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L Less weight, easier miles, more summits... we show you how

Britain’s Best-selling hillwalking magaZine

SCOTLAND Epic wilderness weekend on Rannoch Moor

Hill tick-lists Kick-start a mountain challenge with our bagger’s special p105

Brave hearts Nail-biting tales from Mountain Rescue’s front line p54

SNOWDONIA Walk the secret hills Wales is hiding

Go liGht!APRIL 2012 £3.99

www.livefortheoutdoors.com

gear special

backpack it!

13 hillwalks

+ maps

paramooffer!

amazing

don’t miss this: p30

the one that lost 3½ toes in a bivvy at 8560m

Tested Scrambling boots gaiters duffel bags

Got unwanted gear? 10Here’s your chance to help those who need it

Zipwire off a mountain! 12Plus the maddest rock-lovers’ hostel ever

A night alone on Everest 14 How one climber survived against terrible odds

Dream peak 16 Dow Crag, a hill arguably at its best when frozen

contents Where this month’s issue will take you...

Reading hill weather 44 How an eye on the sky can help keep you safe

How to warm up fast 48 A chill can kill, so learn how to avoid it

Ask Trail 50 The wisdom of 2-person tents for solo campers; understanding map lingo; wild camp food

Trail talk 18 The great outdoors – according to you lot

Subscribe to Trail 30 A Páramo Fuera windproof is yours if you do!

Why we love... 146 ...the frozen hillwalker’s friend: the down jacket

Secret Snowdonia 20 Why it’s well worth looking beyond the classics to find Wales’ lesser-known gems

Rannoch Moor 32 Going lightweight across a Scottish wilderness

MRT confidential 54Five anonymous Mountain Rescue team members tell it like it really is...

a dv e n t u r es

y o u r t r a i l

s k i l l so u t t h e r e

p133

8 Trail april 2012 april 2012 Trail 9

Pho

ebe

smit

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Fleetwith Pike reflected in Buttermere: be here with our Classic Route.

Walk moor, carry less:

page 32.

tom bailey

p30OMM map pouch

Subscribe and get a fabulous Páramo

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Where this month’s issue will take you...

Dartmoor 107Route 1 Great Links TorWalk this route and you’ll find you do a ‘Dewey’!

Yorkshire Dales 109Route 2 The CalfIt’s the Howgills’ highest – and a Trail 100 hill

Snowdonia 111Route 3 Y Glyderau Five Welsh 3,000 footers in one superb route

Scottish Borders 113Route 4 Ettrick Water Bag five of the small but sexy ‘Marilyns’

Mid Wales 115Route 5 Pen Pumlumon FawrIf it’s Hewitts you’re after, this walk gets you four

West Highlands 117Route 6 Ben NevisA full-on outing on Scotland’s biggest 4000er

Dunnerdale 121Route 7 Dow CragRoute 8 Harter FellRoute 9 Dunnerdale FellsChoose your base and walk for three days! This issue’s first Ultimate Weekend gives you three routes from a less well-known Lakes valley

Ullapool 127Route 10 Beinn GhobhlachRoute 11 Ben More Coigach Route 12 Stac Pollaidh Fancy a long weekend in the far north of Scotland? See what this wee Highlands town has to offer the hillwalker, plus a trio of top routes

Lake District 133Route 13 Buttermere Round This issue’s Classic Route promises ‘one of the Lake District’s most inviting treats’, and includes no fewer than seven Wainwrights

r o u t es

april 2012

Seeing the other side of Snowdonia, on Moelwyn Mawr: page 20.

tom bailey

april 2012 Trail 9

Classic Route

with 3D maps

g e a r

Not the best use of a duffel bag:

page 94.

Gear news 67The must-have kit that’s coming soon...

Columbia Compounder 70 A shell jacket using Columbia’s new fabric Scrambling boots 72 Six pairs of rock-grippers go head to head

Gaiters 82 Which of these calf-encasers best suits your activities and your budget?

Duffel bags 94 Big, bombproof kit carriers, compared

out there

16 Trail april 2012 april 2012 Trail 17

dow crag LAKE DISTRICTDark pretender to the throne of the Southern Lakes, Dow Crag sits in shadow for much of the day: days that, in winter, are so short and cold that if frozen gullies and slabs of ice are your preferred playground, there are few places as enviable to be. This 778m fell is also a stunning walker’s objective, with superb views across to its parent massif, The Old Man of Coniston. This month’s Route 7 takes both in fine style...

do it! ›› turn to page 122

d r e a m p e a k

april 2012 Trail 17

Looking towards Dow Crag from Coniston Old Man.

© Stewart Smith / alamy

Where? North WalesWhat? Hills less trodden

20 Trail april 2012 april 2012 Trail 21

Where? North WalesWhat? Hills less trodden

april 2012 Trail 21

Dawn breaks over Llyn Stwlan on Moelwyn Mawr. A long way

from any madding crowds...

secret sNoWdoNia

Words Ben Winston photographs tom Bailey

’m going to tell you something you already know. Something so unbelievably obvious that you don’t think of it very often, yet which, if considered, has the potential to completely revolutionise your walking life. Grab hold of something sturdy, because this is it: Snowdonia has many mountains. Now... who didn’t already know that?

Love exploring the hills in this National Park but feel stuck in a rut? Then look beyond the classics to a whole new world of wild walking...

�

s e c r e t

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So you’ve got a problem that needs solving, but don’t want to lose face with your mountain mates? Don’t worry, Trail’s expert team is here to help…

Graham thompsonGT has been Trail’s technical editor for over 20 years, and he’s a fountain of knowledge on all aspects of walking kit.

simon inGram

jeremy ashcroft

LyLe Brotherton

Trail’s editor is a Mountain Leader trainee, and he’s been on more mountains than most of us could dream about.

Mountaineering editor Jeremy has a wealth of experience in the UK and overseas, and he’s here to solve your problems.

Lyle is one of the world’s leading navigation experts and the author of The Ultimate Navigation Manual, pb Collins.

ask us a question!If you’ve got a question about hill-walking. Get in touch and ask our team.

Post your queries to: Ask Trail, Trail, Bauer, Media House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6EA.

Even better, email us: trail@bauermedia.co.uk and put ‘Ask Trail’ in the subject box.

(Sorry, but we can only answer the questions that appear in the magazine.)

50 Trail april 2012

Is a 2-person tent best?

your problems solved by our hillwalking experTsask trail

I’m considering purchasing a tent for solo backpacking, and wondered if your team could give me some advice. Many

people say it is best to get a lightweight two-person tent as they allow more room for yourself and your equipment. What do you think?Clive Bontoft, via email

Well spotted, Clive. Not all one- or two-person tents are the same size, and often it is the porch that is reduced in efforts to save weight

and packed size in your rucksack.

This is particularly difficult in winter, as the weather often prevents you from sitting outside and leaving your gear to bask in the alpenglow of a glorious sunset. Instead, wind, snow and rain will force you and your gear under cover, making a good-sized porch vital for moving around, cooking, storing gear and wet boots, and generally living more comfortably.

One-person tents that have very small porches include the Terra Nova Laser Photon and the Vaude Power Tokee Ultralight. Though easy to transport, they’re not ideal for winter camping. One-person tents that have large porches include the GoLite Eden 1, Macpac Microlight, Wild Country Aspect 1 and Hilleberg

peter macfarLanePeter’s our lightweight expert, and he can give you all the advice you need about saving weight on the hill.

april 2012 Trail 51

q

a

your questions answered

Is a 2-person tent best?

your problems solved by our hillwalking expertsask trail

As an American who has recently moved to the UK, I often have trouble understanding the names

of features on local maps. Is there a good glossary I could use?Anna Redmond, East Kilbride

You’ll be pleased to hear you’re not alone, buddy. The ancient tongues of Welsh and Scottish Gaelic are, sadly, not as widely spoken as

they once were, though both are currently undergoing strong revivals. According to the last census for which data is available,

Welsh now boasts more than 750,000 native speakers, while Scottish Gaelic is spoken in varying degrees by just over 58,000 souls (though a number of researchers claim the figure lies closer to 100,000). For practical purposes, there are only so many landscape features bearing non-English names, and learning them all isn’t an overwhelming task. It’s tremendously satisfying too.

Below is Trail’s guide to some key terms you’ll see on the UK’s OS maps.

Some useful online Welsh/Scottish dictionaries include: www.freelang.net, www.cs.cf.ac.uk, www.ceantar.org

april 2012 Trail 51

translating British maps

Akto. These are better suited to winter camping.As you suggest, many solo campers choose

two-person tents as they provide even more space. Thus, two-person tents such as the Vaude Taurus Ultralight are popular with lone backpackers. Alternatives such as the Wild Country Trisar and Terra Nova Voyager Superlite offer large porches, roomy inner space and geodesic construction, which makes them comfortable with full winter gear, as well as strong and stable in winter weather. Equally, a two-person tent such as the Vango Banshee 200 (which has a very modest porch) is also popular as it has a large inner that provides much-needed gear storage space inside the tent.

A two-person tent with a decent porch can be a good

choice for a solo backpacker.

tom

ba

iley

Clogwyn is Welsh for ‘cliff’. Which may be seen as ‘creag’ on a Scottish map...

Q

A

ScoTlAnd WAleS englAndcarn carnedd cairn (stone heap, often on summit)

mullach /barra pen summitbeinn / ben mynydd hill or mountain

coire cwm corrie (steep-walled semicircular basin in a mountainside, usually

containing a lake)bealach / lairig bwlch pass (or col, a borrowed French term)

mór fawr major (of two peaks)beag fach minor (of two peaks)

monadh Welsh ranges tend to be named as plurals of the main mountains,

eg Glyderau, Carneddau

range

cnoc /cnap /tulach bryn small hillglen cwm valleycoille coed forest

aonach morfa moorlochan - tarn (small lake)

loch llyn lakeburn / allt nant stream, brook

sruth afon riverfirth aber estuary

72 Trail april 2012 april 2012 Trail 73

group test

Now is not the time to discover that the boots you bought aren’t up to the job!

APRIL 2012 Trail 73

scRAmbLIng boots

Scrambling boots

Balancing on small holds, jamming in cracks, or delicately negotiating knife-edge arêtes while also being able to deal with long approaches: we ask a lot of scrambling boots. Trail looks at the latest offerings... TesT Jeremy Ashcroft PhoTograPhs tom BAiley and GrAhAm thompson

what we testedMammut Mt Centry GtX £180Garmont Vetta Mnt GtX £190AKU SL trek GtX £200Scarpa CriStaLLo £200Zamberlan MonSter GtX £200La Sportiva tranGo S eVo GtX £235

82 Trail APRIL 2012 APRIL 2012 Trail 83

group test

GaitersTo keep mud and water out of your boots and stop bracken from trashing your trousers, you need to choose the right gaiters for your kind of walking.

TesT Graham ThompsonPhoTograPhs Tom Bailey

what we testedTrailwise Snolock GaiterS £25Trekmates Dry SoftShell GaiterS £30Rab latok alpine GaiterS £35Berghaus GtX GaiterS £35Rohan SnowGaiterS £40Extremities nova Gaiter £45Páramo lonG GaiterS £52Outdoor Research crocoDileS £55

APRIL 2012 Trail 83

gAIteRs

Gaiters let you laugh in the face of soggy terrain.

used & abused

APriL 2012 Trail 99

used & abused

Team Trail’s kit sees more action than most. Here’s where we tell you how it did...

98 Trail APriL 2012

The Zepton is a stripped-down alpine-style pack, which means it has clean lines and an uncluttered design so that climbers don’t get snagged on anything on a route. Luckily this also gives backpackers a nice lightweight pack, even with a big capacity of 50 litres. The Dyneema fabric is incredibly tough and water-resistant as well as light, and the Zepton also has a comfortable harness and two external stretch pockets for handy storage, making it a very useable pack.

www.lowealpine.com

Size isn’t everything, and my compact LX3 has been my favourite bit of kit for the past couple of years. It’s simple to use, has brilliant presets for the likes of sunsets or night shots, and the quality can be very good indeed: it can count this Trail front cover [left] as its proudest moment.

www.panasonic.co.uk

Lowe aLpine Zepton 50 £110

panasonic Lumix DmC-Lx3 £320(noW repLaCeD by DmC-Lx5 £459)

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used & abused

APriL 2012 Trail 99

used & abused

Team Trail’s kit sees more action than most. Here’s where we tell you how it did...

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The Panasonic’s best friend is the Zipshot tripod, which is very light indeed and quick to use as the legs fold out just like a tent pole. Essential kit for timer shots when you’re running round the front of the lens and trying to look natural. www.tamrac.co.uk

team trail’s kit

Zipshot Tripod £55

Montane’s Air Jacket is just what a lightweight waterproof shell should be, as it’s got everything you need and nothing that you don’t. Cut from the excellent eVent fabric, it has a huge single pocket that is perfect for gloves, a Buff and snacks; the wide cuffs can be rolled up or fastened around winter gloves; and the hood is a proper mountain design that can be cinched in to give you all the protection you need when it turns nasty.

www.montane.co.uk

Montane Air JAckeT £230

peter MacfarlaneRannoch Moor,

scotland(See page 32)

Trail Routes use OS mapping and gradient profiles, and are available to download at lfto.com/routes This month we feature six adventures guaranteed to kick-start your tick-list – from Munros to Deweys, Welsh 3000ers to Scottish Marilyns and of course the fantastic Trail 100s. Simply choose your list and location, and get bagging!

1 Great Links tor 15.4km p107 2 the CaLf 17.3km p109 3 Y GLYderau 18.3km p111 4 ettriCk Water 28.8km p113 5 Pen PumLumon faWr 16km p115 6 Ben nevis 20.5km p117

ultimate weekend – dunnerdale 7 doW CraG 16km p122 8 harter feLL 14.5km p123 9 dunnerdaLe feLLs 6.8km p124

ultimate weekend – ullapool 10 Beinn GhoBhLaCh 10.5km p128 11 Ben more CoiGaCh 9km p129 12 staC PoLLaidh 4.5km p130

classic route 13 Buttermere round 20km p133

p111 p117 p113

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routesThe beST hillWalkS

wriTTen by experTs

Stac Pollaidh, one of the routes on your Ultimate Weekend: page 130.

Catch a cable car with Dan Bailey for a mountaineering-style scramble / winter climb on the giants of western Scotland.

20.5km/12½ milestrail

routewest highlands 6

STRENUOUSNESSNAVIGATION

TECHNICALITY400OfT pEAk COUNT

■■■■■

■■■■■

■■■■■

4

Lochaber’s highest mountains are all near neighbours, four 4,000-footers that cluster close enough to be climbed

in a single mega trip, made feasible with a high start on the Nevis Range gondola. These are some of Scotland’s greatest peaks – the massive Aonach Mor, secretive and serious Aonach Beag, graceful Carn Mor Dearg and last but never least Ben Nevis. Hands-on interest is centred on Carn Mor Dearg. This peak’s east ridge gives an under-appreciated scrambling ascent, while the famous CMD Arête linking with Ben Nevis is one of the grandest ridges in the country. However the rest of the round covers serious ground too.

Winter conditions give it the feel of a mountaineering expedition, and on these high hills snow might be present well into spring. In this bridge season it’s wise to go prepared with an axe, crampons and the experience to tackle Grade I winter ridges.

Ben Nevis da

n b

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�

ApRIL 2012 Trail 117

Aonach Beag and the Grey Corries, seen from Ben Nevis.

Carn Mor Dearg (left), the Carn Mor Dearg Arête and Ben Nevis.

scramble

With 280-odd members, the Munros are hardly an exclusive club. Their 3,000-foot-plus entry requirement is just too permissive, allowing all sorts of riffraff in. But up the threshold to 4,000 feet and you’ve a much more refined tick-list of just nine, with five entries in the Cairngorms and four in Lochaber. Two mega hill days will bag them all, but NB: under snow they are a stern challenge.

SCottiSh 4000ft peAkS

Scafell Pike, Scafell and Kirk Fell from Scarth Gap.matthew roberts

trail route lake district13

classic route

april 2012 Trail 137136 Trail april 2012

'Its remoteness, tucked away from the maddIng crowd, gIves

It a tImeless and unhurrIed atmosphere. It crIes out to

be explored...'

april 2012 Trail 137

www.trekmates.co.uk