Arrochar Alps Sat 30th June

Here at last the Arrochar Alps race, 4 munroes, 13 or so miles and 8000' of ascent. Vorlich, Vane, Ime & Narnain with a 3 mile run through Glen Loin to start and 1 1/2 miles of forrest track to finish. The forecast proved accurate, start nice and then cloud/rain to come in as the afternoon went on.

Bagpipes set 44 of us off at 11:00 on the path up through Glen Loin, only thought at this time was to go up Vorlich and back down to the dam within the 2 1/2 hour cut off. Made it to the top of a cloud free Vorlich in 92 mins, good views to the rest of the AA with only minor cloud on the tops.

Took the descent steady in 26 mins so just under 2 hours to the dam with the race marshalls at the dam giving encouragement on the descent via megaphone!! Able to relax now as the only other time out was 5 hours to the valley between Vane & Ime, which should take less than 90 mins.

Set off up Vane in a small group of 4, glad that I had a recce of this section last week as we spread out on our own little routes going up through the maze of crags. Plan was to go almost to the top then skirt round the last big crag to save an up & doon before the stiff climb to the summit ridge. Cut left a crag or two early so a bit more difficult than it could have been but still made time on the 3 others.

Overall 55 min climb to the top of Vane which was by now in thick cloud, visibility about 30 yards at the top. Took the planned 280 degree bearing off Vane to avoid the worst of the crags. The back of Vane is a series of rocky terraces which make for slow going, although a less direct route, starting with a 280 bearing avoids the worst and is runnable.

Reached Lag Uaine checkpoint 16 mins after leaving Vane summit, next the double climb to Ben Ime the highest AA peak. Cloud now down below 2000' which meant the turning point at Glas Beallach was covered by cloud so the route choice for the second part of Ime would be difficult. 2 runners just in front here and 1 just behind, they all went one and way I went another so made for a lonely plod up into the clouds.

Disorientation kicked in near the top of Ime, totally unrecognisable despite the many other times on this route, visibility very poor and nearly gave up 2 or 3 times in the wind, rain and cold but eventually picked up the path about 50 yards from the top and jogged over the top shouting out name and number to the tent bound marshalls.

The path from Ime dissapears soon after the rocky top section, no planned bearing as it should be an easy run down but soon disorientated again as visibility drops to about 20 yards on the featurless run down. Pick up another small path which disappears too soon and then huge rocks and crags loom out the mist.

Stop and try to establish some idea of location, last time I had a problem on this hill I had dropped down too far right so this time turned and climbed back up and along looking for a familiar feature or signs of the path, picked up a stream and followed it down as the gradient had eased to something manageable until a shout of "runner" from the Beallach a Mhaim marshall about 30 yards away brought me and another unseen runner to the style avoiding a painful reascent from Corriegrogan. 33 minute descent so lost 10 or 15 mins, but safe.

Off up Narnain I dropped behind the other runner and he soon dissapeared into the mist ahead, finished over 10 mins ahead of him so did something right. Took a hopeful line and having to work hard now after about 4 1/2 hours was pleased that I managed to pick up the path, tricky climb up through more boulder fields than I remembered to the cheery marshall hiding behind the trig point with a cairry oot.

Pretty horrible conditions on Narnain and after nearly 5 hours a tricky 2 mile descent through crags, bogs, swamps and the dreaded pipeline to come. Possible target to finish under 6 hours came to mind but decided not to look at the watch until off the mountain and back on the forrest track.

Set off through the Spearhead on the steep rocky descent, more scramble than run, not a lot of brake power left in the legs so took it steady, concentration more important than pace. Pushed on where possible and got a boost by coming out the cloud just before I reached the concrete blocks of the dreaded pipeline. Arrochar in sight so few hops and jumps through the blocks and I'd be finished.

Hit the forrest track in 5 hours 48 odd minutes so grit the teeth for a final push back to the start, made it with just over a minute to spare.

Fantastic race which I wasn't sure I could finish. Plenty of food for thought with extremely challenging navigation on what are familiar routes. Luckily the cloud didn't close in until I had cleared the lower slopes of Ben Vane as that would have been rather tricky. Also difficult when the other runners choose different routes especially in poor visibility and you begin to doubt your own choices, but good when you pop out in front.

Feeding plan worked with 1/2 a lucozade pouch at the bottom and top of each hill and a jelly baby every 15 mins on the last 2 climbs.

Splits;
Glen Loin to Vorlich summit 92 mins
Vorlich summit to Sloy Dam 26 mins
Sloy Dam to Vane summit 55 mins
Vane summit to Lag Uaine 16 mins
Lag Uaine to Ime summit 50 mins
Ime summit to Beallach a Mhaim 33 mins
Beallach a Mhaim to Narnain summit 24 mins
Narnain summit to Glen Loin 62 mins
Total 5 hrs 58 mins 40 secs