Looking back, there were loads of great adventures over the last twelve months. Winter truly arrived late November and whilst the central belt of Scotland couldn’t move, I enjoyed snowshoeing over Corbetts above the east end of Loch Arkaig. Managed some late night Nordic ski trips around East Renfrewshire golf courses and put in some nice trails around the fields of Busby as well. Further bothy nights and mountain days were enjoyed with Graham Pascall in the lead up to Christmas.
January ended with a week ski mountaineering in the Cairngorms in what could only be described as challenging conditions. Big trip of the spring was over eleven of the Ardgour Corbetts just avoiding the wild fires which spread up from the shores of Loch Shiel and destroyed areas further north in Glen Shiel and also in Torridon. Sadly for the mountaineers (but great for the mountains themselves)
May was dominated with rain but I still managed a week on the Corbetts around Applecross, Torridon and above Garve. My Dad’s move towards finishing his Munros has continued with various trips leaving him 6 more 3000ft main summits to visit. Late summer also meant me finally getting back to a couple of AL hill races with a ramble round the Glenshee 9 and the Two Inns. I might have dropped another minute of my Ben time but suppose that goes with getting older.
In terms of stat - between Ben races:
- 20 hill races
- 74 new Corbetts
- 26 repeated Munros
- 54 days spent in the Scottish Mountains
The bad …
My biggest fail in the last 12 months without doubt has been a complete failure on the planned Bob Graham round - entirely my fault. Not only did I not get an attempt at the full round, but I failed even to get my arse down for a few recee trips. Why …dead simple, I always managed to find an excuse to be doing something else. I had offers of support and got as far as tentative plans for a joint attempt with some hill runner pals from up here but given a general “Decide and Do” strategy, I missed out the doing bit. I am disappointed in myself …and even now the “too late for this year” excuse floats to the surface. Must put that right !!!
The next …
Plan to try and get my Dad another couple of summits before winter arrives and to add whatever additional Corbetts come my way as well. Next March I will be skiing the Haute Route from Zermatt to Chamonix which gives a good excuse from some training in Scotland given a good winter. Thanks to last years London Marathon result (3:09:51), I qualify for a good for age place and it seems appropriate to run London again in the year the Olympics comes to town. A long trip into Knoydart in late April or early May should see my Dad ready to choose his day for the last Munro.
Other than that, there are a few cycle tours around Scotland in the head and yes …a Bob Graham round !
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