Ring of Steall skyrace - September 21st 2019

The Ring of Steall Skyrace has been my main goal for the year. At 29km and 2500m ascent over rough mountain terrain, with some scrambling sections this was always going to be a tough race. In contrast to a traditional fell race, this race is part of a huge event – ‘Skyline Scotland’ – with seven races over 3 days, big sponsors, cash prizes, and a social media frenzy. 

 

At the start

It is a testament to the power of marketing, plus perhaps the attraction of a fully marked route, that over 700 stood on the start line having paid £99 (myself included), whilst 136 started the Arrochar Alps race where the entry fee was a mere £10. Looking around at the start it seemed like a younger field than a fell race, with the vast majority seeming to be in their twenties or thirties. I definitely helped to push the average age up!

And we're off

 It was a beautiful cloudless day when we set off from Kinlochleven. The first couple of kilometres of the route headed out along the West Highland Way through the forest before turning up over open hillside towards the ridge between Sgurr an lubhair and Am Bodach. The path became increasingly steep - sometimes muddy, sometimes rocky. With such a big field, it was pretty much single file all the way up to the col which I reached after about an hour and twenty minutes. Here the views opened up and we had a panorama of the entire route – Breathtaking! We turned left along the ridge to the first top - Sgurr an lubhair.

View from the col

 

Ascent to Sgurr an lubhair

Then next stage follows the ‘Devil’s ridge’, a narrow arete descending first and then ascending and crossing the top of Stob Coire a'Mhail. Although quite exposed, it was easier than I had expected, the path avoiding some of the difficulties on the crest of the ridge, with only a couple of places that really felt like scrambling. Then onward to the first Munro of the day, Sgurr a’Mhaim 1099m.

Devil's ridge

 From Sgurr a’Mhaim it was the first big descent of the day – 1000m down to checkpoint 3 in Glen Nevis and the race’s only food and drink station. The descent started on scree then changed further down to a bit of everything – rock, bog, grass. It was hard trying to keep a decent speed on the descent, I felt my focus waning and paused to eat a couple of gel blocks. With the support point in sight I turned my ankle. Ow! But fortunately, there was no sprain and I could walk it off in a couple of minutes.

On the descent to Glen Nevis

 There was a bit of a queue at the support point but I was soon on my way again following the river Nevis a few kilometres. It was easy running here but my legs felt trashed after the long descent. We forded the river just beyond the spectacular Steall falls – wet feet! Then came the second big ascent up to the second Munro, An Gearanach. This was hard going; I felt I was struggling and it was definitely the low point for me. Those around me didn’t seem to be faring any better either. In the shadow of the mountain it felt chilly in the wind, and the climb seemed to go on for ever – this was definitely type 2 fun – and the only thing to do was to tough it out.

River Nevis crossing

Eventually I reached the summit at 982m. What a relief! I was back in the sun and I rested for a minute or two, ate some food and took in the amazing views. Next came the rocky ridge of An Garbhanach which, although straightforward, seemed more of a scramble than the Devil’s ridge earlier in the day and it was good to concentrate on this rather than thinking about being tired. The route continued along the ridge, down and then up again over Stob Coire a'Chairn. 

View from An Garbhanach

One more Munro to go – Am Bodach, 1032m. It looked quite dramatic from Stob Coire a'Chairn but in reality was not so bad with only about 200m re-ascent and a bit of easy scrambling on the rocks at the top. 

On Am Bodach

It was good to know that all the ascent was done for the day now, downhill all the way from here although still quite a long way back. First down to the col and then back down the same way as we came up in the morning. The descent went well – if not exactly fast. I’d taken a gel at the col and another roughly half way down, and they seemed to do the trick. I even managed to overtake a couple of others on the way down.

Descent to Kinlochleven

 Finally, I was down on to the road and although the last few hundred metres into Kinlochleven seemed surprisingly long I was cheered on by Hanne here on the final stretch, and then it was around the corner to the finish. I’d done it. 7:14:28, slower than I’d hoped and an incredible 4 hours slower than Nadir Maguet’s winning time, but still a reasonably respectable placing – 434^th of 691 finishers (742 starters) overall, 9^th out of 20 in my class.

Finish line!

 Time for food, a shower and a rest. What a superb route, and what incredible weather. We had been blessed with blue skies and stunning views all day. But a tough day out!