A new completion of the Elterwater Hostel challenge 23 before Tea was logged at the end of the year.
Carlisle-based Adam Armata made a solo unsupported circuit after being defeated by the weather a year earlier. This time, he said, everything went just right.
Adam’s an experienced runner with two Bob Grahams to his name, one of them a winter unsupported round. Interestingly, he chose not to follow the now established route that’s become the norm over the past couple of years, instead taking in a list of summits closer to the first effort by Little Dave and James Harris, and longer, at 60km with 4,500m of elevation.
And delightfully, this wasn’t about racing round or trying to set a record. It was an adventure, the joy of being out in the hills, even diverting to explore a famous film-set. As Adam says, why
cut such a beautiful day short.
Here’s his own account:
I started before 7am. Caught the sunrise on the first summit. Then came the first descent and a surprise: most of the paths had turned into ice rinks. I had to descend off-track through high
grass. Since I promised Lucyna I wouldn’t do anything stupid, I took it nice and slow on the way down. The weather was beautiful – frosty with a light breeze. And so it went, peak after peak. I’m honestly surprised by how much power I have on the climbs right at the start of the new season. It looks like the training with Jacob Snochowski Coaching is definitely heading in the right direction.
Anyone who runs in the mountains knows that descending is “simple” – you just have to let your legs go. Don’t interfere. Unfortunately, on this route and in yesterday’s conditions, I had to “interfere:” quite a bit, meaning I had to brake. As expected, I battered my legs doing that, which meant I couldn’t pick up the pace on the flat sections. Luckily, there were almost no flat sections!
The sunset caught up with me on Fairfield, and from there, itwas just 13km and 500m of gain left. I passed Rydal Cave on the way, so there was no way I wasn’t going to check out how the
cave where they filmed scenes for The Witcher looks at night.
Incredible experience. You could hear every single drop of water falling from above. The echo really adds to the atmosphere.
I made it back to the start after 11 hours and 58 minutes. I had planned for 10 hours, but running in the Lake District in winter doesn’t always go according to plan. Besides, why cut such
a beautiful day short?
These are Adam’s 23: Holme Fell, Wetherlam, Swirl How, Grey Friar, Great Carrs, Cold Pike, Pike o Blisco, Loft Crag, Pike o’ Stickle, Harrison Stickle, Pavey Ark, Thunacar Knott, High Raise, Sergeant Man, Blea Rigg, Silver How, Seat Sandal, Fairfield, Great Rigg, Stone Arthur, Heron Pike, Nab Scar, Loughrigg .
The 23 before Tea route isn’t prescribed; you can chart your own path and choose your own 23 tops but they must be tops which are in the Wainwright guides.
That said, an established route has emerged and this is what the last few record holders have followed: Silver How, Blea Rigg, Pavey Ark, Harrison Stickle, Loft Crag, Pike of Stickle, Thunacar Knott, High Raise, Sergeant Man, Tarn Crag, Calf Crag, Gibson Knott, Helm Crag, Nab Scar, Heron Pike, Stone Arthur, Great Rigg, Fairfield, Hart Crag, Dove Crag, High Pike, Low Pike and Loughrigg.
You can read the history of the challenge here, and if you would like to have a go, in one day or even breaking the route into two or three sections, do let us know and we will arrange to have that “tea” ready for you when you finish!
