UKH

I did the Tour du Mont Blanc a month ago with a mate. 3 days, self supported, finding spectacular high camping spots for the nights. We carried minimal kit but still ended up carrying packs pushing 15kg, with tents and food etc... it was bloody ace and just slow enough to appreciate the scenery.

Just realised I have four days off over bank holiday weekend and wife and son are still away in France (so I’m free to do as I please)

I need ideas for a hard, technical uk routes to run/camp over maybe 3 days.

will avoid Scotland for this trip, as I live in cornwall and don’t have the time to travel.

thought about spine or dragon back route and possibly cruise round the bob graham and add some extra scrambles ( I want to recce it anyway)

non of them are quite grabbing me though.

climby and tech as possible please, any ideas?

 

In reply to Bobmoz:

Do the BG. Will be a great recce. Weather looks good for it. 

Not technical, but what about Coast to Coast...?

In reply to Bobmoz:

3 days for the TMB? Blimey! What was your schedule, i.e. where did you start and finish and aprox times? I was thinking of doing it over 4 days so would love your insight.

In reply to pyrrho101:

Started in chamonix

day 1: Cham to col des fours

day 2: col des fours to a col above ferret

day 3: ferret to montroc

arrived in montroc about 10.30pm, so could have pushed on to chamonix but decided to save the last 9 miles along the grand balcon for the next day, as the views are so bloody good up there.

so really, 3 days and 2.5hrs!

running with a bigger pack sucks though, poles are worth their weight in gold!

i think the BG is winning at the moment, as I don’t need much of an excuse to go up to the lakes and I can always throw in a few scrambled or vdiff solo-athons while I’m there

In reply to Bobmoz: Lengthening the BG, could pop up sharp edge on leg 1, descend swirral and return up striding edge, pop round to pinnacle ridge on st Sunday crag on leg 2. 

 

In reply to Tom the tall:

Excellent stuff... these are the ideas I’m after, that sounds perfect

thanks

In reply to Bobmoz:

If it was not a bank hol I'd suggest either the Cornish or Pembrokeshire coast. But it will be mobbed and you'll get fed up with having to jumped around people who don't hear you running up behind them. 

In reply to summo:

I live in cornwall and briefly thought about a long coast path section but want some mountains!

In reply to Bobmoz:

What sort of distance are you talking per day for that route? Sounds amazing. Not one for you now but when I used to work in Germany the company I worked at would organise long running weekends in the mountains where they’d go hut to hut so could run really light. Would have loved to have done it but it was a bit too hardcore for me!

In reply to Matt Vigg:

Between 30-37 each day

you can do the tmb hut to hut, there’s a crazy amount if accommodation along the way, would definitely allow you to travel light.

we only decided to do it a couple of weeks beforehand, so didn’t really have time to do any real planning. We also fancied the idea of running until we had had enough each day and not being tied to staying in certain places

In reply to Bobmoz:

15kg is insane and definitely not lightweight. Light kit is expensive but you should be able to get it down to say 8kg with some forethought. 

In reply to Pedro50:

??? Really, kit maybe but not real world day to day load. 

food and water???

kit taken:

ultimate direction 30l pack and light w/proof cover

terra nova 800g tent

3/4 ultralight thermarest

ultra light 2 season down s/bag

one titanium pot

pocket rocket and gas and lighter

light down jacket

merino base layer

light but solid Patagonia gtx jacket

ligtweight tunning water proof trousers

spare socks

spare pants

head torch

beanie

first aid kit

ultralight trail running poles

suncream and soap ( both v small)

compass and map

tiny water filter

and half a toothbrush

not sure what forethought could do to lighten that up?

you’re probably right on weight for kit but carrying 1.5l of water, energy bars, hydration stuff and food for two feeds a day, Can’t really cut back on that!

thanks for the advice on a route for bank holiday weekend though! 

 

In reply to Bobmoz: Thanks for answering my questions about TMB.

Not sure if this is helpful but here is my kit list for a two night trip, with each weight. It's under 8kg (without water), including everything you've mentioned.

Really, the only thing that would increase would be food at around 800g per day, and any water carried.

https://lighterpack.com/r/f9sq9w

In reply to Bobmoz:

With a bit of thought and spending you could half that weight.

We ran the TMB last year camping along the way with bags that weighed 7kg ish

Edit: Totally struggling to see how your list adds up to 15kg!

In reply to Bobmoz:

And a bus ride down Swiss Val Ferret...

In reply to Bobmoz:

How much  kit did you share? If you were both carrying tents, stoves etc that's really going to add up.

In reply to DaveHK:

Cheers but can we get back on topic... 

I was estimating the packs pushing 15kg at max load, I’m not really a kit weighing type and what are you on about buses for?

im looking for suggestions for a 3day solo mission next weekend, rather than critique of my kit, or advice on how to pack, or questioning how I ran the tmb... I’m a bit confused!

cheers anyway

In reply to Bobmoz:

Banter innit. 

I saw your post on the STW running thread where you said you got a bus down val Ferret, which is absolutely understandable. There's quite a bit of cross over between here and stw.

 

In reply to Bobmoz:

How about glencoe skyline route on day one, then north to do the south side of glen Nevis on day 2 and then the north side of glen Nevis on day 3 finishing with tower ridge or ledge route?

Or Lake District classic rock in 24 hours is a very hard thing to do, if you could carry some climbing gear it would make a good 3 days.

In reply to Bobmoz:

 > I was estimating the packs pushing 15kg at max load, I’m not really a kit weighing type.

To be fair I think this is what I and other posters picked up on. Given your later stated kit list it is unlikely that it did weigh 15 kg and all the better for that. 

 

 

In reply to Bobmoz:

Sorry Bob. I hope you didn't take it wrong - I just just trying to help!

In reply to Bobmoz:

You could try part of my route in the Lakes which combines a bit of everything - paths, summits, rough ground, scrambles, ridges, valleys. You'll certainly find the ground from dove crag to the langdales technical.  Much more so than BG. Take a look at http://lakelandpilgrimage.blogspot.com/.

 

In reply to Bobmoz:

Torridon - Fisherfield Munro and Corbett bagging spree? The route would take a bit of planning and not be circular but it'll be a hell of a lot wilder than the BG. And technical in places.

Edit : Sorry ignore - I didn't read the not Scotland bit

In reply to Bobmoz:

On leg 3, after great end, drop down Calfcove gill into Upper Eskdale, then up SE face of Ill crag for a great additional scramble.