UKH

My first UKC post - I wasn’t sure whether to put this on the Alpine or Running forum…

Back in the day, I did a solo round of the cuillin. This summer I did a Bob Graham and the Glencoe Skyline race. I’m thinking now about plans for next summer, looking for a route that would build on my running fitness, but also extend the technical challenge.

Going back for another Cuillin round is an option, though the weather is always a risk. Also it would be more exciting to tread new ground. I’ve had a couple of forays into the Alps before, though mostly snow plodding. So I know the ropes but don’t really know where to start looking for sunnier equivalents to something like the Cuillin, or indeed whether they even exist.

I wondered if anyone on here might be able to suggest routes or sources of information?

Ideal characteristics:
- long spectacular mountain day
- reliable weather (Jul/Aug)
- reasonable rock
- sustained scrambling to about mod (ideally nothing much above this, so can travel light)
- no glaciers or snow fields (again so can travel light)
- Keen to spend as much time with hands on rock, though some travel over easier ground ok.

Suggestions that meet most but not all of these are welcome too.
Many Thanks
Rob

In reply to RobJP:

Not exactly what you asked for but I've often wondered about running the northern half of the gr20 over a few days. Using the huts would mean not having to carry much, though would cost a bit.

In reply to RobJP:

Why not just do some of the European sky races?

The dolomites race looks superb but so did Tromso?

Or you want something even more technical?

In reply to Jonathan:
Northern half of the GR20 in 5 days is very dooable from your fitness, if you want a challenge I reckon you could do it in 2 massive days. Carry a tent you can stay at any of the huts for E20 and almost all of them have a shop and all have free drinking water, so you dont need to carry much.

I did the whole thing in just over a week with my partner, some details here.

http://h18-orr.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/gr20-for-fell-runners.html

In reply to Roadrunner5:

Lofoten Islands look amazing

http://www.canal-aventure.com/infos/index.php?option=com_content&view=a...

In reply to RobJP:

Closer to home - Paddy Buckley round?

In reply to Roadrunner5:


try not to sound too encouraging, competition for places is tough enough as it is. Most of these are just boring hill slogs, lots of bogs & forest, no decent views, terrible river crossings, poorly organised and expensive too.

In reply to RobJP:

Out of curiosity can I ask what your BG time was and any tips you might have?

Ta

In reply to RobJP:

Have a look at the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc http://www.ultratrailmb.com/en/page/20/UTMB%C2%AE.html We were in Chamonix (by coincidence) for this during the last week of August. There was a race each day, with distances from 53Km to 300Km.

Also, whilst it is on, there is an expo (using sheds from a Winter market that had every bag, gadget and gizmo from loads of suppliers. I'm currently not running, so it was very hard to see all this stuff and know I couldn't partake ;-(

LR

In reply to RobJP:

Thanks for the suggestions - all would all be fantastic. But for this I'm looking specifically for something more technical. The Cuillin is a good reference - the scrambling is really sustained, but never very hard. Similarly, Glencoe Skyline was great with lots of variety - but the rocky bits left me wanting more. Doesn't have to be super long either - 6-12hr something like that, with as much of that touching rock as possible.

Foreign Guide books I've seen don't seem to highlight this sort of route as they assume that you are carrying ropes and glacier gear so the gradings reflect that. A glacier approach or a short technical pitch, even a fairly easy one will make life more complicated for the sort of day I have in mind (given my current climbing ability/confidence).

Dave - my BG was actually only 95%. I got to Robinson in 22hrs, but couldn't get down quickly enough having trashed my feet. Mt tips are: practice eating a lot, train for the descents as well as the climbs and have some pain killers handy just in case.

In reply to RobJP:

out of interest also what were the shoes you used for the BG?

Dunno if the welsh 3000s would be rough enough for you then!

In reply to Pesda potato:


Welsh 3000s is pretty short compared to a BG although I suppose you could make it as technical as you liked!

In reply to RobJP:

Cheers Rob.

In reply to Pesda potato:

3000's would be great - tho its still a run with some rocks along the way rather than a super sustained scramble

I used mudclaws for the BG.

In reply to RobJP:
I'd go with what ablackett says.

We did the northen half from Vizzavona S-N with three unfit teenagers in 9 days, on no more than 4-6 hours walking per day. You'd spend much more on getting to and from Corsica than on the refuges, so I wouldn't worry about the cost of them. It's a footpath, so way less technical than the Cuillin Ridge and eminently runnable 99% of the time. Even the Circe de Solitude is a doddle.

However, you can throw in more "technical" bits all over the place as variants or asides, like the Paglia Orba by the refuge Ciottulu di i Mori, where the service is with a snarl, but the coffee is the best on the route.

It is also really beautiful, and I'd like to go back and do the southern half, or all of it, sans teenagers (we haven't got any now, anyway!).

In reply to RobJP:


There are plenty of techy running outings you could string together in the UK although not really recognised routes.

I just plugged the following into my route mapping thingy and it comes out at about 20 miles and 4000m + of ascent. Might need to do it myself...

Along the Aonach Eagach from west to east, down to Kinlochleven, up Sgurr an Iubhair, along the Devils Ridge, down to Glen Nevis, up to the CMD arete via Steall then down Coire Leis and up Tower Ridge.

In reply to RobJP:

u could run the aog rouge traverse above cham. there's a long ridge scramble in the Costa blanca.

better than the cuillan is a big ask though! alpine rock tends to be looser..

how about the greater cuillan traverse or the standard one twice!

In reply to mbh:

I would agree that the GR20 is a great challenge (not quite a doddle) and the Cirque de Solitude is now closed as 6 people died there in June this year. There were several people running it this July, often carrying too much. The record for the whole GR20 is around 32 hours!

In reply to DaveHK:

That sounds fanatastic - thanks

In reply to Removed UserMike Rhodes:

I meant a doddle as a significant, technical climbing challenge. It is part of a foot path.

6 people died there? Good grief. What were they doing? Was the weather terrible?

In reply to alasdair19:

Great, thanks for these I'll look them up.
I agree about it being a big ask - though doesn't need to be better, just of the same ilk.
And yep lots more to do on Skye, though I think one standard lap is enough of a challenge at the mo!