The Glencoe Skyline 2016
Wow, what an amazing trail running event! Everything from the organisation of the event, the brilliant marshals, the atmosphere across the 3 days to the route of the event itself, it was all just brilliant. I managed to cross the line in just under 12 hours last year and enjoyed every minute.
Going up Curved Ridge
I came into this event in mid September 2016 having learnt so much from July's Lakes Skyline event. I'd done a bit more dedicated hill training, understood much more the importance of hydration and feeding myself and had learnt a valuable lesson in pre race prep.
If you've never been up to Glencoe then the 2 obvious sections of the route to point out straight away are Curved Ridge, a grade III scramble on the Buachaille, and the grade II scramble across Aonach Eagach. The route itself is a brute but these 2 sections in particular are not for the faint hearted. They are properly intense sections of exposed scrambling. Once committed, especially to Aonach Eagach, there is no backing off.
“Aonach Eagach is so narrow and so difficult to escape from once committed. Some sections are extremely exposed.”
The route takes in some of the highest, most remote and most challenging terrain the UK has to offer. It truly is one of the wildest parts of the UK were the weather can change from benign to extremely severe in moments and if you're not prepared you'll get properly caught out.
If you have the right mountain skills to get past the vetting process and be selected to take part then you are in for a real treat. Plus, as a bonus, in 2017, you get to rub shoulders with some of the worlds elite runners with the likes of Kilian Jornet, Jonathan Albon, Tom Owens, Jasmin Paris, Emelie Forsberg and Mira Rai all competing.
