Blencathra – Hausberg (home/house mountain) in February via the easiest ascent – what clothing to take?
Living at the bottom of Blencathra, this has to become a regular route in training as the mountain is one of the popular ones to ascent in the Lakes alongside the likes of Helvellyn, Skiddaw and Sca’fell. From our house, the trip, out and back, is 11.6k with 770m of elevation. I can see most of the route from my living room window.
The elevation is gained pretty much in one straight up, runnable at first through the fields of sheep and country lanes, then somewhat steeper along the zig-zags along the steeper shoulder. Along this stretch it packs 505m of ascend from the car park to the summit ‘ridge’ over 2.44km where the gradient levels out once again.
I found it difficult to stay in Z2 on this stretch without slowing right down even when walking. May be the remnants of a cold-virus affecting me here but must do better next time! It is also a different effort from running reps with the continuous, somewhat harder effort than in running slowly.
In mid-February, there were cold winds to content with but I was not the only one making my way up there on a Tuesday morning. Some people in questionable gear for sure given it was 5 degrees C with a 20 mph wind and we’d be reaching areas above 750m that were under 0 degrees C (Blencathra is 868m high) according to Mountain Weather Information Service forecast for the Lakes.
Ever since seeing a video on cold exposure in the mountains (video linked below) and my husband Chris twisted his ankle around the flatter trails along the bottom of The Valley from which Blencathra rises I am conscious that something could happen and that I could not easily recover myself. So I packed extra layers to make sure I wouldn’t be cold if for some reason I slowed downme. I should have added an emergency shelter and waterproof trousers would have been better but there was no rain in the forecast and the windproof ones are more comfortable to wear – as I was expecting I would have to at the top.
As it was, I just kept moving and was okay at the top and, on returning to The Valley, got quite warm as I did not take any layers off and the sun came out. The day before I had set off for a little jog around the village and wished I had taken more to wear. So this together with the wind and remoteness of most mountain tops reminded me to bring the spare gear and always have it packed up ready to take at home.
I carried the following spare clothes in my Ultimate Direction Fastpack 15 bag:
- waterproof jacket (Inov-8) and wind proof over trousers (Arc’teryx)
- Spare warm mid layer (prima-loft, Arc’teryx atom mid weight)
- Spare buff
- sandwich
I also wore
- thermal running tights
- Thick mid-layer (used as first layer)
- Mid layer (prima-loft) with hood
- Lightweight windproof with hood
- Gloves with wind proof over gloves
- Waterproof trail shoes
As it happened, I didn’t use any of the spare gear and did not take the bag down throughout until getting down to the foot of Blencathra itself with wobbly legs from the effort. I stopped to get my soft flask out and had a long drink before carrying on carefully.
Given the weather and remoteness, it felt like an adventure albeit a small one especially after not having been in the Lakes for 15 months.
Trail and hill running safety – essential kit – YouTubewww.youtube.com › watch
