Seasonal best wishes to all readers.
Any hope of a Christmas backpack has been dashed primarily by the weather, in particular the state of the roads: many people seem to have the bravado to drive in these conditions but I’d be a nervous wreck long before I arrived at the hills, not to mention the worry during the walk of a deterioration and possible difficulties getting home. I’m afraid I couldn’t stand the anguish these days, I’ll wait for conditions better suited to a more delicate state of mind - snow on the hills and safe roads below. The Scots must be made of sterner stuff!.
Apart from that I have to consider my recovering foot:- the snow is the most extensive seen for years in England and Wales, I just heard the MRT guy on TV saying that the high deep snowfields in Snowdonia were frozen hard. Even on quite easy routes I would need to do some ‘edging’ and either kick steps or use crampons, and my foot just isn’t up to that level of stress. Incidentally, the MRT news item was about the rescue of a couple of blokes on Snowdon wearing tracksuits and trainers, the usual story - see here - all good entertainment if nothing else.
There’s an interesting point: I’m not sure if my lightweight flexible Kahtoola aluminiums would be adequate. They might be: their stubby spikes are fine in the modest snow and ice typical of recent years and they spend most of the time in my pack, but they have never been tested on extensive deep bone hard snowfields. Perhaps the Kahtoola steels with longer aggressive spikes would be required. The critical factor must be how steep the route is, and we always stick to reasonably gentle backpacks in winter conditions. I just thought of something else: ice axes!. We haven’t carried ice axes since 1996, conditions have never demanded them on our winter routes but they would be advisable right now I should think.
Anyway above is a picture of a pitch in the Lake District in 2005 to remind us of better times.
10 Comments
Meery Christmas V+G - hope you get yourself sorted out and can enjoy more walking in 2010 - have really missed your backpacking trip reports this year. We had hoped to do plenty ourselves this year but only managed one all year, but that was a briliant one so not complaining too much! Best Wishes … Gary, Sheena and Tim dog!
Gary,
Thanks very much. The trips and mileages are down this year but all the backpacks were hugely enjoyable as always, especially the new ones in Scotland.
Best wishes and hope the foot improves.
Vivien and Geoff,happy christmas.Hope you have better luck next year, but we still enjoyed all the reports and photos from this year.
Robin,
Thank you and all the best. I heard on TV that deliveries generally have been disrupted due to the roads, hopefully that explains the delayed Scarp.
John,
Thank you, looking forward to more new stuff in 2010.
Happy Xmas Geoff to you and your family. I got some Kahtoola steels to try with light footwear this year. Might still end up with the old Grivel G10 ones and boots if I end up deciding it is more suitable to use them. That is me hoping to get some winter walks in this year for a change. Anyway happy planning and happy new year as well
Martin,
Thank you. I hope you get out this winter for a pitch before the snow goes, I’m determined to!.
Happy Xmas Geoff, hope that 2010 is a vintage backpacking year!
Happy Christmas, Geoff, and very best wishes for the new year. Here’s hoping that your foot begins a significant improvement soon.
James&Shirl,
Thanks vey much, looking to some new routes in 2010.