Go Mountain Goats

After some more wet and windy mild weather we did finally get some snow, and pictures of the snow conditions looked great at the Lecht on the 27th Dec. I missed the chance to get out as I was on a cyclocross mission with Gary Mac - linking Glen Creran to Glencoe via a route I've wanted to do for a while. https://www.strava.com/activities/457309432 Unfortunately the mega thaw was set to come in on race day for the Lecht 2090 Skimo race - the first of the 2015/16 season. And thaw it certainly did. Arriving at the Lecht there were two immediately obvious issues - a) there really wasn't very much snow and b) it was really very windy. Despite these fairly major issues Di and the Skimo Scotland team battled through Plan A, B and C to come up with a race course. https://www.strava.com/activities/458215985 All pictures: Mr Drew Photography Around 29 racers set off on the muddy soggy bootpack across towards the Buzzard tow, then skis on and up a short and steep climb...

Winter is finally here after a protracted mild and wet spell. I am really excited this winter to get out on long mountain missions on the skis and on foot. Having spent a few years dabbling in ski mountaineering racing, at home and in Europe, I want to see how using this very light and speedy 'Skimo' kit can transfer to 'light and fast' ski mountaineering objectives in the Scottish mountains. I could write at length about different types of ski touring / ski mountaineering kit and the pros and cons of different approaches. I have toured in Scotland on over 2m long nordic free heel skinny skis as well as heavy telemark setups. I'm not going to go into this right now, except to state that 'Skimo' kit is extremely light and functional for race 'transitions' (from uphill to downhill mode) and has been used for some simply mind blowing descents and tours in the Alps and elsewhere. A GB Team consisting of Ben Bardsley, Jon Morgan, Ben Tibbetts and Mi...

Finlay Wild - British Fell Running Champion 2015 This year one of my main goals was to have a good crack at the British Champs. I was second equal with Morgan Donnolly in 2013 (to winner Rob Jebb) in quite a close final result, decided on the fourth and final race of the series - the fantastic Peris Horseshoe in Snowdonia. I learnt a lot by doing these races, particularly the importance of reccying: racing onsight, navigating from the front in the snow and mist of the Mourne Mountains was less than an ideal strategy and I found myself narrowly second (to Gavin Bland, previous British Champion) in the Silent Valley race. Unfortunately, on returning to the Mournes for the 2014 Champs race on Slieve Donard, I hadn't listened to my own advice and ended up coming totally unstuck - again without the benefit of a reccy - in the thick mist, along with half the field. So 2014 was out too for me and the Champs. Come 2015 I was keen to have another go, but was clear from the start th...

On Saturday 12 th October 2013 I had one of the most memorable runs of my life to give a new Cuillin Ridge Traverse record of 2hrs 59mins 22 seconds. This traverse, in perfect running conditions, was my fourth this year. As before, the definition followed was that of previous records and took in the 11 Munro summits, plus the Sgurr Thearlaich and Bidein Druim nan Ramh tops, and the four main ‘climbing’ sections (the TD Gap; Kings Chimney on Sgurr Mhic Choinnich; the Inaccessible Pinnacle; and Naismith’s Route on the Bhasteir Tooth). I started on Gars-bheinn at 12 noon and finished on Sgurr nan Gillean at 2.59.22pm. On Gars-bheinn a few minutes before setting off... (pic: R.Wild) Last week I was chatting with friends and psych reached boiling point as we realised that conditions for the weekend were looking good. Very good. My dad, Roger Wild, was more than happy to accompany me for an attempt during this October weather window so we headed up to Glen Brittle on Frid...

Bla Bheinn, Clach Glas and Sgurr nan Each The Clach Glas - Bla Bheinn traverse is regarded as a classic mountaineering outing in its own right, despite being a much smaller brother to the main Cuillin traverse. Being geologically part of the Black Cuillin, the terrain feels very similar - fantastic rough scrambling with lots of interest. On Sunday 7/7/13 the weather cleared to give a beautiful sunny day on Skye. I decided to have a go at the Clach Glas - Bla Bheinn record, having seen a round recorded on the Scottish Hill Runners 'Long Distance Records' page where Alastair Matthewson recorded a time of 1hr 57mins 20secs in 1998. I'm sure others must have done fast times on the traverse as its such an obvious objective. I knew the scrambling section of the traverse reasonably having been up there about a month ago, but Sgurr nan Each was new to me. In keeping with the previously recorded round I started and finished at the bridge over the Allt na Dunaiche (GR 561217...

On Sunday 16 th June 2013 I recorded a time of 3 hours 14 minutes and 58 seconds for a Cuillin Ridge Traverse, under the Hyslop 'rules' (all 11 Munro summits, plus the Sgurr Thearlaich and Bidein Druim nan Ramh tops, including the four main ‘climbing’ sections. Starting Gars-bheinn and finishing on Sgurr nan Gillean). This was my third traverse in three weeks – a week ago (9/6/13) I ran a time of 3h10m30s in perfect weather only to realise I had inexplicably omitted to touch the summit cairn of Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, despite passing 10 metres from it! This dawned on me slowly and horribly while walking down from the ridge, so later that day I made the tired journey back from Glen Brittle to Sgurr Mhic Choinnich to consider what had happened – unfortunately this confirmed I had made a 5 second important omission. The next week was lived in a sort of limbo of checking weather forecasts and mental preparation for the next run. So it was that I returned on Saturday nig...