David Gibson

Scotland’s mountaineering chief is urging the hillwalking and climbing community to back two MSPs fighting against unsightly tracks on the country’s mountains.

David Gibson, chief officer of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, says the response to an online petition so far has been ‘pathetic’. MSPs Sarah Boyack and Peter Peacock are seeking the support of outdoor enthusiasts to put pressure on the Scottish Government to curtail the right of landowners to drive tracks across unspoilt Scottish wilderness areas.

The MCofS’s access and conservation officer Hebe Carus prompted the move and enlisted the support of the two Scottish Labour MSPs. Ms Boyack is the shadow minister for the environment.

The two parliamentarians have now pleaded with each person who signed the petition to enlist the support of five more ‘outdoor friends’ to add their names to the petition after only 400 signed up in the first week.

David Gibson said it was time for hillwalkers and climbers to make a stand. On his blog, he said: “What a pathetic response from the hill-going community. As usual, hill-goers seem content to sit on the sidelines and wait for others to do something on their behalf.”

As grough reported last week, the current legislation allows the laying of these tracks under permitted development rules, but a promised review of these arrangements still hasn’t materialised.

David Gibson points out that there are an estimated 200,000 Scottish adults heading for the hills each month, so 400 signatures is on the paltry side. Referring to the petition, he said: “If it is to have the maximum impact as many people as possible need sign up over the next few weeks and show that thousands of Scots take this issue seriously.”

Details of the petition and examples of the desecration wreaked by some of the tracks are on the Hilltracks campaign website.

Bonita Norris on Manaslu

Ever woken up with a crazy idea? Personally, I find it an effort even to realise what day it is, but one young woman did indeed awake with a dream.

Bonita Norris decided she wanted to be the youngest British woman to summit Everest. The drawback was, she’d never climbed before. But on 3 April she sets off for Nepal, hopeful for a May summit.

In the eighteen months since she decided to follow her dream, the novice climber from Wokingham, Berkshire, has worked on her new quest, and in autumn last year climbed to the summit of Manaslu, the world’s eighth highest peak, at 8,156m (26,759 ft), no stroll in the park.

She is making her Everest attempt to raise money for Global Angels, an international foundation for children’s causes. The individual projects to benefit from the novice mountaineer’s venture will be Child Voice International and the White Lodge Centre.

Ms Norris said: “One morning in 2008, I woke up with a crazy idea – the kind of idea you dismiss as a pipe dream. The kind of idea that you feel embarrassed to have even considered yourself able to put into action.
“But it stuck. My idea was to climb Everest in its spring season of 2010, and raise a shed load of cash for charity along the way. I had less than two years to get ready, and a slight issue of finding £50,000 to cover the costs of such a trip.

“It seems crazy looking back, but with a little determination I was soon heading out to the Alps and getting sponsorship in place to cover these huge costs. Despite many people telling me that I couldn’t do it, I knew I could prove them wrong. I just had to get onto a big peak and put my training into action.

“By the skin of my teeth, in August 2009 I was flying to Nepal to attempt to climb the world’s 8th highest mountain – at only 645m shorter than Everest, Manaslu, for me, was a ‘baptism of fire’.

“I learnt that mountaineering is definitely mind over matter. It was the hardest thing I had ever done, but also with the greatest achievement. I am the youngest woman to have climbed the peak, and was the youngest climber on the mountain by many years.”

Ms Norris has also set up an eBay auction of three flags which will carry the winning bidders’ names and which she will take with her on her summit effort.

More details of Bonita Norris’s venture are on her website, along with links to the charities.

Dave MacLeod's views were sought on the new-look website

Scotland’s mountaineering body has had a makeover – online, at least.

Celebrity climber Dave MacLeod was among those whose input was used to revamp the website of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland. The council, which represents, supports and promotes Scottish mountaineering, has updated its online presence to include links to outdoor bloggers and news sites such as grough.

MCofS chief officer David Gibson said: “The new website is a team effort; we asked Scotland’s top climber Dave MacLeod – and our members – to identify what climbers and hillwalkers really want in a website, and we have designed the site to make this information easily available.”

Chris Townsend: 'real buzz'

The council’s president Chris Townsend said: “We have re-vamped our website to coincide with our ongoing Walker Climber Skier Member campaign to attract more members to the MCofS.

“This is an extremely exciting time for the MCofS and there is a real buzz about the organisation. There has never been a better time to join the MCofS to support our vital work and enjoy the benefits of membership.”

Membership development officer Mike Dales said: “Visitors to the website are growing month on month. The service we provide to members is improving all the time and the website is part of that overall improvement in the support that we are providing to all kinds of mountaineers.”

The site also has up-to-date information on access and conservation and mountain skills and safety.

The MCofS has 10,500 members and is funded by a combination of membership subscriptions, grants, and investment from sportscotland, which supports public initiatives and services in mountain safety, mountain weather information services, mountain leader training and the development and promotion of mountaineering activities.

Major Phil Packer in climbing action

Two celebrity walkers today completed their ascent of Snowdon as part of the Sport Relief effort.

Phil Packer, who suffered spinal injuries while on active duty in Iraq, and TV presenter Kate Silverton summited Wales’s highest mountain earlier today after having reached the top of Scafell Pike as part of their Three Peaks attempt. They had been beaten back by severe weather 100m from the top of Ben Nevis on the first day of their challenge.

The pair had aimed to complete the challenge in 72 hours but retreated from the mountain after 10 hours trying to reach the summit. Packer’s effort was even more remarkable for the fact he was told after being injured in 2008 that he would never walk again.

The Sport Relief website reported him as saying: “The snow was much deeper than I’d anticipated. I did not expect the conditions to fatigue my body as quickly as they did – and so early on.” The former Royal Military Police major has no feeling in his legs. It took him 14 days to complete the London Marathon course on his crutches.

Ms Silverton said of the Nevis ordeal: “’Today was an extremely tough climb and the whole team were tested. Phil was extraordinarily determined and was clearly never going to give up.

“But the weather was against us in so many ways and we encountered some of the worst conditions on Ben Nevis anyone had seen in a while. After more than10 hours of solid climbing and faced with a complete white out, we made the decision based on safety to come down – just 100m from the ascent.

“Five hours of climbing in the dark followed and we were all utterly exhausted by the end of it. Having said that, we’ve had a tremendous day, surrounded by a magnificent team of Phil’s friends, all professionals in their field and all determined to ensure we complete our next two climbs of Scafell Pike and Snowdon.”

Silverton and Packer were joined on their Snowdon ascent by Sir Clive Woodward, former England rugby union player and coach, and Olympic gold-medal rower Sir Steve Redgrave.

Sir Chris Bonington: honorary life president

Britain’s elder statesman of mountaineering will join a South Pole adventurer in a special event later this month to raise money for a campaign group.

Sir Chris Bonington and Ben Fogle will share his personal experiences in a conversation with BBC Radio 4 presenter Libby Purves. Explorer and broadcaster Ben Fogle will also give an account of his adventures.

Ben Fogle with his dog Inca

Proceeds from the event, at the Royal Geographical Society’s base in South Kensington, will go to the Campaign for National Parks. The evening, on 31 March, will be hosted by Libby Purves and organisers say the men will reflect on how their early experiences in the British countryside generated a spirit of exploration that has seen them succeed in the most challenging places on earth.

Ben Fogle is chair of the Campaign for National Parks and has been active in promoting the Mosaic scheme to encourage Britain’s ethnic minorities to use the parks. Sir Chris is honorary life president of the CNP.

The cost of the evening is £10, and the event starts at 7pm. Details are on the CNP website.

Dartmoor: favourite venue for the OMM this year? Photo: Richard Knights CC-BY-2.0

This year’s Original Mountain Marathon moves south to a location mysteriously and vaguely described by organisers as ‘south-west Britain’.

The event was hit by a media storm in 2008 when it found itself the centre of attention as torrential rain and gale-force winds in Borrowdale forced its early abandonment and gave slate-mine owner Mark Weir his chance to issue the now infamous ‘mountains into a morgue’ quote. Last year’s choice of the Elan Valley in Wales disappointed many due to its lack of perceived ‘mountain-ness’.

News of the venue for the event, the longest running mountain marathon in Britain is kept deliberately inexact until close to its running to prevent participants recce-ing the area. Forum users for the event point out that the whole of Wales could possibly be included in the description of south-west Britain, though Dartmoor seems favourite among posters.

Dartmoor has been the venue for the event, formerly known as the Karrimor International Mountain Marathon, once before, in 1982. It was held in the Brecon Beacons in 2004. The two-day event, in which teams of two compete over different classes of courses, tests fitness, navigation skills and endurance. The use of GPS units is banned.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes

Eccentric Everest summiteer Sir Ranulph Fiennes was hospitalised yesterday when he crashed his car after taking part in a night-time mountain marathon.

The explorer, who is 66 today, hit two cars travelling in the opposite direction in Stockport, Greater Manchester just before 2pm yesterday. Sir Ranulph’s Jaguar hit a Nissan Micra and then a Ford Focus.

The driver of the Micra suffered leg injuries that are described by police as non-life-threatening and was taken to Stepping Hill Hospital. Sir Ranulph was not seriously hurt.

He had been taking part in the High Peak Marathon, a 68km (42-mile) night navigation endurance race with three other members of his Poles Apart team. They finished the event in 23rd place in a time of 12hrs 22mins.

The event starts and finishes at Edale and is organised by the University of Sheffield High Peak Club. The organisers state: “The High Peak Marathon can test a competitor’s fitness, endurance and navigational skill to their limit. The route is at least 40 miles long and for much of its distance the terrain is pathless peat bog.

“The dark, lack of sleep and winter weather add to the challenge. It has snowed in four of the last 10 events. All entrants should therefore be certain that they have fitness and mountain experience required to make a safe passage.”

Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes reached the summit of Everest at his third attempt in May last year – the oldest Briton to do so. He also took part in seven marathons on seven continents in seven days and conquered the north face of the Eiger, despite having vertigo and having had a heart bypass.

A Sea King helicopter flew the man from the site of the incident

A climber was airlifted to hospital after falling in the Highlands this afternoon.

Police at Fort William were alerted about 2pm after the man fell while climbing with two others near Loch Treig. He suffered head injuries in the incident.

The crew of a Sea King helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth found the party of climbers and airlifted the injured man from the hillside.

He was taken to Belford Hospital in Fort William where he is receiving treatment for his injuries.

A spokesperson for Northern Constabulary said his details were not being released. His condition is not known.

Loch Treig, south of Glen Spean, is remote from roads, with just the West Highland railway line passing along its shore, between Corrour and Tulloch stations.

Coastguard search and rescue helicopters will still be available next week during the strike

Rescue helicopters will continue to fly next week despite a strike involving up to 270,000 public-sector workers.

The Marine and Coastguard Agency said its emergency aircraft will still be responding to calls during the 48-hour strike called by members of the Public and Commercial Services Union. Coastguard helicopters provide emergency help for stricken sea cliff climbers and also take part in mountain rescues in northern Scotland.

The strike involves co-ordinators in charge of rescue operations. The stoppage will take place on 8 and 9 March. MCA chief executive, Peter Cardy, said: “Early next week our normal service will be affected by industrial action. Plans are in place to provide cover, but I am encouraging everybody working or playing on the sea or on the beach to take extra care, and to take heed of our safety advice.

“Detailed contingency plans will be in place and although our services will be more limited than usual, the public should know that distress calls will be answered as normal.

“The message is still the same: if you see something that you believe is dangerous or putting people’s lives at risk, don’t delay, dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard, making sure you know your own position.”

The strike is over cuts to redundancy payments for civil and public servants. 63.4 per cent of those voting backed strike action and 81.4 per cent supported an overtime ban.

Further action is planned if the dispute is not resolved.

Mark Serwotka, PCSU general secretary, said: “These cuts, which will see loyal civil and public servants lose tens of thousands of pounds if they are forced out of a job, are more about crude politicking than making savings.

“We have suggested ways in which the Government can make these savings whilst protecting the rights of existing members, yet it seems intent on penalising the people who keep this country running.

“With civil and public service jobs increasingly at risk, this is a cynical attempt to cut jobs on the cheap which will ultimately damage the services we all rely on. The Government needs to recognise the depth of anger which has been demonstrated by this ballot result and find the political will to negotiate a settlement that avoids a sustained campaign of industrial action.”

Britain’s volunteer mountain rescue teams are supported by helicopter crews from the MCA, particularly in north-west Scotland. The MCA helicopter crews also regularly aid injured climbers on sea cliffs in the South West of England.

Sea King helicopters operated by the RAF and Royal Navy operate separately from the MCA craft.

A mountain biker in the Yorkshire Dales in December. The seasonal forecast was revised at the end of the month

Britain’s national weather forecasting body today announced it would no longer issue public seasonal predictions and would instead compile monthly forecasts.

The Met Office was criticised for failing to predict the exceptional winter – the coldest in 30 years across Britain – after having promised a barbecue summer that turned into more of a damp squib. The organisation, a Trading Fund of the Ministry of Defence, also produces specialised mountain forecasts for use by hillwalkers and mountaineers.

The Met’s winter forecast was for a mild period. At the end of December, after most of Britain had already encountered a prolonged period of snow and ice, it issued a revised seasonal forecast that said: “For the rest of winter, over northern Europe including the UK, the chance of colder conditions is now 45per cent; there is a 30 per cent chance of average and a 25 per cent chance of milder conditions. In fact, average temperature across the whole of the UK for December and January was just 1.5C. Scotland has had the severest winter since 1963, with a mean temperature in January hovering around the zero mark.

A statement by the Met Office today said: “The UK is one of the hardest places to provide forecasts for because of our size and location. The weather in temperate climates such as the UK is very hard to forecast much beyond a week.

“Of course, by their nature, forecasts become less accurate the further out we look. Although we can identify general patterns of weather, the science does not exist to allow an exact forecast beyond five days, or to absolutely promise a certain type of weather. As a result, ‘seasonal forecasts’ cannot be as precise as our short-term forecasts.

“The Met Office is working hard to develop the science of long range forecasting, including for the UK, and will continue at the forefront of innovation in this area.

“We take seriously our responsibility to provide the best possible service to the public. Although long range forecasts are vital in some parts of the world, and can be useful for some specialists, such as insurers and energy traders, we know that they are of limited use to the public – for example they are not something that could be used to plan a holiday.

“In our customer research the public have told us they would like a monthly outlook. We have therefore decided to stop issuing a UK ‘seasonal forecast’ four times a year. Instead, we will now publish a monthly outlook, updated on a weekly basis.”

Weather forecasts are vital for helping outdoor enthusiasts decide on their plans for activities in the hills, mountains and countryside of the UK.

grough provides links to the Met Office mountain forecasts, the independent Mountain Weather Information Service, to which we also provide a news feed, and to the sportscotland Avalanche Information Service which runs during the winter months and covers five areas of Scotland.

There are also links to the Lake District Weatherline which, in winter, has felltop reports from the service’s two assessors who climb to the summit of Helvellyn each day, and to other weather resources including synoptic surface pressure charts and forecasts for those who can interpret them.

Prospects for the weekend according to the MWIS are good, with two areas of high pressure, one to the West and another to the East, merging to give a few days of prolonged dry, cold weather with periods of sunshine. The Met Office is less enthusiastic, predicting more cloud.

The Lake District is still prone to avalanche, particularly on slopes facing from the North-East through to the South-East after westerlies have deposited loose windslab.

All five Scottish areas have slopes at considerable risk of avalanche tomorrow.