Steven's Blog

New Year 2009 - skiing in Chamonix

2009-01-05T21:53:00.006Z

Really looking forward to spending some time skiing, walking, eating, drinking and relaxing with some of our friends in a small chalet near Chamonix. The chalet, though cosy, was ideally placed for reaching the chairlifts - just walk out and queue ! Fantastic cold weather with clear blue skies and just a faint breeze. The few blue runs were more like red runs and the long red runs were more technically demanding than reds I've been on in skiing areas elsewhere. Not sure my skiing improves with each skiing holiday, but who cares, we had a great time. More photos on my Flickr page.

Boxing Day in the Moorfoots

2008-12-26T18:10:00.004Z

I fancied a run nearby, but something different. I'd been up the western end of The Moorfoots from Portmore Loch as part of a Carnethy Club Race, and thought today I'd expand my knowledge of these hills. After a short steep pull up from Mauldsie, it's onto wet moor. What lovely, interesting names these hills have - "Huntly Cot", "Blackhope Scar" and "Jeffries Corse" conjure up images of an exciting route. Yet, unfortunately, for most of the way to the Bowbeat Windfarm, it's a dreary trudge over wet moorland following a fence line. I do like the windfarm however, there's something quite hypnotic and relaxing about the movement and hum of the windmills, and it signals the turn back to Gladhouse Reservoir and easier terrain. On return to the farms, we had to walk through a shoot that was taking place - pheasants flew then fell as the gentry in their green stalking gear aimed directly on target. Just as long as they didn't accidently shoot a hill-runner in bright blue with his dug !

Christmas Pentland Run

2008-12-26T17:49:00.002Z

Holiday at last - what's the first thing to do ? - sleep in of course ! A Carnethy Christmas run was organised for 11am or so I though. By the time I realised a 10am start had actually been organsied, I was probably too late to catch them up. But I headed out onto the Pentlands and ran up Caerketton, Allermuir, Castlelaw, Capelaw and back over Allermuir and Carketton down to Hillend. Good atmospheric views over the mist low-lying ground and the run built up an appetite for Xmas dinner.

Beinn a'Chuallaidh and Schiehallion, 20 December

2008-12-20T20:08:00.003Z

Back in November, I went out and cycled up the two corbetts to the east of Schiehallion. I'd intended to head up Beinn a'Chuallaidh on the same day, but the weather turned poor, so didn't bother. Today the crisp morning air and blue skies made the month's wait worthwhile. It's less than 600m of ascent, tho the deep heather and occasional deep trough of snow made for relatively slow progress. A huge cairn and trig point sit on the summit, from where I sat and took in the 360 degree view. Dropping south from the summit, Schiehallion is full-frontal and imposing. I've been up Schiehallion 20 times or so, and it feels different every time. Today the snow and ice further up made for a slowish ascent and descent - 50mins up, 30mins down. I passed some young guys just a few minutes before reaching the summit - 3 cadets and their well-equiped guide. The guide turned out to be aged only 18 ! More photos are on the Flickr page.

Glentress at Night, 18 December

2008-12-20T19:11:00.002Z

More mountain-biking in the dark ! Nats and Nics and myself tagged along with the Girls from Glentress Emma and Tracy. A sedate pace uphill with occasional stops for a chat, then the ride changed. You've never seen folk hurl themselves down a track on a bike this quick. I only managed a quick glimpse of them as they disappeared into the forest. Me on Spd's for only the second time - I'm glad no-one saw me fall over as I tried in vain to unclip on a tight corner. Great fun !

Stob a'Choin, 14 December

2008-12-20T19:02:00.002Z

Pretty poor weather this weekend, unlike last week. Decided to do a couple of not-so-wee corbetts up Balqhuidder Glen. Stob a'Choin was to be first. Easy to reach the foot of this hill. Further up, thick snow and white-out conditions hindered progress and prevented any views. Thankfully there's a fence to follow all the way over the eastern tops to the main summit. Got back down just too late to start the other corbett Stob Fear-tomhais. Stob a'Choin requires more effort than the munro Beinn Tuilaichean on the other side of Balquhidder Glen !

Beinn a'Ghlo, 6 December

2008-12-07T00:45:00.004Z

A perfect day with blue skies, crisp snow an only a gentle breeze. Keith, me and the dog set of to bag the three munros above Blair Atholl. Quite busy, the fine weather managed to encourage several walkers out - no space to leave the car in the usual parking spot. Bitterly cold on the crests and tops, but fine running conditions. Tricky coming of Airgiod-bheinn - snow covered deep holes between the boulders. Lovely sunset at the end of the day. More photos on the Flickr set.

Glentress Duathlon #1, 30 November

2008-11-30T21:50:00.002Z

Time to see if the night-bikeruns in Glentress had sorted me out for the duathlons ! I had no idea how I'd do, or cope with 140 other cyclists/runners squeezing through the gate at the start. Actually not too bad. The cycle came first - 40 minutes of thigh-busting forest trails and paths. I put in all my effort....then had virtually nothing left for the run. 40 minutes later it was all over. But the best part of the event was the prize-giving -Pete Baxter puts in so much effort to this event and it shows. The drive to and from the event was in incredibly beautiful frosty scenery. More info on the event is on the Glentress Duathlon site and some photos of the day (but not the race) are on my Flickr page.

Tinto, 29 November

2008-11-30T21:29:00.003Z

Trying to recover from a cold and test myself to see if I was prepared for the Glentress Duathlon, I went for a walk up Tinto from the south. It's quite different from this direction when compared to coming in from the north. The sun hits the southern slopes all day and the route is far less obvious. I struggled up the hill, but the effort was rewarded with a fine view from the summit. More photos on my Flickr page .

Sgurr an Utha, 24 November

2008-11-29T18:49:00.003Z

This little corbett sits at the entrance of Glenfinnan Estate. Although I've been up the two munros in this area and Streap several times, I'd always by-passed this hill as it's just a wee bit awkwardly placed to include in a hill-bagging circuit. But we were leaving Roshven today, and had just enough time to fit in a quick jaunt up a hill before the journey home. Weather was kind if cold. A fine track (not on my map) made for quick easy progress. Outstanding views for not a lot of effort. More photos on the Flickr page. I missed seeing the otters at Roshven, but hope to get a link to the photos my cousin took of them.

Roshven, 22 November

2008-11-29T17:52:00.002Z

We were staying at our friend's beautiful eco-house at Roshven on the Sound of Arisaig. The weather wasn't great, but glimpses of the terrific views were occasionally had. I ran up the compact group of three corbetts above Roshven. Pathless grassy ground and fine snowy views. More photos on the Flickr page .

Perthshire Corbetts, 13 November

2008-11-25T22:29:00.002Z

Birthday is time to bag a hill or two. Unfortunately weather wasn't good today, so a couple of corbetts east of Schiehallion were chosen in place of the Ossian 3 that I had earmarked for this day. With dog and bike, I headed up Meall Tairneachan and Farragon Hill from the west. A track was followed to near the summit of the first hill and beyond. Nose to the compass and map in mist to the second corbett. The mine is a spooky place to come across in a pea-souper.

Corbett bagging in the Borders, 5 November

2008-11-18T22:55:00.002Z

If you've got a visit to the dentist at lunchtime, what better way to ease the pain by running up a couple of corbetts. Fortunately nothing needing done at the dentist, but a halfday off work was taken all the same to visit White Coomb and Hart Fell. Bob, with his Rolly and myself, with our dog Jake ran up the side of the Grey Mare's Tail into the thick mist smothering the high ground above Moffat. Not the most interesting hills, but quite enjoyable, easily navigated and we came back down in the dark. I've set up a Flickr page and you can see more photos here .

Tinto Hillrace, 9 November

2008-11-18T22:25:00.003Z

Tinto is a great little hill sitting above the Clyde and Biggar. Every year, runners race up to the summit and back down in times varying from 30 minutes upwards. A record field of 260 fought against the strong headwind on the uphill that made for times some 2 minutes slower than the perfect conditions of last year. Prasad Prasad and Jethro Lennox lead from the start with Jethro winning. I came 17th and 3rd vet. More on the Carnethy site and more photos on the SHR Flickr page .

Pentlands, 2 November

2008-11-03T21:12:00.002Z

We spent the weekend in North Berwick, doing touristy things such as the Concorde Experience and surprising Tantallon Castle. All greatly enjoyable, but the only exercise was a quick jaunt up North Berwick Law. Returning home, me and the dog finished up the day with a 2 hour run along the eastern peaks of the Pentlands. We ran the usual route, being rewarded with a terrific autumn sunset. This meant that the last hour was in dwindling light, reaching our home in darkness.

Tarmachan, 26 October

2008-11-03T20:52:00.002Z

This was the weekend that the Original Mountain Marathon (OMM) was called off and, in the eyes of the media, 1700 runners were lost in the Lake District. In Scotland the weather wasn't much better. We headed up towards Loch Tay with the intention of doing the Tarmachan Ridge, Beinn Oighreag and Meall Ghaordaidh. Upon reaching the summit of Tarmachan, the strength of wind combined with thick mist changed our plans - we about turned and aimed to Killin to shop in Killin Outdoor Centre and for a snack and a hot drink at the Smithy.

More Glentress Nightriding, 23 October

2008-10-24T22:51:00.002+01:00

Goodness, how windy it is just now ! Fortunately the Glentress mountain-biking trails are in forest, well sheltered from the rain and gales that are being pelted at the country just now. A few of us went down from Edinburgh to enjoy the red routes. I must invest in new night-lights ! Bought a copy of Tracy and Emma's "Essentials" from the Hub - I'd been on their terrifc essentials basics course earlier on the year and this small book is great back-up. Well recommended if you do any trail or country-track biking, whether is to reach the foot of a munro or just for the heck of it !

Fell Running Relays, Wales, 19 October

2008-10-24T22:19:00.002+01:00

The Fell Running Association Relay is an annual event not to be missed. Not only is it a chance to compete against top hillracing names from everywhere in the UK, but the weekend is a social catch-up for most runners. This year's event was to be held in Wales - I was excited about the thought of running up new routes in Snowdonia. Alas, the relay was held in the Clywdian Hills - not unlike the rolling gentle Moorfoots of Scotland. The running proved to be quite tough though. Andy Spenceley and myself ran the navigation leg - paths and trods for the most part, apart from the last 20 minutes or so which was uphill through dense heather, gorse and thistles. At least we didn't have to run through the field with the bulls that the leg 4 runners had to do !

In a way this race was a bit sad, as it was Helene Whitaker 's last race for our club - she's been out of Scotland for 8 years and in England for the last 5, so decided it was time to cut.

Back to Munro and Corbett bagging next week !

Pentland Skyline, 12 October

2008-10-24T21:27:00.002+01:00

Starting practically from my back garden, this race is one of the best hill races on the Scottish Hill Runners calendar. This year it was also the last race in the inaugural SHR Long Series. With 16 miles and 6,200 feet over varing terrain, the 170 runners had their work cut out. I did the route in just under 2:55hr, a few seconds slower than last year, but not feeling anywhere as nackered at the finish. More info here. Photo courtesy of Anne and Ian Nimmo.

Manor Water Hillrace, 11 October

2008-10-13T21:45:00.004+01:00

This was one of the first races I did, back in 2005, and I've not ran it since. My neighbour and her son were persuaded to come down, so as he could compete in the Junior race. As it turned out, no other junior appeared today. However Lachlan raced all the same, being sent of just after the rest of us to run to the first summit, passing many seasoned runners on the way - excellent for his first ever hillrace ! I managed to keep in the top 10, just ,and hopefully managed to save enough energy for the Pentland Skyline the next day. More photos are on the Carnethy HRC website.

Another Skyline recci, 9 October

2008-10-09T21:59:00.002+01:00

Lucy wanted to checkout the route from Hare Hill to Black Hill on the Pentland Skyline hillrace. A bit of route-finding, but I think we've refined it to perfection. Now we just need some speed and endurance (which Lucy's got an abundance of). We'll find out on Sunday !

Glentress at Night, 8 October

2008-10-09T21:14:00.003+01:00

A half moon, clear skies and windless conditions - perfect ! Jon and myself took just over 2 hours to go round the red route at Glentress in darkness. I borrowed some powerful Lupine lights for the likes of Spooky Wood, Magic Mushroom and the Matrix. My Petzl hillwalking headtorch cost me around £25, these Lupine lights sell for £250 - the difference is amazing. The moonlight above the forest at Spooky Wood climb was earie yet beautiful and worth all the effort.

Skye and Kintail, 5 October

2008-10-07T22:35:00.003+01:00

With only a few munros to go to complete my 14th round, and with the fine forecast for today, I thought I'd get up to Skye and bag the remaining peaks on the Cuillin ridge. The route was to be from Sgurr Mhic Choinnich to Sgurr a'Mhadaidh as in the Cuillin South page , however Skye had other ideas. It was raining first thing, so there was no way I'd be heading up the In-Pinn in the wet, so I decided to aim up Blaven via the usual route instead. On the return to Broadford, I could see the Cuillin was still sulking in cloud - I had to give up on the idea of the In-Pinn & co and headed back towards Kintail and walked up Sgurr an Airgrid, an easy corbett instead.

Pentland Skyline recci, 4 October

2008-10-07T22:14:00.002+01:00

The last race in the SHR Long Classics Series , the Pentland Skyline is looming, so I thought I'd better and get out and do a recci of the western side. The one bit of the route that I've never really managed to get a good line on is the route between Black Hill and Bells Hill, so I checked it out in very wet conditions. Still not decided ! The Pentland Skyline is on the 12th October and on the 11th October is the Manor Water Hillrace - the combined times of these two races go to the Manor Mouse trophy - which I retain from the last time these two races were run on the same weekend.

Glentress, 2 October

2008-10-02T22:29:00.003+01:00

The start of the Glentress Duathlon is just a couple of months away, so time to get some practice on the mountain-bike. I headed down to Peebles and did the black route up to the mast. Horrible wet, cold and windy weather quickly pulled in, so I decided to cut it short and took the shortcut back to the Hub in the Forest .