Pincyn fell race

Race: Push up the Pincyn (6m/1300ft/BM)
Time/Position: 48:46 (4th from 49 [2nd v40])
An unusual location for a fell race, deep in the heart of Clocaenog, but an excellent addition to the calendar. It worked really well as a race, incorporating a good deal of climbing and tricky terrain, and is a pleasingly logical circuit. The race starts from the Clawddnewydd show, crossing several fields to emerge in Clocaenog village. From here, it gradually climbs up towards the top of Pincyn Llys (Llys y Frenhines), an almost entirely forested hill. Some steep ground just before the summit. I clawed back places gradually throughout the race, and managed to pick up some speed on the loop around the summit back to Clocaenog to get into fourth place. A couple of runners were visible behind as I started slowing on the final short climbs over the fields back to the showground, but I managed to hold on fairly comfortably for fourth overall. Got a prize for 1st v40, but the 3rd placed runner was also in the category.

Green grass of home fell race

Race: Green grass of home fell race, short course! (4m/1500ft/AS)
Time/Position: 36:39 (8th [1st v40])
An unusual race this, as the first 23 runners (including me) failed to complete the full course. This particular race changes its route every year, although I've only done it once before as it usually clashes with my holiday. This year, we started up the track from Llangynhafal to the ridge at Dywyll, down towards Cilcain then along the runnable contouring track used by the Lletty race to Pwll y Rhos. From here, it's a steepish but still runnable pull to the top of Moel Famau. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I felt fine on the climbs, going over the top in 5th or 6th, but lost ground on the flat and the descents - no speedwork or races for several weeks. After the mountain bike descent, we branched off for the final climb but were all guilty of following the man in front (inevitable at this stage in the race?) and all missed the tape sending us back up the ridge! It took a while for the penny to drop, and led to bizarre scenes as there was a huge gap between the first 23 runners on the short (or cheats!) course and the 44 who finished the full course: we ended up with results for two separate races. So I don't feel that my first vet placing was really valid this time!

Mont Pelat

Peaks: Mont Pelat (3050m)
Area: Mercantour Alps, France
This peak dominates the northern end of the Mercantour and was an appealing objective from the refuge. I left just before 6am: the idea being that I'd run up the peak and return before breakfast was over. I achieved this, just! Despite its height, Pelat is an easy tourist mountain with a superbly engineered path all the way to the top. As such, it can be treated purely as a run/fast walk and was relaxing and hugely enjoyable throughout. Again, totally different in character from the peaks I've done in the rest of the Mercantour. I scampered through the woods towards a flat meadow, then began the climbing after I crossed the Meouille stream. An enormous zigzag contoured up through the Barre du Pelat, a large rockband, gaining more grassy slopes further west. I half jogged, half walked up this steeper section - already slowing in the thin air, to gain the desolate moonscape of the Combe de Pelat. No big clapier fields to slow progress here, as is typical further south. Instead, a vast cwm of scree: entirely featureless, yet quite dramatic. To the east, the curiously named Trou de l'Aigle towers impressively. I kept a decent pace going and finally emerged into welcome sunshine at the summit ridge. The east ridge then gives easy but enjoyable scrambling to the top (64 mins from the hut: guidebook time is 3hrs). Superb views in all directions, although I was particularly taken with the view north over la Grande Cayolle towards Le Cimet. Weird wispy strands of lenticular cloud moved over the summits, constantly shifting position. From the summit, I picked out Viso, Gelas, Argentera and the peaks done last year like Corborant and Tenibre. The much higher Ecrins were obvious further north, reminding me of my trip there in 1994 - and I could also pick out the Castellane summits much further south. It was cold enough to require hat and down jacket - still just after 7am. I ran down without incident in around 50 minutes to the hut, where I just caught the tail end of the petit dejeuner - although the coffee was getting cold. After airing our stuff, we then enjoyed a delightful stroll around the Lac d'Allos. It was still early, before the crowds arrived, and we had it to ourselves. The weather was crisp and perfectly clear, and the children enjoyed it: a memorable hour. We strolled back to the car later that morning, driving to Nice via Annot.

Tours des Lacs

Peaks: La Petit Tour (2693m), La Grande Tour (2745m)
Area: Les Tours du Lac, Mercantour Alps, France
This was the last weekend of our holiday, so a family trip to the Alps seemed appropriate. We drove up via Castellane and lunch in wonderful Colmars, stopping at the highest car park above Allos. I've wanted to visit this area for years, and it was fantastic to be able to take the family with me for their first night in an Alpine refuge. This region is very different in character to the core region of the Mercantour that I know so well: much more open, less dramatic, but exquisitely beautiful. We ambled up through the trees, and it was refreshing to be relaxed and unhurried for once. After a short, steeper climb we had our first view of the stunning Lac d'Allos: deep blue water, framed by pine trees and the Tours de Lac. The Tours are a group of mini-dolomitic peaks that circle the lake, and I immediately thought it would be nice to go up them. So after dumping sacs in the refuge, we all walked up on the path towards the Col de l'Encombrette. The children were tired and not particularly happy, so they rested with Kate in a meadow east of Tete de Monier. The spectacular views of Mont Pelat did not improve their moods! So my time was limited again, and I set off running for the col. This was tremendous, nicely runnable (past several marmots) and I gained the col quickly, setting out immediately up the ridge due east towards the Petit Tour. This gave an enjoyable ascent, clearly quite popular (although it was mid-afternoon and I was entirely alone), and gave superb views north over Lac d'Allos and Pelat, and south over unfamiliar territory to the Tete de l'Encombrette. The eroded summit tower, which looks sheer, had an obvious weakness which led via a short scramble to the small summit. From here, the Grande Tour looked great and bore an uncanny resemblance to Torridonian mountains like Beinn Alligin. I had time to do it if I rushed, so scampered down the ridge - tremendous views on all sides - contouring up and beneath the peak until I found a weakness in the rockband which encircled the summit tower. A family of chamois gave me a clue, and I quickly located a hidden sandy gully which led easily to the upper scree slopes and the top. I could have continued in this vein, bagging all the peaks in a giant loop of the lake, but I had to get back to the meadow. I reversed my footsteps, contouring the Petit Tour lower down, and running almost flat out from the Col. Just over an hour for both peaks from the meadow. We all ambled down to the hut where we spent a highly enjoyable evening just enjoying the scenery and ambience.

Montagne de Thiey

Peaks: Montagne de Thiey (1553m)
Area: Siagne-Loup, Provence
I always like to have at least one family day among the limestone 'clues' and hills of Haute Provence. Today, the plan was to traverse Bauroux from Seranon. However, it became clear quite quickly that there were access issues, and we retreated to the Col de Valferriere where we all walked up through the Bois de Cornay to enjoy a wonderful picnic in a quite exceptional location - a beautiful plateau dotted with meadows and copses of pine, with far-reaching views over the limestone hills to the north and east. A tremendous impression of isolation despite proximity to the road. I then drove back towards Grasse, feeling underexercised, and parked at the bottom of the Vallon de Nans, where I was pleased to find a path up the Montagne de Thiey. It was the middle of the day, unfortunately, but not desperately hot (still slightly uncomfortable though). Plenty of shady snack spots for the children, but I didn't have much time, so set off without sac or water. The route was very runnable, luckily, with gentle zigzags leading through the forest to a levelling. Then wide forest roads eventually emerge from the treeline to give a final steeper ascent to gain the summit at the end of a big plateau. Instructive views down over the Pas de la Faye towards Grasse and the coast. Slightly hazy inland, but I could still make out previously climbed peaks around Castellane as well as the Maritime Alps. This outing followed two glorious early-morning loops of my favourite 8 mile Esterel 'Perthus' circuit on the 15th and 17th.

Cime Ouest de Fenestre

Peaks: Cime Ouest de Fenestre (2662m)
Area: Maritime Alps, France
Severely pushed for time this morning, as I had to pick the family up from Nice airport at 10.15am! There was only one realistic option, and that was to run up one of the two little peaks above the Col de Fenestre. I left the hut just after 6am, knowing from previous experience that the path is superbly engineered and entirely runnable. Long zigzags lead gradually up to the Lac de Fenestre (just beyond the point I left the path when I did Cime St Robert last year). Slightly steeper ground led up the Col itself, the Italian border (39m from the hut). A vague path led up the ridge towards the Cime Ouest, before moving through a boulder field to an obvious gully. This was reminiscent of the gully on the normal route up Cime St Robert, and gives a steep but quick ascent to the bouldery summit. Some nice scrambling led over huge boulders along a final ridge to the true summit (55m from the hut). Good early morning views over to St Robert, Gelas, Ponset, and the impressive yet unheralded (not done by me anyway) Cime du Lombard. I picked my way back down to the Col, then ran back to the Madone in bang on 20 minutes. Ended up having time for a croissant in St Martin and a walk around Lantosque before the plane landed. Although this year's trip was very brief and not quite what I'd planned (marred by the after-effects of my bug) it was still a very enjoyable addition to the many memorable days I've spent in the Mercantour.

Mont Bego, Cime du Diable

Peaks: Mont Bego (2872m), Cime du Diable (2685m)
Area: Maritime Alps, France
Left the hut at 6am, feeling much better, to a glorious clear morning. I crossed the Lac Long dam wall and immediately started the climb up Mont Bego. By the usual Mercantour standards, this was well tracked out: clearly a popular route. It twisted round the southern spur of the mountain, up grass and scree, to finally gain sunshine and a fore summit. Then a lovely little ridge led across to a final scrambly ridge and the summit. I was up in around an hour, by 7am, and the view was superb. This peak really does have a claim to be the 'end of the Alps' - you do get that feeling, as the land south and east drops away to the Med. Views over Capelet, Gelas and the central Mercantour were excellent and it was nice to fill in this obvious gap in the range. I jogged down, without incident, and breakfasted just above the Merveilles Hut. I felt my normal self now, and was looking forward to putting my plans for the rest of the day into action. I headed towards the Pas du Trem from the hut, past an exquisite sequence of lakes. First came Lac Fourca, then the delightful Lac du Trem - a perfect foreground for pictures of Mont Bego. The path then contours past the much larger Lac de la Muta to gain gentler slopes leading up to the tiny Lacs du Diable and then the Pas du Trem. Another tremendous spot: a small col linking Merveilles with Gordolasque. Before I descended, however, I wanted to get up Cime du Diable, and again this proved very straitforward. A small path gained a steeper section then the vague east ridge to the summit. The day had stayed clear, giving fine views over to Gelas and back to Bego (which looked pleasingly distant). To the south, the GR52 follows long grassy ridges down to L'Authion: fine running terrain. I descended to the Pas, before enjoying a superb descent down the Vallon des Verrairiers. This was highly rewarding. Not a waymarked trail, but a small path weaved down through snowfields before negotiating the inevitable 'clapier' zone, finding a route through huge boulders, to the lush greenery of the lower valley. Wonderful stuff, and I prolonged my time here as much as possible. The verdant lower section was enlivened by a large toad literally landing on my foot as it leapt out of the vegetation fringing the narrow path near the river. The route became harder to follow as the valley merges with the Vallon de la Mairis - it kinked south through a forest to emerge in St Grat right next to the Relais des Merveilles, where I enjoyed a modest but splendid late lunch before walking back up the valley to the car at Pont du Countet. Drove round to the Madone de Fenetre via St Martin, and spent another excellent night in that refuge.

Gordalasque-Merveilles traverse

Still suffering from the after-effects of a stomach bug, so had to downscale my plans for the day after sleeping in the car in St Martin (having arrived on a late flight to Nice). The aim was to do Maledie - the most obvious remaining gap in my list of Mercantour peaks - before following the GR52 over to the Merveilles hut. However, I felt tired even during the walk from Pont du Countet in the Gordolasque valley to the Nice hut, which I usually do in less than an hour: clearly still a bit weak and affected. However, it was early and the weather was wonderful, so I just tried to enjoy the day and do the 'Tour du Grand Capelet' instead. This was quite an appealing option, as I had climbed and traversed the peak in 2008. An icy knee-deep river crossing just above the hut woke me up, and I made a half-hearted attempt at Cime Nire before concluding I definitely wasn't up to it. Lac Nire made a delightful breakfast spot, though, and the valley gets tighter and more dramatic as it heads past more little lakes to gain a large snowfield leading up to the Baisse du Basto. I was able to try out my kahtoolas on this, to good effect, until more scree and snow led to the Baisse: a superb spot at 2693m. I went up a small nearby peak (unnamed) for a bite to eat. The weather had changed quite dramatically during the climb, and dark clouds covered Mont Bego, while towering thunderheads began to appear above Ponset and Neiglier to the west. They got even more menacing as I contoured the scree above Lac Basto, and the rain started as I began the much shorter ascent to the second major col of the day: Baisse du Valmasque. Its evocative name (Sorceror's Pass) particularly apt today, as a loud clap of thunder greeted my arrival. I scampered down into the Merveilles Valley, in increasingly heavy rain, and eventually decided to seek shelter. I found an ideal 'howff' below a huge boulder and lay there in complete comfort as the worst of the rain passed over. The Vallee des Merveilles was a delight, although it remained cold and wet, and I soon reached the prehistoric rock engravings for which it is famous. I'd intended ambling along, but the rain got heavier again and became torrential as I arrived at the Merveilles hut. Another violent storm followed, but I was ensconced in the hut with hot chocolate by then. An evening ramble to Lac Saorgine, and a fine meal, prefaced a good night's sleep - despite the fact that the hut was jammed to full capacity.

Saunders Lakeland mountain marathon, day 2

Race: SLMM (Scafell class) day 2 (24k/950m)
Time/Position: 6:58:50 (14:59 cumulative:13/16)
A complete contrast with yesterday: low cloud in the morning giving way to galeforce winds and driving rain which lasted all day. The essence of the mountain marathon experience and an enjoyable and satisfying test, although again we finished well down the field. A very steep climb up to the first checkpoint below Kentmere Pike was a brutal wake-up call, followed by easier contouring through the clag to Wren Gill. A tough leg over Gatesgarth Pass to CP 3 in a steep gully was draining: strong winds and torrential rain, although we had some relief from the wind as we retraced our steps over to (and down) Mosedale - some good running and good route planning over the side of Brunt Tongue, avoiding the bogs, to a CP on the top of Ulthwaite Rigg. Tricky navigation through knolls in the mist gained another CP at lonely Haskew Tarn, but we'd been up high for a while now in the worst of the weather and were starting to get cold. The next leg was clearly a toughie, with two choices: a big decision. I decided to go for the longer but less exposed option, given the weather, and it was a good decision. We jogged past delightful waterfalls at the bottom of Mosedale Beck to equally attractive Swindale, then took the Old Corpse Road to Mardale Common: breaking off to contour round to CP 6. More tricky nav over complex, lumpy terrain around Brown Howe - in thick mist - saw us gain CP 7 before good running and nav cut the corner to Harper Hills. We then made a mistake, careless navigation (tiring now) and had to retrace steps to a fence corner before taking a precise bearing to find CP 8 on a crag top. The route was in the bag now, apart from the climb back over Swindale to leave 'Lakeland' and gain the Pennine scenery and final check at Keld Gill. A ferocious squally shower was a fitting accompaniment at this late stage. A shame we couldn't have been more competitive (I would have liked to have done far more running, slightly frustrating especially on day one) but I still really enjoyed the Scafell class and found it about right in terms of distance and climb. There were so few competitors on it (compared to 70+ on the shorter classes) that you don't have the dreaded crocodiles to follow to the checkpoints - you are far more dependent on your own decisions and navigation, especially satisfying in these conditions.

Saunders Lakeland mountain marathon, day 1

Race: SLMM (Scafell class) day 1 (29k/1400m)
Peaks: High Raise, Rampsgill Head, High Street, Thornthwaite Crag
Area: Haweswater, Lake District
Time: 8:00:35
After thoroughly enjoying the Bowfell class on this event last year, we moved up a gear here and tackled the longest pairs class: the Scafell. The stats are misleading, as the distances are measured in a straight line, the climbs measured as optimal routes: so you actually cover far more ground (I'd estimate 60k over two days). The weather was perfect as we set out from Wetsleddale across typical Pennine scenery of marsh and peat hags, crossing (aesthetically) into Lakeland as we crossed Swindale between checkpoints one and two. A bridleway gave easy access to Haweswater before a gradual climb up to two more checkpoints on the moors north of the reservoir. We skirted Measand Beck before descending to a CP in Longgrain Beck and then climbed onto the High Street ridge near High Raise. Wonderful running along the ridge, the highlight of the weekend, with a light breeze and blue skies. Great views of the Lakes, with Helvellyn dominant to the west. Easy running over Rampsgill Head, High Street and Thornthwaite Crag. I'd visited the latter two a few years ago on the Kentmere horseshoe and so had some knowledge of the terrain. We descended steep scree to CP 6 above Kentmere Reservoir - unfortunately Stef had real problems here and we lost a lot of time, which then got worse as the next leg was the psychological crux. A huge climb back east over the ridge at Brown Howe then all the way over to Mosedale: good route-planning meant we minimised the effort but it was still hard work. We then contoured Brunt Tongue to gain the final two checks in peatbog between Little Mosedale and Greycrag tarn. Stef struggled again on the steep descent to the campsite and we finished well down the field. A beautiful campsite at the top of Longsleddale was ample compensation, though.