Cairngorm 4000ers Record
There were two factors that both worried and
excited me in equal measure as I set out to attempt the Cairngorm 4000ers
record. The first was the weather: it was fairly blustery and a familiar wall
of cloud hugged the plateau around Braeriach, as it often does. Cairngorm
itself was clear and despite a few very light showers I hoped the cloud would
blow off before I got across the Lairig Ghru. The other factor was that I
didn’t know exactly what Ally Beaven’s 2017 record was, having been unorganised
and then suffered in the morning from the frustrating technological calamity
known as “the internet is broken”. So I set off with Paul Raistrick’s split
times and the knowledge that Ally had broken this 2007 record by several
minutes, exact quantity unknown!
I last ran the route in April 2017 when there
was a fair bit of spring snow still around. This made several parts slow going,
and some sections of whiteout navigation from Cairn Toul onwards had augmented
this. Still, I felt pretty prepared for a fast attempt when I next had chance,
and Ally’s breaking of the four hour mark last year was a good reminder.
Running from Glenmore Lodge I took a
reasonably good route up to the Coire Cas car park and then a direct line
parallel to the funicular track. From Cairngorm I glimpsed Ben Macdui, almost
entirely cloud free across the Loch Avon basin. From the head of Coire Domhain
I cut almost directly south, crossing the Feith Buidhe to reassend to the
highest summit of the day. Boulder hopping southwest it wasn’t long until I was
across the Lairig Ghru and tackling the big steep climb up into Coire an
t-Sabhail and then to Cairn Toul’s summit. There was a fairly strong breeze
from the northwest as I rounded the multiple corries of Braeriach, but I could
hardly complain as this had blown away the cloud entirely, giving me clear
visibility throughout.
Approaching the final 4000ft summit,
Braeriach, I was over ten minutes up on Paul’s splits. I felt reasonably
confident but there was still a lot of running to do. Grabbing some more water
as I crossed the Lairig Ghru again I was pleased it wasn’t any hotter given the
unusual heat Scotland has had for much of this summer.
The short-lived boulder field through the
Chalamain Gap broke up the faster running but then it was full speed ahead down
the good track to cross the Allt Mor, and along the final kilometres of fast
trail back to the lodge.
Finishing a hair’s breadth under 3hrs
53minutes I was delighted to look up and confirm that this was a new record,
Ally’s time having been 3hrs 57minutes 52secs.
Details:
Record: 3hrs 52minutes 59 seconds
Date: 4/8/18
 |
| Cairngorm 4000ers route |
Details:
Record: 3hrs 52minutes 59 seconds
Date: 4/8/18
GPS track:
Splits:
| Glenmore Lodge |
0:00:00
|
0:00:00
|
| Cairngorm |
0:47:25
|
0:47:25
|
| Ben Macdui |
0:31:57
|
1:19:22
|
| Lairig Ghru |
0:14:35
|
1:33:57
|
| Cairn Toul |
0:35:32
|
2:09:29
|
| Sgor an Lochain Uaine |
0:10:57
|
2:20:26
|
| Braeriach |
0:27:29
|
2:47:55
|
| Glenmore Lodge |
1:05:04
|
3:52:59
|
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