Trail magazine - June 2012

W O RG E A R WIN TH £ PRIZ 875 ES p67

BRITAIN’S BEST-SELLING HILLWALKING MAGAZINE LIVE FOR THE OUTDOORS JUNE 2012

A

WWW.LIVEFORTHEOUTDOORS.COM

S 3 PEAKS COLLECTOR’S EDITION WEACYRUEPT! p109

JUNE 2012 £3.99

SCAFELL PIKE Your insider’s guide to England’s highest mountain

GO LIGHT SPECIAL

GEAR!

SNOWDONIA

Bag Wales’ sharpest hill...*

Waterproofs

Sub-400g jackets on test

Sleeping bags

7-PAGE GUIDE

Stay snug for less than 1kg!

YORKSHIRE 3 PEAKS The one that couldn’t remember how to not tell you its name, Pike cover jun12 sw.indd 1

*... it's easier than it looks

4EXTR8A PAGES

SKILLS • GEAR • ROUTES

Climb your Hill satnav 13 routes FIRST peak All you need to get for summer

Starting walking? started with GPS... for just £50!

Read this first!

Lake District Peaks Scotland

09/05/2012 11:45

out there Been there, climbed that? Send us a picture!

4 Trail june 2012

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09/05/2012 11:47

Send us your shots, share your adventures

Email your photos to us, along with a description of what was special about your day, and we’ll publish the most inspiring examples! Put ‘Out There’ in the subject box, and send them to trail@bauermedia.co.uk

Fan y Big Brecon Beacons Chris, posing on the ‘Diving Board’.

Suzanne (behind the camera) recalls this well-timed visit to south Wales.

She says: “We were lucky enough to have a week walking in the Brecon Beacons during the Indian summer at the end of September last year. Glorious!”

JUNE 2012 TRAIL 5

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CONTENTS OUT THERE SKILLS

I G AT IO

V

ADVENTURES

RT

EE

N

PA

Master Navigation! 39

p12

NA

Where this month’s issue will take you...

‘Alp’ is at hand: Cnicht – page 52.

THR

Now you’ve learned the basics, it’s time to get to grips with satellite navigation (aka GPS) in the final part of our expert-led series

Ask Trail

46

Get out of your room!

10

A-Z of adventure

12

Exciting ideas to get your kids outdoors OS maps in book form; plus porters’ kit update

Bonington begins

14

Even climbing legends have to start somewhere

Dream peak

Eigg’s An Sgurr: moulded in Montana?

p20

16

YOUR TRAIL Trail talk

TOM BAILEY

TOM BAILEY

How to avoid ticks (they’re quite literally after your blood); boots for tough terrain; Scottish hills for ML training; making wild water safe

18

The world of hillwalking – according to you lot

Goal Zero gizmo offer!

50

Subscribe NOW to get a speaker or battery pack

Why we love...

146

...those free-to-use mountain shelters: bothies

3 Peaks: Scafell Pike

20

Cnicht

52

The ultimate guide to England’s highest hill It’s Wales’ 689m answer to the Matterhorn!

Scafell: a pike we like!

TOM BAILEY

8 TRAIL JUNE 2012

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JUNE 2012 p70

GEAR

Lightweight jackets, soaked and poked

Gear news

66

MSR Nook

68

The must-have kit that’s coming soon A light two-person tent from the States

Lightweight jackets 70 Walking waterproofs from £180 to £200

Sub-1kg sleeping bags 82 Three-season feather-filled kip cocoons

p82

94

Base layers

Have you cottoned on to their importance?

Sub-1kg sleeping bags, snoozed and abused

MSR Nook: first look – page 68.

ROUTES Brecon Beacons

107

Lake District

109

South Highlands

111

Route 1 Fan Gyhirych Practise navigation on wild, windswept summits Route 2 Scafell Pike Go ‘off-piste’ on a less travelled route to the top Route 3 Glen Falloch A fresh approach with an explorer’s mindset

Dartmoor

113

Snowdonia

115

Peak District

117

Route 4 East & West Dart Visit two ‘especially beautiful’ river valleys

Route 5 Mynydd Mawr An adventurous alternative to the honeypots

Route 6 Chrome Hill Traverse land walkers once had to trespass on

Mallaig

Route 7 Sgurr Coire Choinnichean Route 8 An Sgurr, Eigg Route 9 Morar - Tarbet

121

48 extra pages!

Inside: your complete guide to enjoying Britain’s uplands

Choose your perfect base, walk for three days!

This issue’s first Ultimate Weekend gives you a trio of routes from a Scottish west-coast port

Staveley

127

Yorkshire Dales

133

Route 10 Yoke, Ill Bell, Froswick Route 11 Harter Fell, Kentmere Pike Route 12 Stile End and Nan Bield Passes Fancy a long weekend in the Lakes? This village has Kentmere valley’s peaks within easy reach

Route 13 Yorks 3 Peaks Our Classic Route visits Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough on a limestone-littered stamina test

Classic Route

with 3D maps JUNE 2012 TRAIL 9

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09/05/2012 11:50

out there No, it’s not in Arizona. It’s Scottish.

And you can do it this month... © Tracy Hallett / Alamy

16 Trail june 2012

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09/05/2012 11:50

dream peak

an sgurr eigg

For some a butte uprooted from America’s Monument Valley, for others some kind of prehistoric beast frozen in mid-lunge, An Sgurr is one of the most striking mountains in Europe.

Few see it, though, and even fewer climb it.

Cloistered on the Scottish Isle of Eigg, An Sgurr dominates a landscape of spellbinding beauty, sculpted from the ruins of an ancient volcano and forming the centrepiece of the longest pitchstone ridge on the continent. While it may be a tiddler at 393m, its scrambly ascent offers staggering views of Skye, Rum and the North Atlantic. The whole experience of this unique island is one for once in a lifetime – and May’s the month to do it.

do it! ›› turn to page 123

june 2012 Trail 17

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09/05/2012 11:51

Where? Scafell Pike, England What? The Three Peaks part 2 Looking down the scree slopes of Great Gable towards the Scafell massif, Wast Water and Wasdale. Š Stewart Smith / Alamy

20 Trail june 2012

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09/05/2012 11:51

Lake District, england Height 978m Summit NY 21551 07212

The Three Peaks

scafell pike

In part 2 of our Three Peaks special – a celebration of the highest summits in England, Scotland and Wales – Trail presents your guide to the Lake District's most muscular mountain monster.

JUNE 2012 Trail 21

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09/05/2012 11:52

scafell pike

The east buttress of Scafell seen from Mickledore. Note the vertical stripe of Lord’s Rake (centre right) and the varying pillars of Broad Stand (left).

26 Trail JUNE 2012

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09/05/2012 11:52

discovering lakeland's

king of hills Often climbed but seldom mastered, the Scafell massif is an intricate prism of a mountainscape.

Trail takes you to England’s highest point.

Words dan aspel Photographs Tom Bailey cafell Pike is popular. And not just among the hard-walking, tough-talking, OStoting, peak-conquering readers of Trail.

It’s universally popular, like a 3,000ft rock and stone rendering of Queen’s Greatest Hits. If that puts you off, you’re not alone. I’d stubbornly refused to climb this Bohemian Rhapsody of a mountain until it was absolutely necessary. Turns out (and here’s the tragedy) I’ve spent years denying myself one of � Lakeland’s finest walks...

S

JUNE 2012 Trail 27

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09/05/2012 11:52

advice from our trail skills outdoor hillwalking experts TECHNIQUE 3 Creating a route

TECHNIQUE 4 Creating a track

By joining together waypoints that you have created, you create a route that you or other people can follow.

To practise this technique, move around a large area and create a set of waypoints, for instance at a gate, a bridge, a bench and at a café (GT1, BR1, BN1 & CA1).

1 2 3

On the main menu page select ROUTES. Scroll down to NEW ROUTE.

By pressing ENTER twice you will be prompted to choose a waypoint from a list of the ones you have created. Select them in a logical order.

4 5

When you have entered all of them scroll to FOLLOW.

You will now be prompted to indicate which way you want to follow them (so when you are at the end you can come back!).

6

The compass screen appears with the arrow, and you follow this in exactly the same way to each waypoint on your route. As you approach each waypoint your eTrex will show your distance to it, and a few metres before you reach it the compass pointer will turn to the next waypoint on your route.

7

Press ENTER and select STOP NAVIGATION when you have arrived at your destination.

Go to the main menu screen and check your ROUTES. You will see your satnav has automatically saved this route for you to use at any time in the future. You can store 20 such routes – each with 125 waypoints – on your eTrex H.

Trail expert tip!

By default all satnavs give waypoints numbers; but after a short while it is easy to forget which number relates to what, so it’s much better to name them using abbreviations such as GT = gate, ST = stream, RD = road etc, then you can have GT1, GT2 and so forth.

This feature records a track log while you are moving that, at any time, you can follow back along the same path. It is one of the most useful features, especially in poor visibility.

1 2 3

On the main menu page select TRACKS. Scroll to CLEAR and delete the current track.

Scroll down to SETUP and switch the recording to ON and change the record interval to AUTO (you can change the

interval to distance if you’re in difficult terrain, with a value of 10m (shown as 00010.0m)

4

Start to walk off in any direction, making occasional turns until you are around 100m from your start point.

5

On the TRACKS screen select SAVE.

6

You will now be given a choice of various names; select the nearest time to now.

7

The MAP screen appears with your track and where you are on it. You can watch the screen and follow your progress on it, or if you prefer, swap to the COMPASS screen.

The eTrex H stores a maximum of 10,000 track nodes in 10 tracks. Download tracks and routes you do not frequently use on to your computer and upload them again to use them.

TECHNIQUE 5 Using your satnav to find your position on the map You have already set the last field on the Trip Log screen to LOCATION. This displays your location in the local grid reference system, and on the Main menu you set this to Ordnance Survey GB. You need to be able to take a grid reference for this; check out last month’s Trail to see how. l The letters BNG in the bottom left of this box tell you that you are using the British National Grid. l Above this the two letters describe the 100km x 100km box you are in and must always match to those on your map. l The five numbers on top are your easting (this runs left to right on your map). l The bottom five numbers are the northing (this runs bottom to top on your map). l Therefore your satnav gives you a 10 figure grid reference, which describes an area of 1m2.

Trail expert tip!

Always remember to clear your track log at the beginning of your journey.

This is too small an area for you to identify on your map so we ignore the last digit on the top set of five numbers and do the same on the bottom set to give an 8 figure grid reference, for when we are using a grid reference tool. This places you in an area of 100m2.

If you are using your compass roamer you can only use a six figure grid reference and to do this we ignore the last two numbers on each line.

This places you in an area of 10,000m2.

44 Trail june 2012

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09/05/2012 11:54

MASTER NAVIGATION TECHNIQUE 6 Using Google Earth Viewing your waypoints, tracks and routes on Google Earth and sharing them with other people is such good fun. It’s a really valuable way of storing all of your data; also it could not be easier.

1 2 3

Connect your satnav to your computer and turn it on.

4 5

Click the Import button and – hey presto!

– all of your information is loaded onto Google Earth.

Open Google Earth and select from its menu bar TOOLS/GPS. On the tab Import check these boxes: Garmin Waypoints Tracks Routes KML Tracks Adjust altitudes to ground height

If you right click on any of your data displayed on Google Earth you are given a choice of actions from saving it to a personal folder to emailing it to friends.

Trail expert tip!

As you become proficient at transferring data from your satnav to Google Earth and vice versa, try one of the free mapping programs that use Ordnance Survey maps, such as www.maptogps.com

x EXCLUSIVE VIDEO LESSONS ONLINE!

Join Lyle Brotherton for some special video tutorials on www.livefortheoutdoors.com/navigation

Lyle’s off now, but...

Trail’s navigation expert Lyle will be back soon – but for more, check out the Ultimate Navigation Manual, pb Collins, which is setting the standard for instructional texts worldwide. www.micronavigation.org JUNE 2012 TRAIL 45

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09/05/2012 11:54

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Where? Snowdonia What? Climbing Cnicht

Words phoebe smith Photographs Tom Bailey

Conquering

the Welsh

Matterhorn Want to tackle a big-name peak but lack the time, money or skills?

Meet Wales’ Alpine imposter for an adventure without the angst…

s

ome mountains were made to be icons. Monte Cervino – aka The Matterhorn – is one of them. Rising 4478m above sea-level in the Swiss-Italian Alps, its distinctly pyramidal summit acts as a gneiss beacon that calls out to mountaineers from all over the world.

Rated as an ‘AD’ in terms of difficulty (which roughly translates as ‘bloody hard’), since it was first climbed in 1865 its flanks have claimed the lives of over 500 people, with a current average of 12 deaths per year. With flight, acclimatisation, hut and guiding fees, a trip there will set you back in excess of £2,500 and take about two weeks. But for us regular hill-walkers, who can struggle to find the time and petrol money to even manage a regular weekend in the UK hills, and whose skill set will realistically take us comfortably to Grade 1 scrambling territory before we need a guide or skilled up friend – there is an alternative. And the best � news is you can find it right here in Britain…

52 Trail JUNE 2012

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It's pointy, it's good-looking – and it's in Wales. Cnicht proves you don't need the Alps for mountain thrills.

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GROUP TEST Our test takes the sweat out of choosing a lightweight waterproof.

Lightweight jackets £180-200 Looking for a lightweight waterproof that won’t break the bank? Trail put eight of the best head-to-head to find the perfect featherweight jacket for this season’s hillwalking.

TEST DAN ASPEL PHOTOGRAPHS TOM BAILEY

WHAT WE TESTED Mountain Hardwear Vaude Berghaus OMM Mountain Equipment Kathmandu Marmot Jack Wolfskin

STRETCH TYPHOON £180 MISCHABEL £195 VELUM £200 CYPHER £200 FIREFOX £200 PATRONUS £200 STRETCH MAN £200 ACCELERATE XT £200

70 TRAIL JUNE 2012

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LIGHTWEIGHT WATERPROOFS

JUNE 2012 TRAIL 71

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GROUP TEST

LIGHTWEIGHT

SLEEPING BAGS

Even if the sun is shining, the nights can be chilly – so if you’re camping out from spring through autumn you’ll still need a warm sleeping bag.

Here we’ve tested sub-1kg bags for packable 3-season warmth.

TEST PETER MACFARLANE PHOTOGRAPHS TOM BAILEY

82 TRAIL JUNE 2012

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SLEEPING BAGS WHAT WE TESTED The North Face Cumulus Rab Mammut Mountain Equipment Mountain Hardwear Marmot Yeti

GOLD KAZOO £180 ULTRALIGHT 350 £195 NEUTRINO ENDURANCE £225 SPHERE ALPINE SPRING £270 XERO 350 £280 PHANTOM 32 £300 HYDROGEN £330 VIB 400 £360

Simon’s as snug as a bug in a rug, thanks to the right choice of sleeping bag.

JUNE 2012 TRAIL 83

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17/05/2012 10:59

18km/11 miles

Brecon Beacons

1

trail route

Fan Gyhirych

The cairn on Fan Gyhirych.

tom hutton

STRENUOUSNESS ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ NAVIGATION ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ TECHNICALITY ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

The wild, windswept summits of Fforest Fawr are perfect for practising off-piste skills, especially those of a navigational nature. Tom Hutton leads the way.

F

forest Fawr is something of a misnomer; there’s not a tree to be seen. The name actually refers to medieval times when the region was a royal hunting ground. These days it’s a superb mountain range with lofty but lonely summits that see far fewer footprints than those of the nearby central peaks. It’s therefore a great place to get off the beaten track. This walk crosses large tracts of the Cnewr Estate, which was once accessible only by permissive path but these days can be fully enjoyed as open access land under the 2000 CRoW Act.

where are you?

Once you’re off the beaten track it’s vital that you know where you are at all times.

This is often easier to do if you follow obvious linear features such as streams or ridges; or by linking summits and spot heights. But sometimes this isn’t possible. If in any doubt, have the map handy and folded in the right place, and keep a compass with it so you can orientate it regularly. It’s also worth keeping an eye on your watch as this gives an idea of how long you spend on each leg of your route and therefore roughly how far you’ve travelled. Remember that your speed will drop considerably on rough, untracked ground.

�

Near point 3 on a misty Fan Gyhirych.

JUNE 2012 Trail 107

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09/05/2012 12:04

Contents

LLS...

I H E L T T I ELY L V O L M O R F p4

p11

p12

p14

p16

ROSEBERRY TOPPING 320m

CAT BELLS 451m

SHINING TOR 559m

INGLEBOROUGH 724m

PEN Y FAN 886m

2 WELCOME TO HILLWALKING

2-3 Welcome WTHW swda.indd 1

09/05/2012 12:05

WELCOME Want to hear something amazing?

Our hills and mountains are some of the most spectacular in the world. That’s a fact. Just ask some of the mountaineering greats these islands have produced. Sir Chris Bonington may tell you about the beauty of Slovenia’s towering Triglav, Joe Simpson will perhaps talk about the fearsome Alpine spire of the Aiguille du Dru and Kenton Cool could praise the Himalayas to the skies even as he heads off for his tenth attempt on Everest... but mention Britain’s hills and mountains to any of these titanic figures and see what happens. They’ll get a faraway look in their

GEAR

HILL SKILLS

32

39

From mastering the lingo to navigating with confidence. These key skills will keep you safe in the hills.

Getting the right kit to ward off the British weather is vital. Here are the essentials for those starting walking.

eyes and start telling you about that certain ridge on Ben Nevis or the way the sun hits Derwent Water from the summit of Cat Bells, and swear there’s nothing like it. Britain is an eternally rich and vibrant country for the hillwalker, with everything from the family-friendly paths of the Yorkshire Dales to the spiky glory of Skye’s famed Cuillin to get your sharpened teeth into.

Better still, hillwalking is a hobby in rude and ruddy health. You’re not just stepping into a lifetime of achievements, but a community of like-minded souls too. Welcome!

Dan Aspel, Trail magazine

YOUR BEST MOMENTS

48

It’s not all rucksacks and OS maps... it’s about crafting a lifetime of memories too!

p19

p20

p22

p24

p31

TRYFAN 917m

HELVELLYN 950m

SNOWDON 1085m

BEN LAWERS 1214m

BEN NEVIS 1344m

ILLUSTRATION: STEVE HALL PHOTOGRAPH: TOM BAILEY

...TO GREAT BIG MOUNTAINS

WELCOME TO HILLWALKING 3

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09/05/2012 12:05

© JAMES OSMOND / ALAMY

WHERE TO WALK

16 WELCOME TO HILLWALKING

16-17 Pen y fan WTHW sw.indd 1

09/05/2012 12:07

Pen y Fan Powys 886m

This hill in the Brecon Beacons is the stuff of military legend, the first peak in a gruelling route designed to test SAS trainees to the limits of their endurance. But if you take it slow and switch the 25kg bergen and camo gear for a daypack and waterproofs, it’s a surprisingly sweet climb to the top. From the Storey Arms, the path is clear and angles at a steady gradient across the mountain’s western slopes; and the views – well, the views are as extensive, impressive and beautiful as you might expect from the highest peak in southern Britain. And don’t feel like a wimp when a team of men with guns overtake you; be glad that you can take your time, enjoy your sandwiches and savour a panorama across the scalloped ridgeline to Cribyn and Fan y Big, and out over the green Powys countryside.

Walk here now There’s a car park on the A470 at SN987198. Cross the river and follow the really clear path slicing north-east across the hillside to Pen y Fan’s sister peak Corn Du. You can skirt its summit or go right over the top, and then on to the cairn on Pen y Fan beyond. Then return the same way for an easy-to-navigate 7km/4½ mile round trip.

welcome to hillwalking 17

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09/05/2012 12:07