In reply to Offwidth:
> What are your thoughts on winter ridge records Mike.. conditions vary so much does it say more about when you do it ?
Overall I find speed records for mountaineering lead to underestimation of the challenge for the "average" mountaineer; trying to educate aspirants the other way round make me sound like a reet dour pessimist
Ben Moon summed it up well with "The record for the Cuillin Ridge was 3.5hrs and I thought how hard can it be? It ended up being one of the hardest things I've ever done."
In the guidebook I suggest that records, and the rules they abide by, should be of interest only for those trying to break it. Also suggested, as you say, conditions for winter are so variable that any claim of a record should be qualified particularly regarding an existing trail & ab tat or not. Fin distinctly seems to have avoided using the word record in his account and he is the most qualified person to make a call and their top to top time distinctly the fastest (Threlfall 11hrs no trail solo, Chadders +1 no trail 10hrs, Ashworth trail & tat 9hrs, Hawthorn some trail & tat 8hrs, Wild & Gomersall 6hrs trail & tat.)
Add to that the type of snow- last week was particularly friendly and weather perfect; those going for it this coming week will be a lot more scared!
Far more important to me is the sheer quality of the experience; anyone thinking of records rather than bathing in the afterglow is on a different wavelength to me.
On Sunday 14th Feb Finlay Wild and Tim Gomersall pulled off probably the fastest ever traverse of the Cuillin main ridge in winter - a time of 6hrs 14mins & 17secs.
