The plan was so simple, Friday: Dan, Chris and 'House mate Mike' would head up to Fort William, spend the night at a bunk house. Saturday: they'd conquer Ben Nevis. Turns out Ben had a different ideas...
The bunk house had been booked, additional drivers put on insurance policies; ice axes and crampons purchased.
With bags packed full of thermals and socks a plenty Dan waited at the train station still daydreaming of crisp snow under foot and clear blue skies a top of a Ben
Nevis summit. Then the call came through:
Support Crew Chris "Have you checked the weather?"
Team Tarahumara Dan "No, not that recently, clear blue skies by any chance?"
Chris then went on to read from the MWIS weather report. Things along the lines of 50-60 mile an hour winds, with 75-85 mile an hour gusts. Temperatures of -8 feeling around -15 with wind chill. Rain, sleet, snow, visability zero.
It seemed Ben was not in the best of moods.
Begrudgingly, we decided that perhaps this was not the weekend to be taking on the highest summit in the UK. A plan B was needed.
Looking at the weather reports for the other ranges in the UK, nowhere looked that hospitable, Snowdonia looked happiest, we decided in the end, in keeping with Ascent of big stuff theme, that Scafell Pike in the Lake District on Saturday would be the next best shout.
We set off from Warwick early doors on Saturday and once on the M6 found ourselves short of at least two more wiper speeds, the weather it seemed, was still not playing ball.
After we had stopped for fuel and food, we left the motorway, and thankfully, the monsoon behind us.
We arrived and parked up just South of Wasdale Head around 12 and once out of the car quickly decided that it was definitely hat weather. We kitted up and began our ascent.
After the restart we made steady progress up until we met the dreaded never ending steps of doom, they for those who have not experienced them are some serious thigh burners.
When we met the fork in the road we opted for the route through Mickledore, although the guide book said it would be tougher, it definitely looked like more fun. Other walkers were few and far between on the day, we met a couple who proclaimed that "this isn't what we signed up for" at the frozen stream, and promptly turned back.
As we progressed, the more barren and empty the scenes became. Although the pure white of the snow was beautiful, the sight of the survival shelter through wind whipped snow clouds was a tad unsettling.
We finally topped the summit around three hours after setting off, we were promised a 70% chance of clear views from the summit, sadly though the 30% won through. It was crazy windy on top, we rushed the formal touching of the trig point, hurriedly took a couple of snaps then took refuge behind the biggest 'structure' we could find.
Dan cracked open the Jaffa Cakes with Chris and 'Mike opting for the classic Kendall Mint Cake.
The decent was sketchy in places although we had opted to take the 'easier' route down past Hollow Stones, the ice made it pretty treacherous under foot. We donned the crampons to make things a little positive under foot. However not long after we applied the grippy footwear, Mike discovered first hand that is possible to have too much of a good thing, getting both crampons wedged he elegantly pirouetted and flipped 'arse of tit'.
Ego and shoulder both bruised, Mike was fit to continue down, and that we did.
The decent seemed to go on forever, jelly legs all round weren't helping either.
After meeting back with, and crossing, the stream down to the lake, we took a break to admire the view - Scafell made up for the foggy summit with a fantastic sunset across Wast Water.
We completed the round trip in around six hours in all, which considering the weather, and the zig-zagging around the really nasty stuff we were all pretty chuffed with.
Thank you for a great day out Scafell, Ben - We'll see you soon.
Support Crew Chris, House Mate Mike and Team Tarahumara Dan.
Although this was nothing like what we'll (hopefully) experience the weekend of Trailwalker, there are definitely some points to take away:
1. Liner socks under thick socks are magic, blisters, what blisters?
2. Camel Packs / Platypus systems are the way forward,. Anything that will make hydrating easier and more natural, and not require a stop to get to a drink, will make keeping hydrated all that much easier. Definitely a worthwhile investment for the big weekend.
3. If you're going to insist on Tweeting in sub zero temperatures, then maybe a touch screen phone isn't the way to go (right Dan?).
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