Hill running Report: Lucky 13
January 11th, 2010Ok, I promise not to witter on about the weather gods this month. It didn’t take a degree in meteorology to predict that it was going to be a cold and snowy jaunt on the Eildons this year. In fact the weather was decidedly average. In this context, “average” is a phrase used by hill runners to describe climatic conditions that in other circumstances might be called “terrible”, or “disgusting”.
It is a way of both fooling oneself that it wasn’t so bad really, and, accurately accounting for the fact that the weather on top of hills is almost always colder, wetter and windier than in the valley. The average temperature at 3,000ft in Scotland is around the same as a domestic fridge. So next time you are tempted to throw away an orange peel on a hill top, just remember that you wouldn’t keep it next to your milk. It might be bio-degradable, but up there it takes a very long time to disappear.
Given the low cloud, snow and cold, it was great to see ten other runners when Fiona and I arrived in Melrose square on Sunday morning. It wasn’t a day for standing around, so we rapidly headed off up Dingleton hill, and down the steps towards the hills. The full snow cover made for slippery progress – especially for those without good off road footwear. A quick shortcut soon made up for lost time however before we reached the top of the Newstead Eildon. This led to the most “exhilarating” descent of the day; steep ground, deep heather and soft snow was an invitation for some to slither at suicidal speed, whilst others chose a more measured approach.
As we dropped out of the cloud, it became apparent that we had taken a “minor detour” from the intended route; however it only took a couple of minutes struggle through deep snow and gorse to get us back on track. At this point, it became apparent that we had been joined by Les Turnbull, who despite arriving late, seemed to have managed to track our progress through the clouds and snow to find us in this quiet corner of the Eildon estate. I suspect the noise of happy chattering might have helped him too.
A mile or two on good – but icy - tracks brought us to the back of the third Eildon, which was scaled via its near vertical south face by the more intrepid of the party. Ice axes and crampons were considered advisable, but not essential. From the mighty summit, a quick abseil took us into the col, where we met up with the base camp team, who had found a good sheltered spot for us to camp out for the night before making a final ascent of the third and highest Eildon.
At this point however, with the prospect of an uncomfortable night ahead, and the ever present dangers of hypothermia and frostbite, we decided to cut our losses, and descend rapidly to the joys of the fleshpots of Melrose. It was after all (if my arithmetic is correct), the 13th outing of the group, and 13 runners had been involved on the day. Lucky then that we had such a great time, and the snow only began to fall as we ran the last few hundred yards back to the cars. But that was nothing to do with the weather gods of course.
Paul
Please note that certain events in this account are entirely fictional and bear nothing more than a passing resemblance to any actual events, or people. Gala Harriers does not condone the foolhardy activity of hill running, which is an extremely silly thing to do, especially when it’s all cold and snowy. At such times you should all stay indoors wrapped up in front of the fire.
