Winter Ramsay Round

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Winter Comes A Round

Gary Tompsett / 14.01.2005

Getting a group of people together for this kind of weekend is a difficult task, especially so close to the festive season, not least because the chances of completing it are low, and the contingencies are multiple.

But Sleepmonsters (Forum) Scotland had assembled a loose but dedicated collection of Munro warriors for an attempt at this daunting challenge despite the stormy weather and forecasts. It was foolish, but it was fun, and it would firmly banish the mid-winter presence of SAD syndrome.

Long Way Round

The Ramsay Round is a 60-mile circuit with over 28,000 feet of ascent, starting and finishing at Glen Nevis youth hostel. First completed by Charlie Ramsay in July 1978 it takes in the Mamores, outliers around Loch Treig, the Aonachs and has a big finish with Ben Nevis.

It is regarded as a classic 24-hour challenge, with only about twenty people ever having completed it in that time. Until recently no one had completed the Winter Round while the UK\'s biggest hills were still snow and ice covered, but then in November 2002 Glyn Jones of Dumfries did it in 53hrs 34mins. This inspired Gary to give it a crack in 2003. He ran and walked almost non-stop to complete the \'round\' in good conditions in 32 hours 48 minutes, unsupported.

This years\' attempt was to be entirely different, with Rob Priestley, Nick Leslie and Paul Currant supporting Gary and young \'Scotty\' John Laughlin at various \'luxurious\' bothies. (We think that whisky and open fires were included!) The team was to be bigger, with all of SM Scotland to be involved, but the excesses and illnesses of Hogmanay in Scotland had slowly eroded it.

Northern Exposure

As everyone drove North through lashings of rain, it was clear that the attempt was immediately in doubt, but Gary had insisted \'Starting is half of the battle\'.
We assembled at Achintee Bunkhouse / Glen Nevis Inn, a gem of a place often missed by the summit-bound hoards. It took a while assembling all the gear into the attempters rucksacks and the support rucksacks and stashes (food drops).

When entering mid-winter mountains in winter conditions, omissions in kit can be fatal. One notable addition to last years kit list is the use of USE\'s new Exposure lighting systems. See All Event Posts