A Ramsay Round Success

No, not me! Bill Williamson finally succeeded on the Ramsay Round at the weekend.

He'd had several attempts, the first in 2009 when I'd walked in to the eastern end of the Mamores to wait for him and support him over the final section. In the event he'd given up on the descent from Beinn na Lap and I ended up supporting the other two contenders: Alan Lucker and Will Houghton who succeeded becoming the 54th and 55th completers.

Alan and Will on Binnein Mor. This shot was used as the cover for the Harvey's map for the Ramsay Round.

Bill had a couple more attempts in somewhat poor weather conditions: constant rain and up to 70mph gusts of wind which didn't go well. Last week I received various emails and texts reckoning that the weather was going to be good for the weekend. By Thursday it was on!

Friday morning saw me getting the train to Appleby where Bill and Jean (his wife) would pick me up. However they had forgotten about Appleby Horse Fair and they got stuck in the traffic of horse drawn carts heading to that event so it there was a slight delay before we began heading north.

Usually Bill had used the Rucksack club's hut at South Ballachulish but it was in use this weekend so the base was a B&B at the foot of Glen Nevis which was actually much handier.

The attempt was fairly lightweight, a total of four pacers on the hill plus Jean and myself as "static" support. Unlike the Bob Graham and Paddy Buckley rounds there's no road crossings on the Ramsay, the nearest road being a kilometre from the Loch Treig dam so Jean was going to meet him there and I was going to walk in to Meanach bothy.

Reaching Fort William we headed to the supermarket to get some supplies. As we pulled in to the car park we noticed a camper van with a pair of running shoes propped up on the windscreen. " That looks like Ali's (Welsh) van" Sure enough he was inside. Alan Lucker who was the sole support for leg one over Ben Nevis and the Grey Corries tried to persuade him to join him but Ali wasn't keen having been out on the hill already that day.

At the accommodation it was a matter of biding our time until we needed to drive up the glen to the youth hostel in time for Bill's midnight start. Alan was going to set off a few minutes earlier so that he wouldn't be under pressure keeping up with Bill whilst carrying all the supplies. Finally it was time, some synchronisation of various time pieces and he was off.

Not only are there no road crossings on the round there is very little mobile phone coverage so the first we would know how things were going would be when Bill and Alan arrived at Loch Treig, hopefully around 8am.

My cue to walk in to Meanach would be a text from Jean once she got back to the car at Fersit. This actually made things quite tight timewise as it's about a ten minute walk from the dam then from the accommodation it is around fifteen minutes to the head of the glen and then I reckoned it would take me three hours to get to the bothy. Bill would only take four hours or so to complete the three Munros to the east of Loch Treig so there wasn't much leeway.

When the text came through, it was that Bill was about 15 minutes down on schedule but looking strong. In fact he was very strong and was beginning to pick up time on nearly every ascent. Time to go. I was walking in with Jim Mann who has a very quick winter Bob Graham time against his name. Jim had never been on any of the hills in the area so it was all new to him.

We took a good steady pace in the morning sunshine. There were a couple of showers but they were so light that it wasn't worth stopping to put a waterproof on. Three hours later and we arrived at the bothy. Two minutes later Andy Kitchen the fourth pacer arrived having run from Glen Nevis in 90 minutes - he promptly pulled out half a dozen pot noodles from his sack along with a stove! Scottish fell runners' hill food!

We'd only been there about fifteen minutes when Andy shouted out "They're here!" It turned out to be a false alarm - I think it was a couple recceing the round and they didn't come to the bothy but headed straight for the Mamores. However it was only another five minutes before they did come in to view and there were three of them. Ali had decided to help out on this leg.

Bill, Chris and Ali approaching Meanach bothy

Once inside we got Bill fed and on his way in fifteen minutes, with such few chances to take a breather and sort things out there's no point in rushing. Bill looked strong and remarkably stress free compared to previous attempts. Even though on this occasion the weather was fine, having the bothy as a stop would be really advantageous in poorer weather. Then it was time to go.

Bill getting replenished in the bothy

Time check and then it's away to the Mamores

So in less than an hour of arriving at Meanach we were on our way again. This time I'd got Chris (Armour) and Ali, the leg 2 pacers as companions on the walk out. As we set off there was a heavy shower which lasted about forty minutes, though this was the only real shower we had all day. We could see the group of three making their way up the long north east ridge of Sgurr Eilde Mor. The last I saw was them beginning the descent from that summit, our progress, the distance and the terrain meant that we wouldn't be able to see them again.

The walk out was rather hard as my knee was playing up so Chris and Ali had to keep waiting for me. In the end it took 3 1/2 hours to walk out, I'm sure the other two would have done it in 2  1/2 or less. Then it was a waiting game, a long waiting game.

We decided to head up to the finish line at 10pm - it was unlikely that Bill would get there by that time but it would be a bit ironic if we'd found him there twiddling his thumbs! A few walks up the road and back as the night began to draw in then there was a shout and he came in to sight.

Still running he reached the point where he'd set off and stopped his watch: 22hrs 54 minutes. He'd become the 71st person to complete the round.

The finish, 22:54 and job well done!

Wet and Wild

A long intense day at the weekend. Headed up to Glencoe around Saturday lunchtime via taxi, train and lift (with Chris Armour) to help out with Bill Williamson's Ramsay Round attempt. Despite the forecast being for reasonable weather until the early hours of Sunday morning we got low cloud then heavy rain around Loch Lomond and then most of the way to Glencoe. Things weren’t looking good.

Nothing had been heard of how Bill was going until the support team arrived back from Fersit: “Fifteen minutes down but feeling strong and going well”. So after generous helpings of cake from Wynne, four of us headed out to the ruins at the eastern end of Loch Eilde Mor. The rain had eased but even so it was still full waterproofs as we walked up the track. Surprisingly the wind was very light to non-existant, not good for midges, well good for midges, not good for their supper – us!

An hour and forty minutes later and the ruins were in sight. More clothes on to try and keep warm then it was just a matter of waiting, he was due to arrive at 0210. Several pacings up and down the track later and a set of lights appears. By the time they get to the ruins it is 0245 so he has lost more time. Bill’s quite bright though – there’s slack in the times for the Mamores section.

 Ian and Bill at the ruins at Loch Eilde Mor

Suitably refreshed and we (Bill, Ian Charters and myself) are off up the rough hillside of Sgurr Eilde Mor.  Bill’s line is a rising traverse to meet the path up the south ridge. When we get there I elect to skip this top and meet them at the stream crossing before Binnean Beag. The wind is picking up and by the time I see their lights on the summit the first signs of dawn allow me to see the clouds scudding past. Together again we make good time up the path to the col between the Binnean peaks. My turn to accompany Bill to the summit. The rain makes the quartzite rock very slippery and we both slide a few times. Before too long we are heading back down and heading for the higher Binnean Mor.

Bill prefers the direct approach which looks unlikely to say the least. It’s actually quite straightforward, slightly harder than something like Hall’s fell on Blencathra but not as exposed – well we can hardly see anything to make a call on the exposure! Halfway up Bill finds a camera – so we stuff it in a sack and carry on (later I turn it on, it works and still takes photos!). The ridge suddenly ends around 50m from the summit. No time for photos though as the storm is building. The traverse to the twin topped Na Gruagaichan is much faster than last year but the wind is building in strength.

As we drop into the gap between the two tops, the wind is so strong and gusty that I have to hold on to Bill to stop him getting blown away, Ian is on all fours. We head on over the west top and suddenly the pace drops. Bill has decided it isn’t fun anymore. Down at the col the support team reckon that he can just make it but it takes quite a bit of persuading to get Bill going. Ian and I now head down with half the support while Chris and Karl set off for the next peak to see if the wind is going to pick up or abate. After just a couple of minutes standing around and we are frozen due to our extremely damp state and the wind. Once back down at Mamore Lodge there is hardly any wind at all.

Back at the house being used as a base it is all we can do to wait for news. Eventually we get a call – he’d abandoned after another two peaks with too much running to do in the time left. Luck plays a large part in these rounds and Bill just didn't seem to have any - after weeks of dry fine weather, the weekend of his attempt turns out to be wet and windy. Very impressed with just how far he got in the conditions. With his current level of fitness and better luck with the weather he’ll get round in time.