Level of preperation needed

On 18 Apr 2005 09:56:07 -0700, [email hidden] (CoyoteBoy)
wrote:

Hi there,

Quoted message said:

First time poster here, did a search and couldnt find the info i
wanted so i'll ask i guess...

I'm thinkin of doing the 3000s in the shortest time i can. Now im no
endurance runner, but I've got a fair amount of experience walking,
navigating in average weather, some experience in zero visibility
weather, but i tend to keep to the easier mountains. Have done a lot
in the dales and the lakes, done snowdon god knows how many times but
only up the more well trodden routes. Oh, btw, im 24, good health but
a little less fit than id like lol.

Anyways, my questions are:
1)I realise its gonna be a challenge, but how possible is it to
attempt in 18 hours for someone with a lower than ideal fitness?? Is
it walkable in 18 hours? I'm guessing at my normal pace i'd cover it
walking with a 20kg rucksack in about 16 hours just by looking at the
maps - reality is often different.

2)I'm not going to manage it in 5 hours lol, but i was hoping for
nearer 10 than 15, but i dont fancy doing that in my usual boots -
what sort of footwear do people use for it?

3)Any tips for it? I've no idea when im going to try it, but in the
next 12 months would be nice.

Do you mean the English 3000s? If so, go over to
www.outdoorsmagic.com, click on Forums and look in the Meets and
Partners forum. There's a discussion going on about this right as we
speak! :-)

Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk

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Sorry, no, i meant the Welsh - been locked in google so long ive
started shortening things and missing out detail, sorry!
Still checking out that forum tho ta!🙂

J

Quoted message said:

Sorry, no, i meant the Welsh - been locked in google so long ive
started shortening things and missing out detail, sorry!
Still checking out that forum tho ta!🙂

Some friends did this a few years ago. Their report is at
http://www.footprintsramblingclub.org.uk/sweaty.htm
--
Dave

CoyoteBoy said:

Hi all,

First time poster here, did a search and couldnt find the info i
wanted so i'll ask i guess...

I'm thinkin of doing the 3000s in the shortest time i can. Now im no

Snip

Quoted message said:

3)Any tips for it? I've no idea when im going to try it, but in the
next 12 months would be nice.

Get hold of a book called 'I bought a mountain' by Thomas Fairbank.
It's about a Canadian who buys a large chunk of Snowdonia. Part of the
book details his walk over the Welsh 3000's, route choice, etc., - the
rest of it is a good read too!

--
Dave McLaughlin

[censored] Sapiens Non Urinat In Ventum

On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 18:24:46 +0100, Bootlaces <[email hidden]>
wrote:

[...]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Do you mean the English 3000s? If so, go over to
www.outdoorsmagic.com, click on Forums and look in the Meets and
Partners forum. There's a discussion going on about this right as we
speak! :-)

!Oy! Stop stealing the new posters! <g>

Heh heh.... 🙂

<trots off, blushing...>

Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk

----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
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Did this some years ago with a couple of friends. However we did it as a
walk no attempt at fast times etc. We chose June for the longest day length
and did it in our normal walking boots etc. We started from Pen y Pass at
about 4.00 am and did Snowdon first working our way North so that we did the
easiest terrain when we were getting tired, finishing at Aber late evening.

Gerald

"Dave McLaughlin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

CoyoteBoy said:

Hi all,

First time poster here, did a search and couldnt find the info i
wanted so i'll ask i guess...

I'm thinkin of doing the 3000s in the shortest time i can. Now im no

Snip

Quoted message said:

3)Any tips for it? I've no idea when im going to try it, but in the
next 12 months would be nice.

Get hold of a book called 'I bought a mountain' by Thomas Fairbank.
It's about a Canadian who buys a large chunk of Snowdonia. Part of the
book details his walk over the Welsh 3000's, route choice, etc., - the
rest of it is a good read too!

--
Dave McLaughlin

[censored] Sapiens Non Urinat In Ventum

The message <[email hidden]>
from [email hidden] (CoyoteBoy) contains these words:

Quoted message said:

I'm thinkin of doing the 3000s in the shortest time i can. Now im no
endurance runner, but I've got a fair amount of experience walking,
navigating in average weather, some experience in zero visibility
weather, but i tend to keep to the easier mountains. Have done a lot
in the dales and the lakes, done snowdon god knows how many times but
only up the more well trodden routes. Oh, btw, im 24, good health but
a little less fit than id like lol.

Quoted message said:

Anyways, my questions are:
1)I realise its gonna be a challenge, but how possible is it to
attempt in 18 hours for someone with a lower than ideal fitness?? Is
it walkable in 18 hours? I'm guessing at my normal pace i'd cover it
walking with a 20kg rucksack in about 16 hours just by looking at the
maps - reality is often different.

How long is a piece of string? Indeed is your projected time peak to
peak (the normal measure) or base to base. 16 hours peak to peak is
rather slow but not unknown. I have just turned up a list of times by
our club members from way back (up to 1973). 50 entries spread between 9
hours 20 minutes and 16 hours 25 minutes and one odd entry at 19 hours
45 minute. I don't know what went wrong on that occasion but the
previous year he had done it in 11 hours 25 minutes.

It is (or certainly was) the case that most people attempt the Welsh
3000s on an organised meet with a support party for transport to/from
the ends and support at Nant Peris and Ogwen. A 20kg sack is severe
overkill, you shouldn't need that much on an unsupported 7 day backpack.

FWIW I first did the 3000s as a relatively fit 25 year old.

It is possible to do it completely unsupported (camp in Ogwen, park at
Pen y Pass for start, walk back to Ogwen after completion and walk back
over the Miners Track the next day to collect car) but by the time I
tried that I was suffering from knee problems and had to give up part
way up Penyrole-wen. Still had to walk back to get my car next day
though.

Quoted message said:

2)I'm not going to manage it in 5 hours lol, but i was hoping for
nearer 10 than 15, but i dont fancy doing that in my usual boots -
what sort of footwear do people use for it?

I always used my normal boots which might just have been the Scarpa
Bronzos of the period.

Quoted message said:

3)Any tips for it? I've no idea when im going to try it, but in the
next 12 months would be nice.

Close to the Summer Solstice is favourite and if you can get a new moon
as well so much the better.

Two weeks beforehand do a walk that has at least 20 miles and 10000 feet
of ascent in it. If you fail at that you won't have a chance to finish
the 3000s and if you succeed the added fitness should get you through
the harder walk.

--
Roger Chapman so far this year 28 summits
New - 15 (Marilyns 4, Sweats 1, Outlying Fells 10)
Repeats - 13 (Marilyns 3, Sweats 7, Wainwrights 6, Outlying Fells 0)

Excellent info here thanks peeps, exactly what I was hoping to hear. I
was going to do it as part of a group but it looks like it'll be me and
a mate or two, with a lift there and back scavenged from my girlfriend
(support, in more ways than one lol).
I'm getting more and more interested the more i read of it, sounds like
a great target to aim for. The 20Kg backpack was purely to gauge
fitness, I'm probably be carrying no more than 5kg of waterproofs and
emergency bits and water. Most likely a base to challenge, starting at
the rough end first for the sake of safety when tired at the end of the
day. Think I'll do a bit more night nav practice to make sure we will
be ok if for some odd reason it goes dark before we get back, but it
looks simple enough on the map.

Cheers again, and thanks for the nice welcome, too many NGs are elitist
and stand-off-ish these days, good to see its not all of them 🙂

J

Idris said:

Did this some years ago with a couple of friends. However we did it as a
walk no attempt at fast times etc. We chose June for the longest day length
and did it in our normal walking boots etc. We started from Pen y Pass at
about 4.00 am and did Snowdon first working our way North so that we did the
easiest terrain when we were getting tired, finishing at Aber late evening.

Gerald

I had a go at the trip some 20-odd years ago, back when there was no
such thing as GPS's and lightweight Argos tents. I didn't have a car so
was limited to getting the train along the North Wales coast. Got off
somewhere (can't remember where), and walked up the path next to the
Afon Anafon and camped next to Llyn Anafon. The weather next morning
didn't look too promising with low cloud over the tops. I worked my way
up Foel Fras and disappeared into the cloud. From that point up till
half way down Penyrole-wen it was all map & compass work, with
visibility down to a very few feet for most of the way. I got to all of
the summits along the way without meeting anyone else and was really
chuffed with myself for not getting completely lost. I still count that
as some of my best navigation work ever!!
From Penyrole-wen summit I considered circling down to Ffynnon Loer and
following the path alongside Afon Lloer to the East end of Llyn Ogwen.
Instead I took the direct route down to Ogwen, and half way down I took
a tumble and slipped down what felt like most of the rest of the way the
valley floor leaving half of my backside behind on the gravel.
When the dust cleared, and realized that despite the pain I wasn't dead,
I remember sitting in bright sunshine, catching my breathe and watching
a farmer and his dog trying to herd a flock of sheep in the valley
below. The dog was having a great time, barking and wagging its tail,
chasing the sheep, but judging from the colourful language amidst the
whistles, it wasn't doing anything the farmer wanted!! I spent the
night at the youth hostel, but my backside didn't get any better, and my
back hurt like hell, so I decided to give up at that point and wander
down the road towards Bethesda to try and get a bus back to station.

Think that just turned into a 20-odd year old TR!!

--
Dave McLaughlin

[censored] Sapiens Non Urinat In Ventum