again Barry set the pace & we ran a little bit more than needed. The camp eventually came into site & it was clear it was in the bag now. Despite this Barry put on a spurt to climb to the final Control CZ (10 points) which was left of the road (the camp being on it’s right). I led the descent to the Camp with Barry calling out ‘we don’t have to run now Paul’, ‘really’ I thought.

We reached the camp & checked in after being out for 5:42:57 having just over 17 minutes to spare, Barry had the dignity to complement me on being a numbers man & that he couldn’t have calculated the ending. Let me make it clear that Barry led both physically & planning wise for the majority of the day & I had simply been very pleased that at times I was able to contribute to our experience whilst gaining an awful lot of experience about what an OMM was all about. Having tagged in at the finish I was really surprised to be handed a printed receipt of our days journey which included each check point, each time of arrival, time between each, actual time reached, this to a numbers man was heaven but I must of been tired because a couple of hours later Barry said ‘I’d expected you to be all over that receipt by now’.

Having reached camp at circa 2:45 pm the real pain in the arse was about to begin, almost 17 hours in camp which the sadistic organiser’s had added an hour to because you’ve guessed it it’s always held on the same weekend as the clocks go back making it almost 18 hours, cute! We got the tent up (well Barry mostly), I went to the toilet, getting cold only to reach the tent to be handed a 2/2.5 litre water bag by Barry with instructions to go & fill it, fair enough as Barry was to do the brewing & cooking. This saw me standing in a long queue as the 16 taps had the water pressure of a drip, finally at the front of the line I was able to catch up with Hayley Turner who had been similarly led around her straight line course, then my turn to move to a vacant tap where it took ages to fill the bag but despite the cold & dripping water pressure everyone had a wry sense of humour about our predicament. Back in the tent the rain came in timing it as perfectly as it could, weather wise we’d been & would be very lucky!

Back at the tent with barely room to move let alone sit up we slowly worked through to the evening with two cups of coffee, my freeze dried meal was more of a soup & a flap jack together with occasional reflections of our day & the day ahead. By 7:00pm I was bedded down with my Belay jacket being a very good call. Think I slept briefly some time after 11:00pm waking at 11:47 but from there I at least got some other short spurts of sleep inside me probably totalling 3/4 hours during the course of the night. As promised the Bagpipe alarm went off at 6:00 am but in truth there was no need I’d been awake for an hour by then. At least I was never cold, this despite Judy’s lightweight ‘sci-fi’ inspired sleeping mat needing to be re-inflated every hour, note to self, test it before you use it but I’ll still be insisting on an apology as she had the ‘grace’ to wind me up about camp the day before I left!

I had just a flapjack for breakfast (foregoing the freeze dried packet of 800 calorie porridge & Strawberry that stayed in my bag) with a cup of coffee & best part of half a litre of water, should be enough for 5 hours but probably Barry had his concerns.

By 7:36 we had punched in at the start had received our new maps & were kneeling on the ground planning a route. I had the temerity to suggest an alternative of heading in the opposite direction to the finish where some big points were on offer but Barry correctly focused us on heading in the general direction of the finish.

The rain had cleared through during the previous evening, skies were generally clear would our luck hold.

Final blog of Day 2 will follow soon.

Paul’s Blog – The OMM – Part 1 – The event & my Lead-in to it.

I’ve never taken part in an OMM (Original Mountain Marathon) before which is a bit odd for someone who likes to combine mountains & distance, my main excuse being that it clashes with the Snowdon Marathon where I have run in the last eight races. Having failed to enter the Snowdon Marathon earlier enough this year to guarantee a spot I was once again left dangling on the reserve list but was hopeful that the organiser, Jayne, would get me on the start list somehow. However before that could occur fate stepped in & my destiny for late October 2024 was finally to be my first ever OMM & it’s almost guaranteed poor weather & notorious overnight camp in a tent not contusive to comfort.

That fate was Dorina & my calling in at our friends (Barry & Jackie Edwards) house in Beverley for an overnighter on our way back from a long weekend to celebrate yet another of my Birthdays.

Soon after our arrival Barry took me out for a run over rolling countryside at a pace that can best be described as sharp, note that I’d met Barry in 2019 when we both ran the Original Everest Marathon, Barry who is 10 years my elder went on to set a new O.60’s record beating me in the process. Anyhow this time I got away from him on an early hill but true to form by the end of the run it was definitely me hanging onto his coat tails.

Back at their ranch Barry got to his hidden point ‘do you fancy doing the OMM with me Paul’, yep he’d been testing me to see if I was worthy & capable of joining him. I don’t tend to always consider the consequences of what I say, so ‘Yes’ I replied, ‘that’d be GREAT’.

The year moved on, Steve Jones was contacted to give me some navigation training on his new Island aka Arran where in September he gave me a good test on Goat Fell in some typical OMM weather.

Next up I called in on Barry for a planning & kit check, how does all that fit in a 25Litre bag? Judy came up trumps in both loaning me her OMM specific bag as well as her lightweight sleeping bag & a lightweight sleeping mat (more of that farce later).

October came upon me & my nerves began to rachet up a level or two, some, who have seen me do some pretty big things in the last decade or so were probably thinking why is he nervous. May I here clarify that I have never had to navigate in clag in an Autumn storm in a remote mountainside area which I have never set foot in before & that’s before we get onto the overnight camp ‘bit’.

On the Wednesday before the event I finally picked up the courage of trying to fit the kit into the bag & was pleasantly surprised that it did fit, this included Barry’s tent (he would carry the cooking kit), change of clothes, food, water, sleeping bag & mat, first aid, spare gloves etc. etc., almost most importantly of all a Down Belay Jacket as I am prone to get very cold after a day of strenuous exercise, no scrimping on this bit for me just to save a few hundred grams. The bag weight came in at 8Kg’s probably double that of the elite athletes but felt doable & Barry confirmed it sounded O.K.

On Friday I set off at just before 9:00 for Penrith where I was due to rendezvous with Barry at the Booths supermarket car park at 1:00 pm. Clearly we are like minded as we both arrived almost an hour early & were soon transferring my kit into his van as we’d be leaving my car parked on a side street in Penrith for the weekend.

By 1:00 pm we were heading north for the Southern Highlands of Scotland, more specifically Glen Artney & it’s adjacent hills & valleys. We arrived early, just before 5:00pm & were soon exploring the event ‘village’ which covered several acres & would slowly fill with other competitors with their vans & tents over the coming hours. Barry & I would dine in his van & use it as bed for the night before our event got underway the next morning. Here I should state that there are a number of different competitions that make up the OMM varying from straight line courses (where you have to locate all the controls in order to complete the course) to Score courses (where you make up your own route based on what controls you think you can bag depending on your perceived level of fitness & navigational abilities). We wisely had chosen the Score route & opted for the Middle distance, Day 1 – 6 hours, Day 2 – 5 hours. The overnight camp in between is in a different location to the start with the only thing provided by the event organiser’s being Water, Portaloo’s & a Bagpipe alarm clock, yes, you read that correctly.

Early evening saw a crack open up in mine & Barry’s personalities as I produced the first of two bottles of red & Barry declined a glass, my ‘hydration’ plan was something to calm the nerves & induce sleep before the race & then have a ‘dry’ night during the race whereas Barry’s was a ‘dry’ lead in & then a dram or two of Whiskey at the mid-camp helping him to be warm & sleep well in the cramped tent. Clearly experience counted here as mine plan led to a pre-start accident (too embarrassing to go there, yes really) which resulted in copious amounts of blood being left at the start, definitely not where I needed it to be as well as a distinct lack of sleep the following evening.

Dawn arrived, it was briefly clear despite a worsening forecast, before the mist descended to put both mine & Barry’s blood pressure through the roof, thankfully that didn’t re-open the previous evenings wound. Not long before the start I bumped into Ellie & confessed my nerves at navigation in my first ever Mountain Marathon, she failed to calm them by stating it was her 125th, thanks Ellie!

Pairs are given different start times, ours were 8:45 for day one & 8:00 for day two. One minute before you start you are given a 1:40,000 map of the course where you get to see the location of your Control options for the next 6 hours for the first time. These controls have different point scores depending on difficulty of position & difficulty of identification, these range from 10 to 50. Once you cross the start line the first thing you do is obviously STOP, kneel down, spread out the maps (one each) & agree a plan of attack that will get you from the start to the finish bagging as many controls (whilst also maximising points) within the 6 hour time limit. In the ‘Score’ races if you fail to reach the finish on time you are deducted 2 points per minute, whereas in the Line races you simply get disqualified & know you’ll spend a crap night in camp for nothing!

We crossed the line, the mist had lifted, were we to be lucky & avoid the clag which would turn ‘fun’ into ‘survival’ (wind speed was forecasted to increase to 50mph later in the day & a friendly organiser had informed us it had been freezing up high all week).

So that’s the lead-in to my first ever OMM & an overview of what we were taking on & when I say we there are literally hundreds of us thinking that what lay ahead was better than another weekend of strictly, bloody, come danc…

Blog two will cover OMM Day 1.

Paul’s Blog – Dorina takes to the Alps – Part 4 – Homeward bound.

A bit of a groggy wake-up & Breakfast but who cares we had an easy day ahead. Early on we looked at the forecast & could see that rain was due on Monday night & early Tuesday making (today was Sunday) an easy decision, we would leave a day earlier than planned & head to a campsite we’d used before near Troyes, roughly halfway between here & Calais. So this would be our last full day in the l’Arve valley, the days plans were largely set the evening before.

The morning was spent reading & sorting kit (the Dutch were probably looking at all that kit & my beard & thinking what the heck have they been up to) that was no longer needed so that Monday’s getaway would be easy, during this period my beard also disappeared (I have a superstition not to shave whilst I’m higher up & so hadn’t shaved since we left the U.K. probably much to Dorina’s frustration). I also popped down to Les Houches to buy the evening meal & next days Breakfast. By early afternoon I got itchy feet & announced ‘Dorina, I’m going for a run, you stay here & relax’. I’d been thinking of this all morning & knew what I wanted, an estimated 10 miler, a slightly longer version of my run in the rain a week before. Soon I was out the flap & heading of towards Les Houches on the roads feeling very fit. This wouldn’t last as slowly the energy deficit of the last few days overtook any acclimatisation gains. I stuck at it though so as planned from Les Houches I ran back up the valley on the undulating forest track to Chamonix before a road/pavement return to the campsite, Garmin confirmed just over 10 miles Strava frustratingly (& as usual) said 9.98, why?

A shower & then the next part of the day’s plan, a walk to Les Houches to our favourite bar to watch the Wimbledon Men’s final, probably drinking non-alcoholic beer to save ourselves for a small footie match later that evening. I found a back street series of lanes & paths to shorten this walk with Dorina probably wondering if following me was at all sensible. Incredibly the bar was closed, Bastille Day, as was most everything else. Needing fluid & food after my earlier run we came across another bar/restaurant that was open only to discover they weren’t serving food but they did have Crisps so that would help at least. Drinks came but the slightly scatty middle aged British waitress forgot the Crisps, it was becoming one of those afternoons, by now the Wimbledon final was ticking by.

Beer & eventual crisps went down very well, ‘Dorina, lets move onto the Rocky Pop Hostel they are sure to have a TV’ they didn’t. ‘Dorina, lets get back to the Blue Sky Hotel at least we know they’ve got a TV’, I re-found the lanes & after 5 miles found the TV just 300 metres from our tent. We were in time for the second half of the third set with just enough time to see the ending & sink a couple of alcoholic half pints.

Back at the tent time to eat & read before heading back to the TV for the main event. Of course England lost but it was a fair result as I explained to the Dutch the next morning.

Monday dawned, no rush, an organised & relaxed de-camp saw us heading off just before 11:00am. Stopped for lunch & diesel at the favoured Bresse du Poissons service station before a further two & a half hours drive saw us pull into our planned campsite between the twin lakes d’Orient & Temple in the forest D’Orient. Tent erection was now sub 20 minutes, almost professional, quite important because the predicted Thunderstorm could be seen approaching from the West. Thankfully the storm skirted just to the South giving us only some heavy droplets so we could cook & eat our Chilli con Carne with rice outside before a relaxed evening of reading & talking followed. I would suffer for this for almost a week as, un-beknown to me at the time, the mosquito’s were having the feast of their lives. Apparently they have a fear of Angel’s so just focused on me.

The next morning again no rush so Dorina & I headed out for a run, initially through the forest before my nav took us out to & along a pancake flat path along the shores of lac Temple. I turned Dorina around after 5K with clear directional instructions to re-find the tent whilst I carried on with my pre-conceived plan. I rejoined her at the tent after completing a half marathon at a relaxed pace, things were feeling very good.

Showered & de-camped we left the site early PM & drove the 250 odd miles to Boulogne for our final night way. Usual hotel was full but we eventually found a handily placed Ibis Budget with free roadside parking, a result compared to our original plan. A short walk saw us in the main square finding a friendly restaurant which no doubt had good food if your French was good enough to interpret the menu, I tried to be adventurous & paid for it, Dorina being more cautious faired far better.

No English channels on French TV (no surprise there) saw an evening of reading.

Wednesday dawned, leaving Dorina in bed I went out for an early run to clear my head for the final drive home, a pleasant 6.5 miler. Back in the room, a quick shower before popping out again to buy a variety of Breads from a favoured Boulangerie together with Croissants for Breakfast & a much needed diet coke., aka Coke non-sucre.

Before 9am we were in the car heading for the tunnel where I think a speed camera flashed me, this felt annoying as I’m pretty sure I’d been flashed the day before as I approached Boulogne. This second one was on the motorway, didn’t know they did that in France. Wasn’t much over the limit on either occasion so living in hope as I type this.

We were lucky with an early train but again un-lucky as we approached the M25. The rest of the journey was un-eventful other than volumes of traffic you don’t see in much of France & we pulled up our driveway at 3:30pm to be greeted by Mike waiting for us. Mike had been looking after Dorina’s fruit & veg garden whilst we’d been away & clearly needed a detox from Blackcurrants & Lettuce.

So that was it, a really enjoyable first summer holiday together for 13 years, we’d packed in a lot & have memories to cherish, hopefully the Postman will continue to deliver nothing from France.

Paul’s Blog – Dorina takes to the Alps – Part 3 – Switzerland

One thing I forgot to mention in the 2nd blog was that when we got down to the hut after climbing Gran Paradiso my right boot zip malfunctioned so I’d made a mental note that when we got back to the car I’d need to test it to see if it would work in Switzerland. It failed that test so our hectic turnaround later that evening would also mean a visit to Chamonix & more particularly Snell’s to buy one of the two La Sportiva models that had caught my eye 3 days earlier. Both had built in gaiters (as my old pair which had served me for 10 years), as I could have guessed the more expensive pair were the ones I needed for my Crampons, £400+ but hey it was going to happen sooner rather than later anyway.

Our goals for the next 3 days is The Breithorn for Dorina & The Breithorn & The Nordend for me. This would give Dorina another 4,000er & me two but more importantly for me it would see me complete un-finished business on the Monte Rosa massif dating back to 2014 when Kean & I with Tim’s guidance summitted 12 of it’s 14 4,000 metre peaks. For some reason best known to Tim (probably crowd related) we missed off the first peak (The Breithorn) & for a more known reason we missed out the last peak (The Nordend), the reason for this simply we were mentally & physically tired after an incredible 6 days & the Nordend just felt like an unlucky & chancy 13. I revisited Monte Rosa to tackle the Nordend in 2018 with Dave Ball but we failed to navigate the final crevasse systems just below the final summit ridge. As an additional pain in the arse being first & last they are a long way apart & cannot be tackled as a linked objective from one base, hey-ho this year hopefully I can lay both to rest but The Nordend is a big ask so we’ve agreed Dorina will take a rest day & wait for us at the hut.

Tim picked us up from the campsite at 6am on Thursday & we were off to Zermatt with the plan of tackling The Breithorn later that day. After a brief stop for coffee & Croissants on the way we reached Tache at circa 11:00am where we’d park the car ready for the short train transfer up to Zermatt (you can’t drive into Zermatt). We donned our boots & bags & after buying return tickets (that night we’d be staying in a hotel in Tache that we’d pre-booked, this saved half the cost of staying in Zermatt & although it would mean two return train journeys, rather than one, we’d probably save that on the cheaper evening meal in Tache) were soon trundling into Zermatt itself.

Next was a stroll through Zermatt in pleasant sunshine to reach the lift which would take us to the Klein Matterhorn at 3,817 metres. Despite Tim’s return lift pass being at a Guides half price the 3 tickets cost 300 Euros! You try to justify the cost by looking at the sheer scale of the engineering that takes you relatively swiftly up 2,200 metres (more than twice the height of Snowdon). This said ours journey wasn’t as swift as we’d hoped as several times our the lift stalled & left us frustratingly swinging in the wind, at least we had fantastic views which included the Strahlhorn & Allalinhorn which I’d climbed last year.

At the Klein Matterhorn we donned harnesses, crampons & roped up internally due to a strong cold wind outside, at this height glacial travel starts immediately hence early gearing up. The Breithorn is the easiest of the 82 4,000 metre peaks & as such is very busy but with our late start (11:00am) whilst we could see plenty of large groups on it they were a long way away from us & hopefully well gone from the summit by the time we got there. Initially we made a long traverse, dropping 25 metres in height to reach the start of the climb, 369 metres to The Breithorn’s highest summit standing at 4,164 metres. The Breithorn has numerous sub-summits along it’s 3 kilometre long ridge but these were not on our agenda. The climb starts on gentle slopes before steepening with a couple of zigzags. At the bottom of these we were passed by a very controlled & slick rescue cortege coming down as well as a solo & very tired older guy who had fallen over several times on a more direct descent line (should have kept to the track but at least the terrain was relatively benign). Halfway up we were passed by a Police team who were escorting a tired guy who had a prosthetic leg, clearly the mountain still presents it’s challenges.

Our progress to the summit ridge was otherwise without incident & we soon reached it’s crest with the snow covered summit coming into view, well to me & Tim at least, Dorina saw no cross or Madonna hence no summit, ‘Dorina, snow summits seldom if ever have such a feature’ I explained. Again hugs, congratulations & photo’s but with cloud now a major feature we didn’t hover long despite having the summit to ourselves. Next a ‘pleasant’ surprise a narrow snow arête lay ahead with huge exposure to our left, I would lead the way as Tim explained to Dorina ‘If Paul falls left, we jump right’. Here Dorina shone as those who have seen Tim’s video can justify whilst I focused more on ‘shit, focus & control’.

It was airy but soon ice axe plants to the right became easier & the exposure to the left eased to be less than a certain death. At a widening col we stopped & Tim searched right for a descent line he’d seen on the way up & found it albeit it had only signs of a couple of earlier descenders’ tracks. Leading the way I soon began sinking in above my knees more often than not, a bit frustrating & hard but by no means horrendous. We re-hit the main zigzags about halfway down where things became much easier.

Once on the flatter traverse we passed the Police with their Prosthetic Colleague (I’m presuming this) who were waiting for a Skidoo to get him back to the lift. We stopped soon after this with Dorina stating ‘that was an enjoyable descent’ Tim & I conferred & agreed ‘no not really, we’d been sinking in too deep’, nothing apparently gets an excitable Angel down!

We were re-introduced to the stiff & cold wind on our final steps to the lift but our job was done, we’d been out for 3 hours 43 minutes, a short but expensive tick finally done.

The lift descent went without any stops so a much faster return to Zermatt. Earlier on the summit the joke going around was Tim’s ‘Dorina’s 2nd 4,000 metre peak, it’s not about you & your 22nd summit Paul’ to which I acknowledged being yesterday’s man. So you can imagine how I tried to grab the limelight when we passed our first bar (part of a 4 star hotel) named ’22 Summits’, yes really! It was a non-negotiable opportunity for a photo. Tim offered to take it with Dorina & me in the frame but I stepped in & said ‘Dorina you have to take it as Tim has been with me on all of them’. Two aging dudes tried to look as relaxed & cool as only men of our age can. So why bar ’22 Summits’, I can only presume that you can climb 22 4,000 metre peaks based from Zermatt, my tally of those a respectable but in-complete 15 at the time of the photo.

Time for a quick drink at the bar at the train station & then back in Tache a 2 minute drive to the hotel the Walliserhof at the North end of town, 3 star. This was very welcoming, spotless & elegant in an understated way & for Switzerland & it’s location good value.

In our room first things first, sort kit for the final two days, shower & then Dorina & I went for a food shop for the days ahead before heading into a bar/restaurant for a beer. Menu looked good so a quick Whatsits to Tim ‘we are here’ see you at 6:30.

We had a good meal, although Dorina’s cheese thingy was huge & unfinishable & with an easy day tomorrow Dorina & I ordered a second bottle of wine as we waved Tim goodnight. Sleeping in the hotel far easier than a hut waking to have a good breakfast before heading back to the train station to re-visit Zermatt. From here a few short steps to the Gronergrat cog railway where we spent another large sum on 3 return tickets to the Rotenboden station, 345 Euro’s to get from 1,600 to 2,825 metres, to make that sound better roughly 33 cents per metre.

From here our day would consist of a predicted 4 hour walk into the Monte Rosa hut at 2,795 metres, no there was not simply a 30 metre descent on what turned out to be a somewhat soul destroying final traverse into the hut itself.

At this stage the weather was far better than the forecast predicted initial views along the airy & wonderful path from Rotenboden to the Gorner Glacier were as breathtaking as I remembered from 2014 & 18, this saw Dorina capture a great picture of a cloud erupting over the Matterhorn among many other things.

At a ‘new’ path choice we took the left fork, this would prove to be the new route to the Monte Rosa hut. Soon we were at the Gorner Glacier donning Harnesses & Crampons immediately. The route up & across the glacier was well marked with poles & began with a gentle climb that then steepened a little before levelling off as we turned right. Then Dorina encountered her first proper crevasse, this is the one in the video that several cafe customers have simply been in awe of her achievement. In truth the crevasses grew from here on but not really a place to linger & pose for a video. Occasionally we feared snow bridges having already seen a prime example of one (pointed out by Tim). Thankfully these risks were soon over, we were off the glacier & about to cross a rocky moraine, long traverse around a gorge/gully, another moraine & then a final unexpected gully traverse before the final climb to the hut. This all felt never ending & the rain that by now had arrived with abandon (full Waterproofs rain) just added to the fun. We reached the hut in a little under the 4 hours predicted but with me stating ‘that was crap, old route out tomorrow definitely’ Tim agreed on the tortuous traverse but still needed a little persuading that I was right. In truth most of the Glacier section was enjoyable & remote.

We had a late snack for lunch in what was a surprisingly quiet hut given it’s the main route to the Dufourspitze, Monte Rosa’s highest peak. The hut is very modern, it was spotless but no dorm to ourselves Dorina & I were in an 8 berth room, more of that later.

The afternoon was spent reading & drinking but with an early start the next day the beer was firmly restricted to non-alcoholic Erdinger.

Evening meal was served at 6:30 where we chatted to two late arriving German’s who had driven over from Munich that day, they would have a rest day tomorrow before going for the Dufourspitze & possibly the Nordend the next day.

Earlier to bed, just before 9:00, did me no good, a girl was on her top bunk playing with her phone which beeped every now again before after 40 minutes of this her partner duly came in to have a 15 minute whispered chat, really, get out & do that outside, I almost yelled. Then my bowels took over, up 3 times in the night so the fact that I’d probably got close to 3 hours sleep when the alarm pinged at 1:45am was a pleasant surprise.

Breakfast at 2:00am, quick visit to the dorm to kiss Dorina, then saw us out of the Kit room at 2:35, not bad that given the nerves being at quite an intense level. The previous evening Tim had predicted a 6 hour climb & 3 hour descent back to the hut, tad optimistic? I’d thought 10 hours not 9 but had said to Dorina ‘so maybe we will be back by 11:30am but don’t worry if it’s gone 1:00pm. We were the second group out.

Far more snow than I’ve seen before lower down saw Crampons go on only 10 minutes after leaving the hut, two groups behind followed suit but one didn’t, this seemed foolhardy as the ground quickly steepened. The crust had frozen overnight under clearing skies, simply perfect conditions. I was wearing (as on the Italian climbs) just a T Shirt base layer & a fleece albeit a warmer one today.

We set a steady pace chopping & changing places with other groups, all felt good & then things changed. About 2 hours in the wind came in from the West & it was cold before deteriorating to bitter. Left it too late to say to Tim ‘need to put my Softshell top on’ & made the mistake at that time to only add one pair of gloves over my inners. It was a stunning dawn but too cold for more than the odd photo. Re-starting my cold hands got colder so after another 20 minutes I made another shout ‘Tim must add gloves’. We weren’t alone in this, whilst I added the Outer Gloves, good call, a group of 4 passed with the third guy swinging his arms repeatedly trying to regain some warmth, we soon repassed them. Not sure if they abandoned as soon after our paths diverged, our lonely & un-tracked line went left whilst all the others heading for the Dufourspitze forked on a tracked path right. Both Tim & I noticed more than one group turn around before the summit.

We were now heading to the crux of what would decide success or failure the crevasse field & headwall that led to the col Silbersattel & Nordend’s summit ridge. This took all of Tim’s navigational & gut feeling nouse with plenty of crevasse weighing up along the way but after an absolute age & with only one short backtrack it became clear that we would finally reach the col at 4,515 metres. We had been battered more often than not & were un-comfortably cold as we stopped briefly, photo’s are all I could stomach, at least the summit ridge looked short but the Spindrift being blasted of it warned nothing was in the bag just yet.

We moved on, almost immediately hit by a blast on the narrow ridge, crouch, stop & wait, up, go again, blast, crouch……….

Every time I looked up the summit seemed no nearer, it dawned on me that the view from the Col was much foreshortened. 600 linear metres with 94 metres of ascent were turning into a very stiff task despite a lack of serious technicality. Exposure to our left increased but at least there was a 1 metre lip to our right preventing us being blown off the ridge & down the highest cliffs in The Alps. To put the spindrift into perspective it was actually stinging my legs through my trousers so imagine what it was doing to our faces where it was hitting our left side with a vengeance.

Finally, we’d both kept thoughts of ‘is this worth it’ to ourselves we reached the final crux, a 4 metre rock buttress. Tim climbed it but even he had difficulty despite his longer legs, used to reach a high placement on the left. Next my turn, one of the most difficult moves I can remember, worsened by the conditions, very tight rope from Tim & a lot of pulling, somehow I was up with no thought of how will I get back down that. I joined Tim & he congratulated me despite 4 metres of snow arête above leading to the summit rock. ‘No need to do that Paul’, he looked at my deflated stare before adding ‘unless you want to?’. I did! Tim led on but at the base of the rock he stopped & said that’s it, well done, we shook hands & turned around without taking any photo’s. Had anyone been watching us from the summit ridge of the Dufourspitze they can only have thought ‘shit those two are taking a hammering’.

Back at the rock crux, I tried but soon knew it was hopeless so only one option, stabilise my position & yell to Tim only 3 metres away (it took 3 attempts to get him to hear me) ‘Tim, I can’t do that you are going to have to lower me’. He didn’t hesitate & began to search for an acceptable belay for this. It felt safe despite the awkwardness & a bit of unnerve swing to the un-protected left but I was down & panting with sighs of relief.

Now it was Tim’s turn, I’ve never seen him so undecided as he re-set himself several times before concluding the risk was too high to both of us if something went wrong as he couldn’t protect himself from a fall. As I shivered uncontrollably Tim’s mind seemed to meet mine he’d have to skirt around the East side & try there despite the wind & exposure issues over the East face. Indeed that was the usual line & he soon joined me.

We settled & then moved on through the maelstrom with me leading the way on a short tight rope, far from relaxed but better so Tim took a belated photo of me early on & then we continued cautiously down. I had to take one short stop just to re-set myself physically & mentally, hacking coughs were adding to our discomfort. Reaching the Col was a massive relief & I finally went to take my first fluids of the climb. Coke in one bottle frozen, water in the other mostly frozen but managed to undo the frozen top & get a couple of slurps out of it. Unusually even my feet were cold & Tim had no feeling in one finger & was worried about his nose. As for my camera, shutter frozen so glad I did waste time with it up on the summit.

No time to hang around we needed to get going & follow our tracks down which a couple of pairs who were ahead (descending the Dufourspitze from the col as we’d done 10 years earlier. However I’d seen on the way up that Tim’s tracks were often almost obliterated before I’d got to them so all would not be easy. We were moving fast but safely took a totally different line through the bottom half of the crevasse field but all roads led to Rome & we finally felt low enough & out of the worse of it for a proper stop & re-fuel, my first food in seven & a half hours, by which time I had taken a couple of falls (I was leading at the time) in my haste & un-predictable snow.

From here, Tim now leading, it got easier & we were soon crossing the glacial plateau, totally different with a full snow covering this year, once across this we met & chatted to the two German guys who were reconnoitring for tomorrow. Their leader had seen the Spindrift from the hut over breakfast & had told Dorina how windy it must be up there.

We moved on & soon un-roped but left Crampons on, with, even down here, the crust still being mostly frozen care was needed on the steeper sections, a long slide here into rocks below was going to be very serious.

Finally off the snow, crampons off & we walked onto the huts balcony to be met by Dorina, she’d seen us 20/30 minutes earlier confirming that the colours of our clothing meant that it was us. It was almost bang on 11:00am, we’d done it in 8 hours 25 minutes ahead of Tim’s estimate & he would later reckon that we were capable of less than 6 hours in better conditions, once again I felt, probably wrongly, that was a tad optimistic.

We lunched with me taking on a double portion of yesterday’s cheese & ham toasty which I conceded 25% of to Tim without hesitation. Next, the walk out, not fully convinced by my ‘it has to be the old route’, Tim went over to a Swiss guide who’d just returned with his client from the Dufourspitze to ask him about the pros & cons. The guide confirmed well as your clients can climb yes it has to be the old route.

Again it was a projected 4 hour walk out, big day as we’d always known, mixed terrain, Crampons used twice but not the rope before we got to the crux & the Swiss Guide’s ‘well your clients can climb’ bit, I’d forgotten this part of the route. A vertical rock wall with a 3 metre rope hanging to the bottom of it. Tim grabbed & smeared up it whilst I looked & assessed even if I can do that Dorina won’t. Then I looked right & remembered the move, the rope was just long enough to be moved over to a groove that rose right to left, that was our key, I led through to join Tim, Dorina struggled but with Tim’s guidance & hand she cracked the crux move & was up too. This crack feature continued up for more than 50 metres, major exposure left but no more difficult moves. Next a short traverse led to two ladders climbing 45′ or so, then an easy scramble & we were safely back on that safe & wonderful path back to the Rotenboden.

We’d reached the station in a little over 3 & a half hours, good effort even if my Garmin had long since given up the ghost. Our reward was just a 5 minute wait for the train back to Zermatt, a very contented feeling seemed to spread through us all despite the knowledge that Camp & home were still more than 4 hours away. In Zermatt our train was waiting for us but we sat on it for 20 minutes before it moved on. Dis-embarking I agreed with Tim that he’d carry on to collect the car whilst Dorina & I bought snacks & wine for tonight & breakfast for the morning.

Driving away from Tache Tim asked should we stop at the coffee spot to which I replied ‘well you are driving & need to stay awake so that’s your call’, we duly stopped.

On the journey back I half-joked to Tim ‘got to come back next year to get that last metre (no genuine intent), he responded ‘no Paul, no way we could tell if that last rock was safe, you’ve got that summit’ or reassuring words to that effect.

We arrived at the campsite at 7:30pm just under 17 hours after Tim & I had left the hut, tough day but I finally have the Nordend on my CV, the 4th highest of the Alps 4,000ers at 4,609 metres, that was feeling very good indeed.

Dorina & I celebrated our incredible 6 days long into the evening despite our pitch now being shared by 4 Dutch, hopefully we didn’t keep them awake, but this wasn’t a hut, there was no early start & we weren’t going to shut up until the wine took control as it inevitably did at some time in the darkness.

Sorry that was long but it was some trip, a 4th & final blog covering our final day in Les Bossons & journey home to follow may just include a forgotten anecdote or two but promise it won’t be anything like as long as this!