"Sherpa capital"

 

Here we are on arrival at the "Sherpa capital" - Namche Bazar (altitude 3440m).

All still standing!

Safely arrived...

Safely arrived at Lukla airport...

And we're off!

Here we are - airport bound - onto Nepal we go!

Robocop

Hi Folks

Final long session was a tale of aiming for the ceiling fleetingly glimpsing the light switch before finishing just above the skirting board. Sunshine made a cameo appearance Tues 7th May. We planned 7peaks 19miles 7hrs a good test before tapering. The deck was stacked against. 2 hop alongs (A+RG) and 1armed bandit (R), forecast was heavy rain followed by very heavy rain, wind speed 29-44mph... why do we live in Northern Ireland?

 

Seven days ago Ralph's head of humerus was moonlighting as a left breast enhancement. Sedation to reduce the dislocation a couple of brufen and he was at work eight hours later, running again day three... me thinks he is robocop. Leaving a deserted Donard carpark in driving rain Ralph was making a comeback as improbable as Lazarus.

Soaked just nipping into the carpark toilets but enough of RGs walnut bladder and incontinence. Always a sense of nervous anticipation starting the brute that is the seven7s... the Glen river in torrent reminiscent of RG's 2008 humiliating DNF. Twitcher A spotted a heron... even the birds get lost in the Mournes. With the cloud base at 500m the bog crossing was already playing on our minds. Comentators curse1 as R suggested 'there is no way we could get it wrong again'... a balls up was now on the cards and concern R had also dislocated his frontal lobe.

 

Left arm tucked into his ruc sac belt admiral nelson was moving well. Long John Silver and that other well known one legged giser made it to the saddle. Donards summit is always hard labour. Breaks in the Mourne wall hinted at the ferocity of the wind. A had to superman angle himself to stand in the summit blast (attached) Camera moment alarm as A credit card whipped out of his hand thankfully a vortex slammed it back into the wall... relief for R + RG as their meal ticket could so easily be in Newcastle....upon tyne. RG was moving like a timmerous wee beasty on the descent. Commedagh was uneventful until crossing the wall... we were almost base jumping without squirrel suits. RG connected a few sensible head synapses (cos clearly R is a bit short of these) and called a retreat to Tollymore forest. All hail broke loose dropping off Commedagh.The high speed ice exfoliation was painfully laughable. A recorded a first tumble which no one saw as eyes were unopenable.

Below the col the wind abated. R+A took 70yrds out of an embarassingly cautious RG. Commentators curse2 RG suggested a bit Ralphesque hypnosis would improve his lamentable descending... 50 yrds later and over went robocop/nelson/one armed bandit/mountain goat/butchers dog with 'a grazed left knee'... aye right... two deep gaping gashes as deep as the Glen river and blood flowing as quick. Straight line to the car was called for... one leg and one arm and still Ralph was fastest on the descent... not funny. Pace was interupted for a galactically stupid question from two edjits asking 'whats it like up there?' with rain + trees sideways and claret flowing freely from R left leg... it required a suitably insane RG reply 'aye not too bad just stay out of the wind'.

Boot of the car treatment table after debridement RG was convinced he could see the bonic man's wiring until a quick Greys anatomy tutorial from A pointed out screw heads from R previous knee surgery... QED R is a machine. 'Patch and bandage before he starts to rust' Do we suture or weld this? Casualty or Harland and Wolfe?

2hrs 15min 7miles 2 peaks, yarns to dine out on and humour us in our dotage.

 

Training has been eventful and fun. Thanks to all cast involved in our panto especially Garth, Andrew and Ralph who have literally given an arm and leg and added much craic. Have we done enough of the right stuff to tackle the Mt Everest Marathon... time to go and give it a lash.  

Kindest regards

RG

Behind the Costa front

Anticipation is building with just two weeks to departure.  The hat trick of mishap is completed in style with Ralph dislocating his left shoulder playing tag rugby.  Andy services once again required. Cankaholic A continues his rehab routes leading him back to the Cavehill. With a record red run descent of just 13mins… it appears everything working except the brakes.

 

A short admin meeting was uneventful until the revelation that behind Robert’s Costa coffee front was actually 10hrs a week training and employing a personal trainer… Money on she is a headturner professional gym bunny.  Simultaneously RG + A jaws hit the deck. With cashews replacing  chocolate… it's a serious effort / crisis … or is there more going on with Mr Eligible? 

The RK 2013 model boasts svelt, ripped and aerodynamic lines, improved power to weight ratio, faster 0-60, no spare tyres or airbags, and no tub of lard.

Bunny’s pics… show RK the powerhouse medic in stretcher training how very thoughtful... great to have him on our team. 

 

On that bombshell… goodnight.

RG

Contagious Canklitis

Namaste Amigos,

Another session of muck, sweat and muppetry. Contagious canklitis had now lamed Andrew, reluctantly he rerouted to Andy's treatment table leaving RG to survive Ralph Farah pace. Apprehension at the prospect of 5peaks and 6hrs was compounded by 30yrd visability and significant wind... internally and externally. We strode out of Meelmore Lodge 7.50am. Within five minutes we are struggling to pick up trails lines... eventally stumbled on Trassey track and made Hare's gap in an acceptable 30mins.

First slug of fluids and RG realised he was carrying old and well fermented 'cider'... every chance TTRG would be sozzled and unfit to drive home... and so the scene was set for yet another pantomime on the hills featuring the ugly sisters.

Sticking tight to the wall up the brutally steep Bearnagh before bracing for RGs nemisis and Ralphs roller coaster... the Banzai descent. Starting slow, RG got slower as self preservation and a gusting wind threatened to cowp him at every step. Mountain goat Ralph found conditions 'fun'. You could smell RGs relief on a safe descent. Motorway on top of the wall in that wind was impossible but R kept RG in the red zone with a 'farah' pace over Mellmore and Meelbeg before RG took a bearing for BenCrom dam. 

R pulled a good line into the bog to the river. 'Cleaner than usual, deeper than usual and a snow bridge to boot'. As we began to enjoy the river run suddenly it plummetted into a deep ravine... had last months ice age cut a new valley?...or were we lost... again. Waldorf and Stadler had not spotted the cleaner and deeper clues above. A quick map check confirmed we were about to hit the dam from the wrong side... affectionately known as the thumb breaker. RG's 7th visit to the Ben Crom bog... muppets never learn.  

 

The line to recovery was a steep boulder field (pictured on far side of the water) It was no place for a butchers dog, a recovering cankaholic... in fact it was no place for a chamois or sherpa goats. Losing 45mins on the recovery scramble we finally made the dam. Good call A to miss this one.

Relief to be on familiar ground was short lived as we heard and saw through the cloud a silouette of the mournes stone monster swinging his sledge hammer... very Scooby Doo. Daphne and Velma scrambled up more elusive trails to the saddle. Drop the bags? said Daphne (in a non suggestive manner)... was almost as ridiculous as RG's 'let me take a bearing farce'.

 

Lost on Binian was in well underway... until we spotted a trail dropped from the heavens... one tonne builders bags... courtesy of mourne council track upgrade. The mystery was solved as we passed 'old man smithers' and his mangey dog heading for... the track machine high on Binian... with legs plastered and brain hammered RG attempted some joy riding.

Summited Binian, a quick slash had RG peeing all over himself regardless of which direction he pointed percy in the swirling breeze. Careful retracing... passing the pancake rocks put R on a lunch overdrive mission to Mauds. Lamagan was its usual unpleasant upward abyss.

 

Homeward bound we contoured round looking for another non-existent trail... dropping into who knows where we took another stab in the cloud praying for brandy pad. A gloomy unrecognisable valley could have been the foggy side of moon or as R suggested the Annalong valley... at which point RG's already suspect navigation was just in tatters. A brief clearing of cloud was enough for R to pick a line for a snowpacked gully beside the sea of tranquility and we staggered onto the most welcome brandy pad. Steady trot to Haresgap where Ralph let the brakes off took 300yrds out of RG before Trassey. With cloud lifting we found a good trail to the lodge and kept an honest pace to the car.

Mauds for grub and hangover cure. Tale of the GPS tape was evidence to convict RG of navigation genocide... who even got lost looking for the toilet. 5hr35min 15miles 5 peaks barely setting foot on a trail. Thanks to Ralph for his commitment to training us. Hoping to have A back with us for the next installment. RK maintains his intensive coffee shop regime.  

Kindest regards

RG

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6peaks....aye right

Hi Folks

Barely moving after yesterdays training. Spring time in Northern Ireland meant four foot drifts, a disappearing Mourne wall, 25yrds of visability, unfamiliar land shape and colour... RG was a cert to get lost.

Ralph was gutted to be missing today leaving Andrew and RG to hit the hills. A duff forecast threatened a reroute to the Causeway for predictable trails and mileage. Exec decision 'stick with plan A'... six peaks 16miles 6hrs...aye right.

 

Like heifers on fresh grass the Passat was released from its ice cave hibernation we B lined for Newcastle. 8.01am we strode out on trail. Would the kit and bodies hold up? With a track upgrade we made good speed up the Glen river heading for Donard. At 400m we crossed the snow line and into Siberia. Snow and ice hiding the track and river quickly had RG + A sprackling.

 

Dumped the rucksacks at the saddle for a final summit push. Step up, fall in or slide back made it heavy work. Rain turned to snow, RG feared a stroke as the right side of face and brain numbed.

The summit looked akin to spectacular frozen candifloss. Snow holes pointed to other eedjits had been here. A + RG claimed the highest summit in Northern Ireland thanks to the additional 10 foot of snow. Mr Tumble descended to saddle with a hat-trick of falls leaving RG tip-toeing over ski, sledge and crampon tracks.

Commedagh was more of the same. Six peaks was looking like a multiday trek. Crossing the wall things changed... the snow got deeper and human tracks disappeared. 

 

 

Fumbling for direction the next mile took 54mins. The blog nearly became an epitaph as both RG +A similtaneously disappeared into a river and the waist deep snow. Wet numb toes had us looking like two big legless jinnys on stilettos.

 

'The brandypad used to be about here' as RG called for a left turn....exit stategy was now priority. Nothing looked familiar, as we crossed snow filled gullies the drop below into the white abyss was a Commedagh version of the Kangshung face... sure feet needed here. Each step was a lottery drop into ankle, knee or waist. Ice age visions of RG + A lost and frozen below the crust. Finally we saw the cross... rails of the stile. Six peaks ambitions were revised to dry clothes and hot sweet tea.

Descending the Glen river we left the snow behind, got out of the wind and suddenly life returned. A was just relieved to see mudclaws had not fallen off his numb feet. As we dropped to the forest RG suggested a few extra miles through Tollymore. The rain increased it felt like a warm shower. Legs were spent as we turned for home. A graciously let RG walk a few hills home. Hadn't seen a sinner all day... until a herd of lady ramblers met us average age 70+... respect. A final descent of wet roots on shattered unresposive legs was like a deathrun.

Unbelievably A was dry..the montane kit was renamed ronseal. RGs indecent exposure was unremarkable...his wedding vegetables had long since gone in for heat. Mauds for tea and stew and still RGs fingers were not looking too clever.

 

 

Text received to inform us Mournes had been declared an avalanche risk and no go zone for all Duke of Edinburgh work for next seven days... such info might have been useful and we considered a reroute.  

2 peaks 17miles 4hrs30mins...and it feels like it.

Kindest regards

RG