Black run madness

valleys while making lots of café stops en route. Or are you an on-a-mission-for-the scarier-the-better ski run? Will you only feel satisfied when you have skied every red and black run in your resort, and then some?

Skiing: What he likes/What I like!

With a ski holiday on the horizon, the G-Force and I were discussing what we might enjoy the most during our week away. While I concluded that I’m more of a comfort zone journey snowboarder, the G-Force seems to lean more to the on-a-mission skiing. Maybe it’s a bloke thing. No doubt I’ll find myself following him down some seriously scary routes in the Three Valleys later this month, but I’m hoping he’ll also be content to enjoy a few gentler days with me.

What’s with the ski run colour grading?

Green is for easy

Blue is for easy-to-intermediate

Red is for intermediate to advanced

Black is for advanced to expert.

But now the traditional black gradings of Europe and double-black-diamonds of north America do not necessarily indicate the most difficult terrain. These days you’ll also find yellow or red-diamonds are the new black. For legal reasons, too, some resorts have reclassified some of their toughest pistes as unpatrolled and ungroomed ”ski itineraries”, therefore absolving themselves of skier safety.

Still, black, or black style, are what many skiers and snowboarders aspire to. Whichever ski resorts you’re looking at visiting, blacks are one of the widest categories and runs range from slightly trickier to the real nerve janglers that are for the serious skier only. Here is a guide to great black runs in Scotland, Europe, America and Canada that won’t disappoint. (The G-Force will be taking notes so that we head to these resorts on future trips!)

Tignes, France

Many of the most infamous black ski runs are France. The large resort of Tignes has the distinction of having five great black runs all to itself. The famous Le Vallon de la Sache black run falls 1400m from Le Fornet to Les Brevières. There are conflicting descriptions of its length, ranging from 10km to 19km, but whatever the distance  this is a scary black run. The moguls start near the top and carry on for a long way. By the end of the run, you’re at a fairly low altitude but here icy pistes often add to the woes of the moguls.

Val D'Isere

Val D’Isere, France

Val D’Isere is an amazing ski region – and where you’ll find Face de Bellevarde. This run is as icy and hard-packed as you can get, and only edges and wits that are razor sharp will get you to the bottom in one piece.

Alpe d’Huez, France

Home to the longest black run in Europe, the Sarenne, gives skiers 16km of an adrenaline rush. The run was built as the men’s downhill course for the 1992 Winter Olympics and was used as a race track at the 2009 Alpine World Championships. That’s serious black run stuff!

St Anton, Austria

The Schindlerkar Steilhang is rated a  red diamond and broken red line.Endurance rather than the angle of descent is the tricky factor here. The bumpy run just seems to go on forever. This is a classic and superb fun for experienced skiers.

Jackson Hole

Jackson Hole, USA

Here you’ll find Alta chutes, considered by many to be the biggest and best black run of them all. Don’t let its gentle start fool you. The three runs that combine to make this one biggie are all rated black, and as you descend it becomes more difficult and demanding.

Breckenridge, Colorado

Some 55% of the terrain at Breckenridge, Colorado, is classified black diamond. The area is made up of four resorts, of which three have an abundance of black-rated runs. The one they all want to conquer is the Imperial Bowl, with its double diamond rating. The thin air and bone-chilling winds make it the ultimate challenge for many.

Zermatt, Switzerland

Officially rated a yellow, the Triftji starts with a very difficult approach path, on which you must slide-slip or snowplough. Once on the face, a good bump technique is essential if you are to get down without exhausting yourself for the rest of the day… or even the week!

Glencoe, Scotland

Last but by no means least is the Fly Paper black run at Scotland’s original, and some claim, most exciting, ski resort. Set high up in the outstanding natural beauty of Rannoch Moor with stunning views of the iconic Buchaille Eitive Mhor. (Perhaps you think I’m a little biased, but I love Scotland’s landscape!) The Fly Paper run is the black run that every thrill-seeker aims for.

So many wild landscapes in Scotland

These are:

• The perceived naturalness of the land cover,
• The ruggedness of the terrain which is therefore challenging to cross,
• Remoteness from public roads or ferries
• The visible lack of buildings, roads, pylons and other modern artefacts.

Now the SNH has come up with a Wild Map. (I’m loving this!) Working with a team from the University of leads, SNH, which is the Government’s advisory organisation on the outdoors has mapped Scotland’s wild land.  It’s a first in Europe and should help to protect some of our most spectacular landscapes.

The maps will assist local authorities and other planning bodies to make decisions about development and land use change.

Wilder the better!

The maps will also help the tourism industry to promote Scotland’s wild landscapes to visitors and walkers.

SNH are reported as saying: “The Scottish public views wild land as an important priority. A recent SNH study found that 91 per cent of respondents agree that Scotland’s areas of wild land are important and should be protected.

“Another study found wild land provides even more economic and employment benefit than agriculture and forestry combined.”

The maps use a method developed by the university’s Wildland Research Institute based on work already carried out for the Cairngorms national park. Dr Stephen Carver, a senior lecturer in the department of geography at Leeds, has also worked with the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park on a similar project.

Wild for these wild places in Scotland

Simon Brooks, SNH policy and advice manager, added: “Scotland is famous for its wild landscapes – these maps tell us where the wildest areas are and will help everyone when considering changes in these places. The maps don’t mean changes or development can’t take place in these areas, but they do give local authorities more and better information to base planning decisions on.

“Using the maps and information published today, future work will identify areas of particular high wildness value. This work will build on our earlier work to identify wild land, and will support the Scottish Government’s policy of safeguarding areas of wild land character.”

The map can be seen on the Scottish Natural Heritage website.

Tell me your wildest place in Scotland. I’m having trouble deciding. Torridon mountains, Knoydart, areas of the Cairngorms, my back garden…

But I also adore running on my own (and these days, with Wispa the Wonder Whippet). The chance to focus on my own thoughts or simply clear my mind of anything and take in the views, while setting my own pace, is hard to beat. I don’t really find it hard to motivate myself. My solo running time is the ultimate me-time, away from all the domestic and work stuff, and once I’m out the door and jogging along I love the me-time feeling of it. If I’m tired I can run slower, if I’m feeling good I’ll push harder. There is no-one to dictate my pace and my thoughts are all to myself.

It’s the same with cycling. I enjoy a group outing and the chance to catch up with the chat of my friends, and try to keep up with them on the hills. But I also value a few hours to myself cycling at my own speed and with my own thoughts.

I guess there are some days when a group is great – and other days when going solo is the preferred option.

What do you prefer? Solo running/cycling/walking or exercising in a group?

The agony of the return swim session

I think, in honesty, if I miss even two weekly sessions, the will to return becomes weaker. And as the missed sessions continue so my resolve to return becomes weaker again. And then I get to the point where I simply can’t face the hell of returning to a sporting session that I have been absent from for too long. I know it will hurt physically to get back in there and keep up with my triathlon peers.

What is all the more frustrating is that some two months ago I was doing well at my swimming. I had improved a great deal in the previous year and I was even enjoying swimming. A couple of years ago I could never have imagined that I would enjoy a swimming session. But then came Christmas and a cough and chest infection and so the weeks went on when I didn’t swim. By the time I was well enough to return I required a huge dose of mental willpower to get myself to the pool. And for weeks I found excuses about not returning.

Then, on Tuesday, I knew I’d be cycling past Maryhill swimming pool when returning from a work shift at the Daily record. I couldn’t find a good enough reason (not even the weight of my swimming kit in my rucksack) that was persuasive enough NOT to stop in at the swim session. As I approached Maryhill from the city centre I did think about cycling on by, going home to a warm house and a shower, but I knew I’d only be letting myself down.

My brave return to the pool!

So I did the brave thing and went to the session. Even before the warm-up was over I knew I was going to struggle. I was out of breath, spluttering around, suffering painful arm, shoulder and leg muscles and there was always the threat of foot cramp in the next four seconds. But I just had to get on with it – or suffer the humiliation of getting out! I had been in this agonising place before. I knew there would be several weeks of pain before I could feel a little more comfortable in the session. Of course, most of the other swimmers had been swimming for the previous eight weeks and so it made my backwards progress more obvious. So I just got my head down, suffered the increasing pain and burn in my arms and legs and got on with it.

The battle going on in my head to “just get through another length, and another length” grew louder and louder. The desire to throw the towel in grew stronger and stronger. But my mental resolve managed to get me through the session and I was delighted when the coach suddenly reported “cool down”.

As I crawled in a dizzy state to the shower after the session, the Mighty Vickster empathised. She too had missed a few swimming sessions and was feeling the pain of her return session. She’s a far better swimmer than me but it was comforting to know I wasn’t the only one with burning, weak arms.

To add to the agony, I then had a four mile bike ride home. It wasn’t pleasant but I made it. And, hey, did I feel brilliant when I got home? Tired, but mentally high. I’d cycled seven miles into town, three miles to swimming, completed a fairly tough swim session and cycled another four miles home. I’d done the return swim and finally got over that hurdle. I am now determined to keep the swimming going.

And what about the cycling?

It’s just a shame I haven’t kept up with my resolve to return to the cycling. It’s another story… but finding myself exhausted after a 70km cycle a couple of weekends ago, after being in great cycling shape during the summer, should have pushed me to get back in my bike saddle more often. It hasn’t though and instead I’ve been running. Maybe I’ll get out on the bike this weekend?!

If you know me…Or you read this blog… you’ll know that I am always on the look out for new outdoors challenges! Just after turning 40 I decided to run my first marathon, the Loch Ness Marathon. A couple of years ago I set a goal of cycling the Bealach Mor Sportive. Last year, I took on my first Olympic distance triathlon in London. And this year I’m thinking of aiming for a long-distance off-road running event.

Walking the Caledonian Challenge

At the back of my mind is an offer via Goretex to join a team running in the epic Transalpine Run. But this seems like a bit of a goal too far for my first year of off-road long-distance events and so I might settle for the Highland Fling.. or perhaps the new off-road marathon being staged this year as part of the annual Caledonian Challenge. Then again, I might do them all!

For many years, teams have taken on the challenging 54-mile trek along the famous West Highland Way in 24 hours across Scotland’s stunning Highland scenery to help raise money for charity. I have blogged about this before.

And the Caledonian Challenge is now open for entries to the event that takes place on June 16/17.

New off-road marathon for Scotland

Added to the main event is the new 26.2 mile run, which organisers are hoping will prove as popular as the 54-mile hike.

There is no doubting that the rising numbers of distance and cross-country runners will be keen to try this new marathon. Claimed as being “more challenging than the 2012 Olympic marathon course”, the Caledonian Challenge will take in some of Scotland’s most breathtaking Highland scenery. Entrants can choose to run the course in less than six hours or opt to hike the hills in less than 12 hours.

The marathon course details

Hot off the press is the details of the marathon route. Runners will follow the West Highland Way up out of Glen Nevis and along a stunning upland plateau before dropping back down into the remote and picturesque old fishing hamlet of Kinlochleven, back at sea level. The 26 milers will then take a diversion from the West Highland Way before they get to the Checkpoint, which is just over the midway point.

Having paused to undertake any necessary running repairs, participants will embark on the most challenging section of course. They will undertake a punishing, 550m continuous ascent from sea level up to the top of the Devil’s Staircase. Here they may wish to pause for breath and take in the stunning view of the distinctive summit of Buchaille Etive Mor opposite, in Glencoe, and Rannoch Moor stretching away into the distance.

They will also be able to see in the distance the finish line of Glencoe Mountain Centre. It looks within touching distance but is actually another 6 miles away.

Participants will drop sharply down the zigzags of the Devil’s Staircase and follow an old military road past the iconic Kingshouse hotel before a final sting in the tail: A two-mile gentle ascent up to the finish line and a well-deserved Caledonian Marathon medal and slap-up finish-line supper.

Every three miles or so, there will be a drink station where runners can replenish their fluid levels. Are you up for the challenge?

Taking up the challenge

John Mercer, who is events director for the Scottish Community Foundation, which organises the Caledonian Challenge, said: “The Caledonian Challenge is one of the most well-respected events in the UK charity calendar and, as participants have to complete a 54-mile course in 24 hours, it really is a big challenge that requires months of training and teamwork to complete.

“However, because of the length of the course, we have not seen many endurance athletes or charity runners opting to run it in previous years. Therefore, we’ve decided to create a brand new 26-mile course for these people.

“We hope that this will encourage more athletes to enter the 2012 event and tackle what promises to be the most stunning and challenging marathon in the whole of the UK this year.”

The Caledonian Challenge is one of the major fixtures on the UK’s fundraising calendar, regularly attracting more than 1000 entrants and raising £1 million every year for a range of charities and community projects. The event is open to teams of four to six people and participants must pledge a minimum of £400 each for charity by the deadline of March 31, although early bird discounts are also available to entries submitted by February 14.

More information about the event and how to enter can be found on the website.

Romy, her husband Wes and baby Ayden

Here is what Romy has planned for her fitness programme this year:

“My last proper triathlon race season was 2008, when I claimed some podium places, completed a couple of duathlons and Olympic triathlons, and ran the Glasgow Women’s 10K in 41m08s. After that came an injury and a baby. But now I am back – and racing again.

“There is a part of me that would get up at 6am again every day. I would swim, bike and run and throw in some core and strengthening work. I would race at every possible opportunity and make my body the temple it once used to be. But, hell no, at least not now.

Romy has a change of focus

“Not only did the time off racing make me find another beautiful hobby (painting – see www.romybeard.com for results), but I also had the opportunity to take a step back and see that really, all of the above is a little bit crazy, and that there are other things in life that I enjoy and want to be doing, such as having a lie in on a Saturday morning, getting out for walks at the weekend with my husband and son, go shopping and drink cocktails on a Saturday night.

“So how am I going to keep doing that and at the same time satisfy my hunger to compete? The plan is to go back to what I started with, and what I enjoy best: running. Indeed, when I look back on my 2008 race season, it’s that 10K that sticks in my mind as the highlight, along with the “smell” of a dream-come-true sub 40min 10K. (For those that don’t know, the Holy Grail for women 10k runners is a sub 40-minute 10K!)

The story of Romy’s life of running

“I started running in 2001 in my first year at university, initially to lose weight but then I found I enjoyed it and joined a running club. I took part in cross-country races, and moved on to longer distances. In 2003 I ran a sub 3h30mins marathon (another Holy Grail for women runners!) and a 43-minute 10K on the back of three runs a week…and one of those was a long run with a hangover!

“So the plan for 2012 is to have a tough goal, but one that I feel that I can achieve: get back to my 10K PB. (And perhaps do a little sprint tri along the way? Or maybe afterwards, as a reward?)

“Here is my set of rules that will see me race, have a social and family life, paint, stay injury free, and be happy. (These rules may be revised at a later date.)

Romy’s rules for achieving her fitness goal

• Speed not distance. Of course, I need to be able to run for a certain period of time and hold the pace, but the plan is not to do long hours and miles without a purpose. Instead, I will focus on getting my legs used to their speed again, do intervals sessions and hammer it home until I can keep it up for longer. And what better way to achieve this than to join the local running club (Bellahouston Road Runners) and push myself hard during at least one session a week, ideally intervals or hill reps. There’s nothing like a bit of healthy competition!

• Quality not quantity: For the moment, I will keep runs to twice a week (unless I feel the legs can hold more). If I feel the need to do something more, I will cross train by hopping on the bike or going for a walk with the boys.

• Mud not tarmac: Do as much off road running as possible, so I use different muscles in my feet and I am not doing the same movement on hard ground, which might see the injury come back. Do short XC and other off-road races, which tend to be short and sweet and family friendly since many of them are on Saturday afternoons.

• Yoga: Do at least one hour of yoga a week, if not more, to keep my muscles nice and relaxed, and to stay strong and injury free.

• Limit races to once a month – so I have free weekends to spend with my new little family, and stay focused and don’t just race for the sake of it! For every event that I enter, I will ask myself if it fits in with this goal. The Polaroid 10K Series in May/June may be an exception to that as they’re during the week and count more as training runs and working on strategy/pacing.

• Do the Pollok Park run every couple of months to keep track of progress (and, no, this doesn’t count as a race!). It’s free and it’s 5k.

• Get back to the ideal race weight. This one is on hold for now… I am back at my pre-pregnancy weight and don’t want to deliberately tamper with that until May when the baby is one. I need to focus on building up strength and power, but I also know that losing those extra 2-3 kilos will also see me lose minutes in a 10K.

“The main prizewinner will be the Great Scottish Glasgow 10K in September where I can compare like with like. The Glasgow Women’s 10K will be a nice milestone though, and will show me how much work I’ve got left to do.”

Romy will keep us updated with her 2012 running progress.

Climbers Dave McLeod and Andy Turner at St John's head, Orkney. Pic credit: Lukaz Warzecha.

At 1150ft, St Johns Head on Hoy is the tallest sea cliff in the UK.  A route called the Long Hope was first climbed in 1970 by climber and poet Ed Drummond together with Oliver Hill.  They took seven days to climb the cliff, sleeping on ledges and in hammocks along the way.  Forty years later, top Scottish climber Dave MacLeod and his climbing partner Andy Turner set out to climb the cliff in a single day.

To be honest, you rarely hear of Dave McLeod doing anything other than extraordinary. And if you take a look at the trailer film of his attempt to free climb the sea cliff you’ll realise that this climb is as extraordinary as, well, normal! For Dave!

Next month, Dave and Andy will be revealing the details of their epic climb at a GORE-TEX sponsored Royal Geographical Lecture. The lecture takes place in London on February 7 and guests will no doubt  be wowed by the story of this first free ascent of the Long Hope route on St John’s Head, which Dave, who is Gore sponsored, and Andy completed last year.

The climbers will give an insight into the physical, psychological and logistical preparation required to capture this route, as well as explaining a few of the challenges en route.  You can look forward to tales of dubious rock, furious fulmars and a mind-blowing finale!

The lecture, which is also being supported by GORE-TEX® brand partner Mountain Equipment and specialist retailer Cotswold Outdoor, will be followed by a special screening of the Long Hope film presented by Filmmaker Paul Diffley/Hot Aches Productions.  The film contrasts the challenges of Drummond’s first ascent and also follows him as he makes a pilgrimage back to St John’s Head to look upon the route one last time.

The film has already won the People’s Choice Award at Kendal Mountain Film Festival last year and the Royal Geographic Society will be a special place to see this for the first time.

Tickets for the event cost £12 and are available from Dave MacLeod’s blog.

* I’m hoping that this talk might find its way to Scotland in the near future

The problem with cycling is that your hands stay mainly still while the cold air and wind whips over them. I can usually manage to keep the rest of my body warm with clothing layers and because  I tend to be working quite hard at the pedals so my body generates enough heat to keep my body, arms and legs warm. My feet do get cold, too, but less than my hands. I deliberately bought cycle shoes a size too big so that I can wear two pairs of thick socks. I also put wind and rain proof cycle shoe covers on over the top.

But on Saturday while out for a fab group cycle with the Glasgow Triathlon Club on the southside of the city I came up with a fantastic warm hands solution: My skiing mitts. These are no ordinary mitts. These are furry Barts ski gloves gifted to me for Christmas by the G-Force. The Christmas before he had given Little Miss Outdoors a pair of furry ski gloves and I have talked and raved about them so much that this year he found an adult-sized pair for me.

The gloves are fleecy on the inside and mega furry on the outside. They are sooo warm and although they do look very ridiculous while cycling they did solve the problem of cold hands. The wind just seemed to fly over the top of the fur gloves and my hands stayed warm for the entire three to four hour outing.

The other great thing about the gloves is that because they are soft they allowed me to feel for the gear levers and manage changing gears without any hassle. I know some people also swear by the Lobster Claw style cycling gloves but I don’t have spare cash for these just now – and I like the idea of doubling up my kit for cycling and skiing. If the gloves gave a few people a laugh on Saturday morning then all the better!

Andy is 45 and married with a six-year-old daughter. He lives in Huddersfield West Yorks and spends his days working for Morrisons as a senior manager. He claims to be pretty ordinary and doesn’t have a set keep-fit routine or a special fitness style diet. But he does like sporting challenges.

In 2010 he suddenly became hooked on cycling and decided to cycle from his home to Gibraltar. This amounted to 1,794miles in 16 days. That’s more than 110 miles per day.

He says: “I hadn’t really been into cycling until in 2010 when I suddenly got the cycling bug while watching James Cracknell’s  Cross Continent. James cycled from the UK to North Africa and I thought this seemed brilliant. Added to this, I became hooked on hearing about Mark Beaumont and his world cycling achievements.

“And so I decided to set myself my own cycling challenge. That’s when I headed off for just over a fortnight to cycle to Gibraltar. It was amazing.”

His 2010 cycle challenge raised more than £3,000 for charity.

Novice triathlete conquers an Ironman!

In 2011, Andy set himself another awesome challenge, to complete an Ironman event.

He says: “I had never taken part in a triathlon event before. I just went for the biggy straight away and entered the Bolton Ironman. The swimming pat was the toughest and I ended up doing breaststroke for most of the 2.4 miles, which is pretty slow.

“I manage to complete the vent, which included a 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 run, in 15hr 41min, and thankfully before the cut off time of 17 hours!”

So what is Andy planning for 2012?

He says: “This year I’m cycling to Istanbul! The trip is 400 miles longer than the 2010 cycle challenge but I only have one extra day to complete it.” The maths looks bonkers! This will see Andy doing an average of  130 miles per day.

His cycling route will take him through nine countries, including Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy, Albania, Macedonia, Greece and thenTurkey/Istanbul before finally cycling over the  Bridge into Asia.  He will also cycle over the famous Tour de France summit  of Col du Galibier (8,678ft).

Andy sets out on May 19 and plans to raise funds for Save the Children, in partnership with  Morrisons. He hopes to £3,000. Check out his Just Giving page.

The only hurdle still to surmount – apart from a bit of training – is sourcing a bike. Andy says: “I still need a bike! I sold my racer last year because it wasn’t really suitable for touring. I’ll need to come up with a bike plan pretty soon though!”

Glasgow Triathlon Club

Benefits of running in a coached group

Friendship: I have lots of friends in the triathlon club and I might not see them from one club session to the next. Catching up on chat and gossip while warming up and then running reminded me that running is so much easier and more fun when it’s with friends.

Direction: If I run on my own I am most likely to follow one of my favourite routes (oh, I can be so boring!) and well within my comfort zone. I rarely warm up. Running in a coached group offers tuition and direction. The club has a host of great coaches (all volunteers) and last night I was introduced to Clever Jo’s warm up drills, aimed at improving our position while running. The way that you run can have a major impact on how you perform, how fast you go and your energy levels.

Major Tommy then took over the coaching of the rest of the session. If someone was to write down the running reps (repetitions) that we were going to do we might cheat… but when part of a group most people follow the session and find it easier to remain disciplined and motivated.

Performance: Running in a group helps to push you on. I always have someone I am aiming to catch or stay ahead of in each session so that motivates me to keep pushing on. Reps help to improve running speed and if you regularly attend a running session that is progressively tougher you’ll find that your running ability benefits.

A place for everyone: A good group session can accommodate all levels of runners. The tri club sessions can be enjoyed by people of all fitness levels and I had forgotten how all-inclusive our running sessions can be.

Self-esteem and confidence: I can be prone to being a bit blue, especially in the winter, but running outdoors helps to keep me smiling. At last night’s session a couple of the women told me that my running style was good. They even suggested that I run in the same style as The Mighty Vickster, who is a very good tri club athlete indeed. I felt my self-esteem and confidence hugely boosted!

Feeling part of something: Running on your own can be uplifting. I really enjoy heading out for a solo run. But I also love running in a group because you feel part of something bigger. The tri club is more than just exercise and sport. It is a sociable, giving and caring club, and the only club I have remained a member of for so many years!