Copeland Chase

The Copeland Chase 

For £9 what can go wrong?

At the last minute I decided to enter a revived classic tradional Mounatin Orienteering event hosted by West Cumbria Orienteering Club in the little visited fells around Kirkland. 

                                    An early start and with a forecast getting better thro the day I met up with John

the orgainser and registered, did the usual faffing and then was given a map to set off.

Walking to the start I was trying to work out the scale dimensions and a 1:15000 with 5m contour interval with O type colours took a little time to get used to.
In the end it took a looong time to get used to as I cleared, set off from the start and then found the out-run track runnable I got my head down and shuffled quickly.





Its unusal not to be flogging up a steep hill in the first 1km and I was going quicker than ususal. A bloke from WCOC came past and I sort of tagged onto the back of him. The Plateau arrived with a fence and jumped it and shot off into some tussocks not unlike on the OMM a few weeks previous. I marched on thro and started to drop quickly. I saw Steve Heaton and Kaaren Nash behind me and this spurred me on.

I then stopped at the coll I thought was my No. 1 and realised I was facing the wrong direction nothing fitted, so i did the classic thing when in a rush, of trying to make it fit!!. I thought I would give up on No. 1 and just go round the others, not dibbing.
I set off downhill to number 2 and then realised the sheepfold fast approaching was in the wrong vallet when I unfolded the map to have a look for a line to No. 3!!!!!

 OOh long uphill back to 2 where I had just been stood!!!! (the kites were a little flattened)

So a day of pics and fun and meeting some old and new friends.

All the pics can be found here on my Google + page 

If you want an original please contact me. 

 

A great day out and an expereince I can share 

Results can be found here 

All for £9 Si dibber hire , comprehensive map, and FREE tea and cake at the end.
What could go wrong?

Hope to see you on the next one? 

Somewhere!!!!!

More Mile Cheviot 2 Fell Shoes

I have been trying out a pair of More Mile Cheviot 2 Fell Shoes recently. I bought them as an alternative to the usual Norman Walsh Fell Shoes I have worn for years. Being a Bolton lad I used to pop into see Norman and have a chat with him about the fell scene sometimes I would buy a pair of shoes as well. I have been spoilt coming from Bolton home of a few famous shoe brands and runners including Walsh, Reebok, Brasher who worked with Reebok; Martin Jones, Paul Dugdale Horwich RMI, Mike Freary Bolton UH, Ron Hill produced the Rivington Pike shoe named after the oldest fell race in the calender.

So these came as an alternative to a trusted brand to try out now in the Northern Lakes where I now live and work as a full time outdoor instructor and with Nav4 helping to organise and with training courses for Mountain Marathons, Hill and Adventure racingThis is the mark two version and comes in several eye catching colour designs. The lacing is a standard eyelet lacing system that has been tried and tested and cant really be faulted. It secures the foot well and can be adapted along its length to fit differing foot widths. 

The sole unit is deep lugged and is useful on the northern fells where the ground is not so rocky. These would be ideal for Howgills, Southern Uplands, Cross Country, Orienteering type areas of event. I found them very slippy on wet rock, but most sole units and compounds are. They cleaned reasonably well enhancing the grip over this sort of terrain. 

The midsole offers good cushioning but not to much for contouring, more testing is needed here to give a better picture for myself. 

The toe box is good for me in that its open and rounded and has plenty of space with a toe protector over the mesh upper. This drains very well going through boggy ground. 

The insole stays in place even when wet very handy and gives a confident feel to the shoe. 

   

 In this picture on the left you can see the tongue rolling that occurs to frequently, this could easily be rectified with a simple loop to centralise the tongue. Another thing that I found on buying my original pair was that they are lasted very small. I normally take a 41(7) but on trying them on I had to return them and get an 8. I am not sure if half sizes are available? The 8 means that the shoe rolls a little and is slighty floppy across the toe cut area on me.


During this day out I saw another bloke running up in the same pair as I was coming down the hill with my dog back toward Mungrisedale. I never got a chance to ask what he thought of them.

 In summary this is a good shoe that with a little more time from me on the fells may be more of a grower on me. I will get out more and evaluate further. The price is right  

Why we need to have the right kit for the job

For my job I have to make sure that my PPE (personal protective equipment) is as good as it can be, the fit and the functionality. I choose my kit to help me stay as warm and as dry as possible, very difficult when we live in a warm, wet, martime climate; as the last months worth of weather has shown.

I try and use the best that's available and most of this mimics some of the worlds most adapted animals for their environments. Outdoor kit has come on leaps since the token woolly jumper

Here are two articles by leading scientists gear and outdoors people. Taken from UKC one of the website dedicated to the outdoors and its supporters.

Part 1 http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=5105

Part 2 http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=5163

As an enjoyable addition to these have a look at http://innovation-for-extremes.net/gear-timezone/

Enjoy the articles and have a look at your wardrobe and see if its fit for purpose.Then come out on the hills and try some of it out.

Nav4 TDH Dec 22 2012

This year is the 3rd year of the annual event of the Tour De Helvellyn. Organised by Joe and I from the NAV4 with a lot of help from the whole team. Its traditionally run on the shortest weekend of the year, this year was very close to Xmas and we wondered if people would get a pass out to do it. Its fast becoming a classic in the calender as the weather in the past years has been a massive factor in the days events. This year proved no exception being forecast as "serious winds and rain" the south of England was battered by storms.

 Its  not a standard fell run or trail race drawing on traditions from the LDWA and Orinteering . You have to have some navigation experience you also need some cunning as to plan your start time between 07.00-09.00. NB daylight is at premium and therefore you need to suit your speed to the day. Patterdale Checkpoint (10 Mile) opens at 09.30. I was tasked to kit check again this year and folk were very patient as we try to be fair but keep a level of integrity to the rules. Last year I cheekily asked one person "what was on his butty's" as I would see them at Chk 3 and could help lighten the pack. This year people were volunteering to show me their buttys and survival bags etc. I didnt get to eat any though as it was very wet at the bridge.

Thanks to the people who gave me a hug shook my hand or said thanks its very appreciated especially after 3.5 hrs  in those conditions.

 Some pics from the route. Rachael after trying to sabotage the event. Achille Ratti lads

Bradden still smiling famous for it now. Well done Kim Collinson for going very quick but well done all for pushing him around.

 Trail Running Magazine editor Claire Maxted nicked my brew in an Eden Runners mug at the finish.


A great picture of two of the original Dragons Back finishers from 1992. Martin Stone and Helene Whittaker won it and Joe himself did himself proud this year again.

 More pics can be found here on my Picasa page if you click on this pic. on the right

See you in 2013 at another event?