Whose acheivement is the greater

In message <[email hidden]>

bob watkinson said:

To put a cat amongst the pigeons, Whose was the greatest
achievement. Was it Ellen Macarthur with her recent round the world
epic or Hugh Symonds with his round of the British mountains?

I'd go for Ellen simply because of the 24/7 lack of comforts and sleep
depravation.

But what does the team think?

Why the f**k should we even care about such a comparison?

--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
<\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
"> || _`\<,_ |__\ \> | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"

"Bob Mannix" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

"Mike Clark" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

In message <[email hidden]>

bob watkinson said:

To put a cat amongst the pigeons, Whose was the greatest
achievement. Was it Ellen Macarthur with her recent round the world
epic or Hugh Symonds with his round of the British mountains?

I'd go for Ellen simply because of the 24/7 lack of comforts and sleep
depravation.

But what does the team think?

Why the f**k should we even care about such a comparison?

Well, sleep "depravation" got me interested for a while but I suspect he
meant deprivation. Shame.

Damn Spell checks! 🙂

Quoted message said:

--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

In message <[email hidden]>

bob watkinson said:

"Mike Clark" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In message <[email hidden]>

bob watkinson said:

To put a cat amongst the pigeons, Whose was the greatest
achievement. Was it Ellen Macarthur with her recent round the world
epic or Hugh Symonds with his round of the British mountains?

I'd go for Ellen simply because of the 24/7 lack of comforts and sleep
depravation.

But what does the team think?

Why the f**k should we even care about such a comparison?

--

Sorry Mike. My question was not for you but for those with a higher
level of social skills than yourself. My apologies if you do not feel
you have sufficient intellect to enter into a friendly debate on two
wilderness epics.

No I'll enter into a friendly debate, and rephrase my comment as a
statement. If you define for me what you mean by "greatest" as an
objective criteria, then perhaps it would be possible to provide a
meaningful answer.

Greatest amount of money spent?

Greatest amount of publicity and advertising?

Greatest number of metres of ascent?

Greatest number of days without personal human contact?

Greatest number of days without technology?

Greatest achievement of financial reward for success?

Greatest achievement of public honour for success?

Greatest amount of public interest?

Greatest amount of television and radio coverage?

All of the above, or only some of the above, or perhaps none of the
above?

Quoted message said:

I imagine your foul mouth went into overdrive on reading my posting
and feeling you confusion.

Eh? Could you rewrite that in grammatical english, and I'll try to
respond?

--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
<\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
"> || _`\<,_ |__\ \> | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"

After your foul mouthed and unfriendly response to my posting what on earth
could possibly make you think I have any interest in anything you might have
to say?

In message <[email hidden]>

bob watkinson said:

After your foul mouthed

That is your subjective assumption. I suggest you run a spell checker
over my posting and see if it comes up with any offensive words.

Quoted message said:

and unfriendly response

What is unfriendly in asking why people should wish to make an objective
comparison of two disimiliar subjects?

Quoted message said:

to my posting what on earth could possibly make you think I have any
interest in anything you might have to say?

Your loss not mine.

The point I was trying to make is that it is objectively difficult to
compare disimilar achievements.

--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
<\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
"> || _`\<,_ |__\ \> | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"

Quoted message said:

To put a cat amongst the pigeons, Whose was the greatest achievement. Was
it Ellen Macarthur with her recent round the world epic or Hugh Symonds
with his round of the British mountains?

I'd go for Ellen simply because of the 24/7 lack of comforts and sleep
depravation.

But what does the team think?

Well, having dabbled in off-shore sailing in the past, and now love being
in the mountains .... higher the better ....... my money goes on spending
time in the mountains. Even headaches from altitude is far better than
buffeting about in a box that never keeps even. Strapped into a galley
trying to cook food for 12, with constant swaying is no fun.

Good on Ellen I say .... but give me a tent for 71 days in preference to a
yacht anytime.

--
sandy saunders @ www.thewalkzone.co.uk

'Mountains or Mole Hills ... summiting still
brings the same excitement'

"sandy saunders" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

To put a cat amongst the pigeons, Whose was the greatest achievement.
Was it Ellen Macarthur with her recent round the world epic or Hugh
Symonds with his round of the British mountains?

I'd go for Ellen simply because of the 24/7 lack of comforts and sleep
depravation.

But what does the team think?

Well, having dabbled in off-shore sailing in the past, and now love being
in the mountains .... higher the better ....... my money goes on spending
time in the mountains. Even headaches from altitude is far better than
buffeting about in a box that never keeps even. Strapped into a galley
trying to cook food for 12, with constant swaying is no fun.

Good on Ellen I say .... but give me a tent for 71 days in preference to a
yacht anytime.

--
sandy saunders @ www.thewalkzone.co.uk

'Mountains or Mole Hills ... summiting still
brings the same excitement'

Yes they're both epics in their own right. The thing is at least HS had a
cosy motorhome for the night but I doubt EM's tri was cosy. As for physical
endurance though it's hard to split them.

[snip]

Quoted message said:

Yes they're both epics in their own right. The thing is at least HS
had a cosy motorhome for the night but I doubt EM's tri was cosy. As
for physical endurance though it's hard to split them.

What chance do you think there is of EM ever being able to complete the
3000ers in the same time as HS?

What chance do you think there is if HS sailing single handed around the
world in the same time as EM?

Who is the more accomplished sailor and who the more accomplished
runner?

Actually I reckon that the completion of the 75 Alpine 4000ers in 52
days during a single season by Martin Moran and Simon Jenkins was a
greater feat of mountaineering endurance than Hugh Symonds completion of
the UKs and Irelands 3000ers in 97 days. This year one of two
highly experienced French Mountain Guides who were attempting to repeat
this particular feat lost their life in a mountaineering accident. There
are quite a few adventurers who have sailed single handed around the
world, and quite a few who have completed the UKs 3000ers, but only two
mountaineers who have completed the 4000ers as a single journey.

But I simply have no idea how to compare these mountaineering feats with
the sailing of, a multi-million pound sponsorship, state of the art,
advanced technological, multi-hull vessel, around the world in record
breaking time. All these feats involved skill, endurance, and some luck,
but only one was also dependent on millions of pounds of infrastructure
and support.

--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
<\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
"> || _`\<,_ |__\ \> | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"

[snip]

Quoted message said:

After your foul mouthed and unfriendly response to my >posting what on
earth
could possibly make you think I have any interest in >anything you might
have
to say?

Don't worry, Bob, I don't and will not use spell checkers for friendly
emails and usenet. This is an informal gathering of (hopefully) like minded
people and we can do away with the suit and ties of the working day.

As for the original question - hard to say who's the best. An argument can
go on for months and years with a debate like this. The only factual point
is - the answer will never be known, coz (spelt wrongly - la la la la laa)
you can't compare like for like.

Personnally, Shackleton's Antartica fires my imagination more then Ellan,
Wainwright and Davd Beckham (snigger).

Jhimmy.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Well, sleep "depravation" got me interested for a while but I suspect he
meant deprivation. Shame.

Damn Spell checks! 🙂

Quoted message said:

--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

bob watkinson said:

To put a cat amongst the pigeons, Whose was the greatest achievement. Was
it Ellen Macarthur with her recent round the world epic or Hugh Symonds with
his round of the British mountains?

I'd go for Ellen simply because of the 24/7 lack of comforts and sleep
depravation.

But what does the team think?

Ellen of course with her auto-piloted GPS navigated craft. OK so she had
to put the sails up and down but I reckon this could have been computer
controlled as well. She could have been at home in her armchair!

The whole think stunk of "me me me" syndrome. I mean what good did it do
the world?

Graham

I am not going there - its wrong to make comparisons as they are
different achievements and to do so would mean a risk of slagging off
one of them which is unfair.

Well done both of them..

Richard Webb

Graham Jones said:

I mean what good did it do the world?

If that's your criterion, what are you doing on Usenet?

--
Stop ID cards and the Database State
http://www.no2id.net/

Graham Jones said:

bob watkinson said:

To put a cat amongst the pigeons, Whose was the greatest achievement. Was
it Ellen Macarthur with her recent round the world epic or Hugh Symonds with
his round of the British mountains?

I'd go for Ellen simply because of the 24/7 lack of comforts and sleep
depravation.

But what does the team think?

Ellen of course with her auto-piloted GPS navigated craft. OK so she had
to put the sails up and down but I reckon this could have been computer
controlled as well. She could have been at home in her armchair!

The whole think stunk of "me me me" syndrome. I mean what good did it do
the world?

Was it billed as a benefit to the world?

But to answer the question, I'd go for Ellen's 'trek' - physically
tougher and more dangerous, I reckon.

--

R
o
o
n
e
y

I have to admit that I'm underwhelmed by the Ellen Macarthur voyage. I
can accept that it was quite a feat, but at the end of the day, she
only knocked a couple of percent off the previous fastest time. Surely
with something like sailing, a few percent here and there is down to
the luck of the weather etc.

druidh said:

I have to admit that I'm underwhelmed by the Ellen Macarthur voyage. I
can accept that it was quite a feat, but at the end of the day, she
only knocked a couple of percent off the previous fastest time. Surely
with something like sailing, a few percent here and there is down to
the luck of the weather etc.

Interesting fact is that Ellen MacArthur had major backup from outside
weather forecasts but the previous holder of the record Francis Joyon
couldn't afford it so did without. The Vendee Globe, the latest
running of which ran concurrently with MacArthur's record attempt, was
completed in record time too. Most of the leading competitors are
making use of advanced routing software that predicts the likely
speeds over differing courses given the forecast winds and currents.

--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

Oh dear, Phil, you've now started to make waves (sic). This software could
now be used for the next Munro record attempt, using the wind behind you on
every mountain.

I can jjust hear all those torrents downloading!

Jhimmy.

Quoted message said:

. Most of the leading competitors are
making use of advanced routing software that predicts the likely
speeds over differing courses given the forecast winds and currents.

--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"