The Legend of the Kingdom of the Fanes

While Dorothy and I were on holiday in the Dolomites, we went for a walk by the river near St. Vigilio di Marebbe, where we were staying. Alongside the path were information boards telling the Ladin, Legend of the Fanes. The noticeboards were in German and Italian and whilst I struggled to understand them, I understood enough to make me want to find out more.

Two sections of the noticeboards

The legend was gathered and transcribed around the end of the 19^th Century by Karl Felix Wolff, the author of the collection of legends titled “The Pale Mountains”. He gathered together a number of fables that had previously been passed on orally. In order to gather together stories that sometimes contradicted each other Wolff did make some additions. However scholars feel that originally they were about the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age.

In 2005, a film about the saga was produced, entitled “Le Rëgn de Fanes”, which won Best International Score prize at the Garden State Festival in 2008.

Wood Carving at the beginning of the walk

Below is my version of the legend based on sources described at the end of this blog:

The Legend of the Fanes

The Fanes lived in the Dolomites and their prosperity was due to a secret alliance with the Marmots. Only the King of the Fanes new about the pact and, in exchange for protection and care, the Marmots supplied their knowledge of natural resources and their digging skills, which were crucial for the kingdom's economy.

The day came for the princess of the Fanes to wed a foreign prince. On the wedding day, as tradition commanded, the secret of her people was revealed to her: their ancient alliance with the marmots. Ashamed that such humble creatures were their allies, the princess resolved to say nothing to her husband and to gift him the kingdom. Thus the foreign prince became King of the Fanes and she became the Queen.

One day while out hunting, the new king captured an eaglet. Suddenly an eagle that could spit fire from its beak and had golden talons, descended upon him. The eagle said “Return my child, and I will make you the mightiest man in the Land of Mountains. However, when you have two children, one shall be mine.” The king agreed, and the pact was sealed, unbeknownst to the queen!

In time, on Mount Nuvolau twin daughters were born to the Fanes queen. They were Dolasilla, fair as the sun, and Lujanta, radiant as the moon. As per the pact, the queen entrusted Lujanta to the Marmots and received a snow-white baby marmot in return. At the same time, the king sent a servant to Mount Nuvolau with the task of delivering a princess to the Eagles, but the servant was overwhelmed by the beauty of the marmot and took it instead of Dolasilla.

When the servant returned to the castle he heard a terrible cry. It was Spina de Mul, a sorcerer who can assume the aspect of a half-rotten mule carcass and cannot be wounded by weapons. The servant sought refuge among the Splutes, the border guardians.

All of a sudden, from the darkness, a young man approached, declaring: “I come from the land of the Duranni, seeking adventures to earn a warrior’s name”. The guardians, replied sceptically: “If you defeat Spina de Mul, you will win your name, but his scream will kill you first.”

A sound like a thousand stones was heard and Spina de Mul arrived. The youth hid behind a rock and hurled stones with all his might, striking the sorcerer again and again until Spina de Mul cried, “Who are you? What is your name?” The youth answered, “I am a Duranno, and my name will be born with my warrior’s fame.”

“From this day you are Ey de Net - Eye of the Night - for you struck me in darkness”, replied Spina de Mul, and fled.

As he left, he dropped the Raietta, the stone he had stolen from the Fanes that brings light to the darkness and gives hope. Ey de Net decides to give the stone to the baby Dolasilla, declaring “She is the princess of the Fanes. The stone is hers by right.”

Years passed by and Dolasilla grew into a beautiful young woman. One day the king met a minstrel singing of Aurona, a splendid underground kingdom rich in gold and gems. Enchanted, the king set out with Dolasilla to seek the treasure. They reached the Silver Lake, where they found precious jewels and a mysterious silver box. Suddenly three dwarfs emerged from a cave, weeping and begging the king not to take the treasure. He refused and gave the box to Dolasilla. However, pity moved her, and she returned the box to the dwarves.

Smiling again, the dwarfs gave her ermine fur and magic powder. From the lake emerged a casket containing a silver bow and arrows, infallible weapons that always struck their target, and the raw material to forge an invulnerable armour and to make several silver trumpets. Thanks to these gifts, Dolasilla became a legendary archer, winning victory after victory for the kingdom and Dolasilla was triumphantly crowned with the Raietta.

After a great battle, Dolasilla crossed the field among the fallen, lying like cut flowers. Among them was the body of a young prince. She had seen him smile during the fight; now he lay lifeless, his armour adorned with red poppies, pierced by her arrows. Sorrow seized her heart; she gathered the poppies and bid him farewell with a kiss.

That night the prince appeared in a dream, holding thirteen silver arrows and singing a strange song: “You are daughter of the marmots - forget the battles.” At dawn, Dolasilla asked her parents what it meant and for whom she must truly fight. They gave no answer and her destiny as a warrior was set.

Even though he had lost the Raietta a long time ago, rage still consumed Spina de Mul. To reclaim the stone, he sought allies. None would war against the Fanes - until he reached the land of the Duranni and heard of an undefeated hero: Ey de Net - the very youth that he was once defeated by, and that he had once named. Spina de Mul inflamed Ey de Net with tales of the king’s riches and of Dollasila’s beauty. Ey de Net vowed: “I will fight with you against the Fanes - but Dolasilla must be spared and taken from the battle unharmed.”

The Duranni lined up for war with their allies. At their head stood Ey de Net; beside him, Spina de Mul, firing arrows from a faerie bow. At the sound of trumpets the Fanes appeared, led by Dolasilla in her white armour. Ey de Net was enchanted, staring at her even as battle raged. Spina de Mul, treacherous, loosed an arrow at Dolasilla, who fell. The Fanes, seeing their princess struck, hurled themselves furiously at the enemy while Dolasilla was borne away. The Duranni were defeated, and Ey de Net and Spina de Mul fled, blaming each other. Ey de Net accused the sorcerer of betraying the pact; because of him, Dolasilla was wounded and the Fanes had triumphed.

After the battle, Ey de Net wandered in despair. His chance to see Dolasilla again seemed lost. He sought the Anguane, who know past and future. One told him that Dolasilla pined for the warrior who had, in childhood, given her the Rajetta, and that she was fated to vanish with her kingdom. To learn how to protect her, Ey de Net went to see an old man called Vögl delle Velme who in turn, sent him to seek Tsicuta, a sister of Spina-de-Mul’s

For seven days and nights Ey de Net waited, until Tsicuta appeared - beautiful, cruel and hating the King of the Fanes for betraying her love. She had been betrothed to the Fanes’ king before he married the Fanes’ queen. Tsicuta revealed the future: “The kingdom of the Fanes is condemned, and you cannot save it. You may guard Dolasilla with a special shield, but you cannot prevent her from meeting her destiny.”

While Ey de Net wandered, Dolasilla lay wounded at the castle. The king sought counsel on how to protect her and was told to obtain a special shield made by the dwarfs of Atemar. He brought the shield, but it was so heavy no one could bear it - until a youth arrived and raised it with one hand. It was Ey de Net. The king made him Dolasilla’s squire, and they became inseparable.

Ey de Net went to the king to ask for Dolasilla’s hand; the king scornfully refused, caring only to enlarge his realm. He had struck a bargain with the Caiutes to the South: he would give them dominion over the Fanes in exchange for the riches of the subterranean kingdom of Aurona. To keep Dolasilla from defending her people, the king banished Ey de Net, because Dolasilla had sworn not to fight without him and the protective shield that only he could carry.

Following this treacherous pact, the enemies of the Fanes readied their attack. Only Dolasilla could save her people, yet she had pledged not to fight without her beloved squire.

Far away, Ey de Net, tormented by dark thoughts, learned among the Salvans that Dolasilla had finally decided to take up arms again, and was enraged at her broken promise. Tsicuta goaded him, but a Salvan secretly advised him to seek the Mjanines, the water nymphs, who revealed that Dolasilla was about to die. Ey de Net hastily mounted a horse to go and save her.

At dusk, heavy-hearted, Dolasilla visited the Salvan acquaintance of Ey de Net and found out that he was coming to save her. At dawn, on the way home, she met thirteen scruffy children with silver bells on their ankles; they pawed at her and begged. Frightened, Dolasilla handed them her thirteen enchanted arrows, not knowing they were demons sent by Spina de Mul. Back at the castle, she saw her breastplate had turned dark..

Before resuming the war, Dolasilla had received a warning from the dwarfs of the lake: if her armour ever lost its white colour, she must not fight. Ignoring the warning in order to save the kingdom, the princess donned the now dark armour beneath a cloak, and the Rajetta shone on her brow. Trumpets sounded as the clash began, and at noon, the thirteen enchanted arrows struck her. With Ey de Net’s name upon her lips, Dolasilla died.

The King of the Fanes, waiting in hiding, learned that his daughter was dead and that he would have neither the kingdom nor the promised riches. Remorse and grief turned him to stone - into the rock overlooking Falzarego Pass.

The Queen mourned Dolasilla with the survivors when a radiant maiden appeared: Lujanta, the twin once given to the marmots, who recovered her sister's bow and arrows and, thanks to her armour and her obvious courage, repelled the invaders, making them believe that Dolasilla had been resurrected.

Lujanta told her mother the Queen, to repent for betraying the pact with the marmots and for making a foreigner king of the Fanes. Only by renewing the pact could the kingdom be reborn. The Queen agreed and descended into the underground kingdom of the Marmots, guided by Lujanta, to prepare for the realm’s return and to lead her people to safety in the tunnels beneath Lake Braies.

Even today, it is said that on a full moon night on Lake Braies, the queen and Lujanta can be seen rowing in a black boat, waiting for the sound of the sacred silver trumpets that will proclaim the redemption and resurrection of the Kingdom of the Fanes.

What Fanes looks like today

Sources

A lot of work has been done by Adriano Vanin, uncovering and explaining the Legend of the Fanes. He created a website at www.ilregnodeifanes.it. Unfortunately, something seems to have happened to the site. However, thanks to The Internet Archive, it can still be found here.

I have also relied heavily on this telling of the story on Substack. This includes some very nice Art Nouveau pictures.

Glaramara

Glaramara is a mountain in the Cumbrian Lake District, about three kilometres south of Seatoller in Borrowdale. I was recently leading a walk on this mountain for HF Holidays. We were based at the HF Holidays' house near Portinscale. It was wet and windy on this walk and writing about it provides me with the opportunity to talk about: keeping the group warm, navigation and pace.

We set off from Seatoller Car Park, walked east along the road and then south up the north ridge of Glaramara. This is a lovely grassy ridge that becomes more and more rocky higher up. The forecast was for strong winds of about 35mph on the summits and lots of rain. As we ascended the wind became stronger and we climbed into the base of a low cloud.

I found a rocky buttress that we could get behind to get out of the wind and we all stopped for a snack. Given that I knew it would get colder and wetter the higher we went, I took the opportunity to put on another fleece underneath my waterproof jacket and to put on my waterproof overtrousers. I encouraged everyone else to do the same.

Most people chose not to. With quite a bit of ascent still to come, they were probably thinking that they'd get too hot. Later on, we had to hang around in the cold while people grabbed a quick snack or went to the loo and you could see that people were getting cold and wanting to move on. This was fine as we did soon move on and everybody warmed up.

Keeping the group warm.

Once it becomes cold and wet, people are reluctant to take off a waterproof jacket, put on a jumper, fleece or warm coat and then put their waterproof back on. Sometimes, once it gets very wet and windy, people are even reluctant to put on their waterproof overtrousers (rain pants if you are from North America). Putting on overtrousers can take a long time without a zip down the side or if your balance isn't great. So I normally try to encourage people to do this before we get into the really bad weather.

Two recent experiences come to mind. We had stopped for lunch on the summit of Meall Mhor in Glencoe. I looked across Loch Linnhe and I could see some bad weather coming. I pointed this out to people and asked them to put on an extra layer and all their waterproofs before it arrived.

Once the weather arrived everyone was grateful and later said how much they enjoyed being 'mothered' and told what to do. I think a lot of people like that on a guided walk. A big difference from taking out 'clients', as you might if you were running a course.

The other experience was on the way up Bidean nam Bian. We'd ascended Coire nan Lochan onto Gearr Aonach and were on our way to the top of Stob Coire nan Lochan. You need to use your hands as well as feet for the last few metres and I could tell that the minute we got to the top the wind and rain would hit us.

I stopped the group next to a crag, out of the wind and just below the summit. I put my overtrousers on, another fleece underneath my waterproof jacket, gloves and a woolly hat. I asked the rest of the group to do the same. At this point I realised that some people did not have all the gear that they had been asked to bring.

When booking an HF holiday, guests are sent a link to a booklet that tells them what to bring. This includes: 

• Waterproof and windproof jacket
• Comfortable clothing (jeans & waterproof capes are not suitable)
• Mid-layer(s) to keep you warm. Fleeces make a good choice
• Waterproof overtrousers
• Gloves and a warm hat

Unfortunately, some people don't believe that they might need all these things as it is the summer. Either that or they don't read the booklet! We can remind people that they need this gear at the beginning of the holiday but that's not much good if they didn't pack it!

I lent out two pairs of spare gloves and a buff and we continued to the top of Stob Coire nan Lochan. Because of the weather and the fact that some people were not properly equipped, I decided not to continue with the walk to the summit of Bidean nam Bian and we descended instead into Coire Gabhail (aka The Lost or Hidden Valley).

The next day quite a few people from my walk as well as others went shopping for more gear.

There are two obstacles to making sure that people are warm enough:

Firstly, they have to have more clothing in their rucksacks. We ask people before they start out for the day if they have these things but short of having a kit inspection you can't be certain. I always carry spare gloves and a couple of buffs that can double up as hats.

Secondly, they have to be willing to put the clothing on. You really have to find a way to shelter someone from the wind and rain to do this. I always try to stop before it gets bad but you can look for a rock or crag with space out of the wind or make a group huddle around someone.

Alternatively you take a spare jacket that they can put on over their waterproofs. Many leaders carry a Primaloft belay jacket. These are still 70% effective when wet and are quite heavy. Especially if you are already carrying one for yourself. I carry a Blizzard Survival Jacket. These are light, pack up very small and you can just put them over the top of someone. I also carry a couple of £1 ponchos although these are practically useless if it's windy unless you find a way of securing them.

If someone is incapacitated all HF leaders carry a survival shelter that the group can sit in and wait for help. I also take a Blizzard Blanket. See my previous blog on this subject.

Navigation

Once we'd reached the top of Glaramara, I got the compass out of my bag and took a bearing to take us to Allen Crags. This involves weaving between rocky mounds and descending and re-ascending small valleys over rocky, stony, wet terrain. Consequently you can't realistically walk in a straight line. Sometimes you are on a path but sometimes not. The compass will keep you going in the right direction but in the mist and cloud it's hard to choose the best route.

Having my smart watch with the path marked on it was really useful. You could see whether the path was to your left or to your right and slowly pick your way back to it. I estimated how long it would take to reach a significant feature that was just over half way - High House Tarn (a small lake about 50m by 30m) but that time passed and there was no sign of it. I got my phone out and used the OS App to see where I was. Nearly there.

So useful to have the GPS on the watch and the phone. In the old days, I would have pressed on nervously until I came to the tarn. I need more enough practice to get better at estimating my pace in these conditions.

Pace

Which brings me onto my third point. The slow progress in the mist and on this terrain meant that rather than visit Sprinkling and Styhead Tarns, it would be better to head straight down by the quickest route. We arrived about 5 minutes before the bus was due to pick us up.

It just goes to show how much mist, rain and wet stony terrain affect the pace of the group.

Everybody said that they'd had a great day. I certainly did. This was despite the fact that they'd got a bit wet and cold and not seen anything much. It was a great adventure! 

The Snow Line

I recently completed a Mountain Training Association Weather Workshop run by the Meteorological Office and I wanted to write about something that was completely new to me: Thickness Lines and in particular, the Snow Line.

Thickness lines can be found on Surface Pressure Charts (aka synoptic charts). These are the charts that have isobars on them. Isobars are lines that join up points of equal pressure at sea level. Also displayed on these charts are weather fronts. These will usually lead to precipitation of some kind.

The atmosphere is three dimensional but the charts are two dimensional. Thickness lines try to address this. They appear as dashed lines. They don't appear on the current chart (https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/maps-and-charts/surface-pressure) but if you look at the chart for 36 hours into the future you will see them. Go to the current chart and click on the timeline below it three times to show the forecast for the weather in 36 hours. Here you can see the thickness lines represented by dashed lines.

At the time of writing this is what the chart looks like:

If you look closely at two of the thickness lines (dashed red lines) you can see that they have numbers on them. In the picture above, there is the number 546 over the Bay of Biscay (just to the North of Spain). There is also the number 528 over Austria. (North of that is another line without a number on. This will be the 510 line. In the South East corner there is another thickness line and this will be the 564 line.)

As you gain altitude, the pressure decreases because there is less atmosphere above you. If you started at sea level and kept gaining height, you would eventually reach a point where the pressure was half that at sea level.

Let's take the 546 line as an example: everywhere along that line, if you went to a height of 5460m, the pressure would be half of what it was at sea level. Everywhere along the 528 line, the pressure at 5280m is half that at sea level.

So if you only count the bit of atmosphere between 'sea level' and 'half the sea level pressure' these lines represent the 'thickness' of the atmosphere. They join up points of equal thickness just as isobars join up points of equal pressure.

Warmer air uses up more space than cold air. So the 546 line shows warmer air than the 528 line. If you coloured in the spaces between these thickness lines you would get blocks of air that were warmer at the bottom of the chart and colder at the top. The thickness lines show the leading edges of these sections of atmosphere. Sometimes they show these coloured regions of air on the TV weather forecasts.

These different regions of warmer or colder air will be blown about by the wind. When isobars are closely packed together it indicates stronger winds so this can lead to rapid changes in temperature. The winds tend to go in the direction of the isobars anticlockwise around areas of low pressure and clockwise around areas of high pressure. (In the northern hemisphere).

If the thickness line crosses closely packed isobars there will be rapid change. If it crosses more widely spaced isobars there will be a slow change. If it runs parallel to the isobars there will be no change as the location of the thickness line will hardly move. This is similar to the way weather fronts move. The movement of the thickness lines helps us understand whether the atmosphere is getting warmer or colder.

The 528 line is also known as the Snow Line. If you are on the warmer side of the Snow Line any precipitation is most likely going to fall as rain. If you are on the colder side, it will most likely fall as snow.

You might argue that a greater than 50% chance of snow isn't much of a forecast but this applies at sea level. If you are higher up in the hills then the likelihood is much greater.

At the time of writing (Mon 15th Jan 2024) look at where the Snow Line (528) will be by midday on Thursday - crossing the middle of France and moving slowly south!

Group Management

Keeping the group together

The other week, whilst leading for HF Holidays in the Cairngorms I gave my usual speech on the first night about sticking together as a group on the walks. After all, that is one of the reasons for booking a guided walking, group holiday. Nevertheless, on the first day, a couple walked off ahead of the group into the mist. I had to shout as loudly as I could to get them to wait. Later, one of them asked why I’d done this and I explained that if there was a problem like a twisted ankle, I needed to be able to communicate with everyone.

I could also have mentioned the effect they are having on the rest of the group but when people are on holiday it’s wrong to spread it on too thickly. The fact is however, that people getting too far ahead is demoralising for the people at the back of the group and it encourages others to go speeding on ahead as well. As the leader, I try to walk at the pace of the slower walkers or to stop frequently to bring the group back together. Having someone walking at a quicker pace in front of you, means that you have to concentrate hard on not speeding up, yourself.

People who like to go ahead of the group often tell me that they have their own pace and they find it difficult to walk more slowly. I have occasionally suggested that they could just wait for a while when we stop and then catch up, rather than going ahead and waiting for us. This would be much better for group morale but no-one has ever tried it. I think it’s because they just like being at the front. You often see couples out for a walk ‘together’ but the bloke is about 50 metres ahead of the woman. What’s that about?

I am happy for people to go ahead so long as they stay in touch with the group and wait if there is a choice of routes but some people struggle with this.

When bringing the group back together it is nice to stop at a place where you have something to say. This might be to talk about a plant or point out something in the distance. This is a good thing in its own right but it also makes it less obvious that you are having to wait for people. It is a lot easier to do this if you are near the front. By waiting until everyone is there before you start talking, not only does no-one miss out but it also stops people from setting off as soon as the back of the group catches up. This is a pet hate of slower walkers – arriving at the end of a talk and the group setting off again immediately - especially if we are going uphill and they are a bit out of breath.

Finishing on time

When you lead a walk for HF Holidays you are given a route card with estimated times for each leg of the route. This is a good idea anyway and is worth thinking about before you set out. You can use a simple formula to generate the estimate. e.g. 4km per hour plus one minute for every 10m of ascent. Obviously this can be adjusted for different groups. It’s worth explaining to the group that you are aiming to avoid a lot of waiting around at the end but that you also do not want to be late back. With practice you can try to set a pace that corresponds with your estimate.

From this formula you can work out how long the walk would take if you walked continuously without stopping. If there is a bus picking you up at a certain time then you can work out how long you have for breaks. I generally subtract 15 minutes from this for contingency and then think about roughly where and when we might take these breaks. I quite like to have a morning break (elevenses), a lunch break and a break in the afternoon where the whole group can sit down together. It’s worth reminding people beforehand to bring something waterproof that they can sit on. It doesn’t have to be a mat. A plastic bag will do.

Sometimes this just works out nicely - say 15 minutes in the morning, 20 mins for lunch and 10 minutes in the afternoon but frequently there is still some spare time left over. There are various tactics that you can use to fill this time. You really don’t want to be hanging about waiting at the end and possibly all getting cold. Of course if there is a café …

The ideal is to stop frequently to talk about the environment: plants, animals, interesting landscape features, geology, history etc. It’s quite nice if the group are chatting well together, to pause before setting off again - maybe after you’ve collected the group together or the group has stopped at a point where the path divides. Just standing there and letting people chat for a while is very pleasant.

Sometimes there are optional extensions. Maybe you can divert from the route slightly to take in a viewpoint or a bird hide?

Things are more difficult in wet or cold weather. People don’t really want to hang about but you need to persist because you know that they’ll just be waiting around at the end if you don’t use up some time now.

There are more underhand tactics of course. For example: if there are lots of gates and stiles, you can speed the group up by letting them get a bit more strung out. This way queues do not build up at each stile. Alternatively you can keep everyone together and create these queues!

If you need to speed the group up, it is worth doing things together e.g. getting everyone to stop for a drink at the same time, suggesting that we all put our waterproofs on together when it starts raining, or all taking them off at the same time. Of course you can fail to do this. Everyone will stop at different points and have to be waited for.

Going to the toilet

HF did a survey a few years ago to see what people’s top two pet hates were. One was leaders not knowing group members’ names. Because guests on HF Holidays usually sign up for which walk they will be doing the night before or in the morning, you can have a list of everyone’s names before you set out. If you run through these with the group at the start of the walk it helps you (and the rest of the group) put names to faces. Because you have the list in your pocket you can take it out and remind yourself who is who, as you go along and ask individuals for a reminder if necessary. This is harder for the rest of the group because they don’t have a list.

Half the fun of leading a hike is getting to know people. Especially older people. They usually have a fascinating history of walking or have had a really interesting career. I’m not the greatest conversationalist but it’s worth the effort. It also makes it easier to manage the group.

The other pet hate was leaders not facilitating people going to the toilet. Sometimes this might involve explaining that we will get to a café or a public toilet in half an hour. More often though it’s a case of ‘going’ outdoors. In HF parlance this is known as a Comfort Stop.

Traditionally this was always managed after lunch by a Gentleman Forward Stop. The ‘gentlemen’ would walk on ahead until they were out of sight and the ‘ladies’ would catch up when they were ready. This can still work well under certain conditions. You need to make sure no-one else is going to wander by. You sometimes have to spell out the fact that the split needs to include everyone whether they want to ‘go’ or not. Of course we are not dictating when you go to the toilet. It’s just an option.

If the conditions aren’t right it is worth looking out for a spot where the women could go. It’s easier for the men. If you don’t do this not only are you creating a ‘pet hate’ but everyone will pick their own spot and then you’ll have to wait for them to catch up. Sometimes people really do not want to have a comfort stop outdoors and consequently don’t drink enough liquid and become dehydrated. This can be dangerous in hot weather.

My Experiences With Gloves

When I was a child my gloves were knitted from wool. Mittens were warmer than gloves but not really very cool at school especially if they were joined with a long strip of elastic than ran up your sleeves! Nowadays you can pay a lot of money for a pair of gloves to wear in the mountains, especially in winter. Some of the specifications are amazing.

Take Black Diamond Women's Guide Gloves, rated second in a review of winter gloves for women in this month's The Great Outdoors magazine. They have a retail price of £160 and are "beautifully constructed from supple soft shell and goatskin, [with a] seriously warm liner glove, which is a double whammy of PrimaLoft and boiled wool insulation".

Perhaps a bit more realistic would be Dexshell Ultra Weather Winter Gloves, rated first amongst men's winter gloves by TGO magazine. Priced at £45, they are made from "Taslan polyester, textured anti-slip PU, Porelle membrane, PrimaLoft Gold with CrossCore, polyester fleece". Well, I 've heard of Primaloft but not Porelle or Crosscore (links provided if you are interested).

Over the years I have owned many pairs of gloves and I do have quite cold hands. It takes about an hour for my hands to warm up if they have got cold. My circulation system is prioritising my heart and lungs but an hour is a long time compared to most people when exercising.

For day to day use in summer, my Trekmates thin fleece gloves are fine. If it gets a bit colder, I have some slightly thicker Montane fleece gloves and a pair of liner gloves that I can also put on. This traps a layer of air between them. You can do most things with them on but despite the fact that they have "touchscreen compatible fingertips", I usually have to take a glove off to use my phone. Also managing a map or route directions can force you take one or both gloves off. Not to mention blowing your nose!

In both cases if the gloves get wet, they are still fairly warm and I can partially wring them out by clenching my fists. Nevertheless, the idea of waterproof gloves did seem attractive. So I bought a pair of 'Sealskin' waterproof gloves. At first, these were waterproof but less so with wear and tear. However, the problem is that for the reasons given above you end up having to take them off and put them back on again over wet hands. Because they have a cloth lining they are really hard to put back on. In the end you have to wear liner gloves so that you can get the Sealskins off and on and the liner gloves get wet. You've sealed the water in rather than out.

For winter use, I am currently using Ejendals Tegera Thermal Waterproof Work Gloves from workgloves.co.uk. They are a bit fluffier inside than the Sealskins so I can get them on and off more easily and the fluffiness helps to warm wet hands. They are really warm, genuinely waterproof and pretty cheap at £20. In fact all the gloves on this site are very reasonably priced. However, they do need a bit of elastic sown around the cuffs so that the sleeves of your waterproof jacket will easily slip over them.

If I am doing things with my hands like navigating or holding poles, I do find gloves more convenient than mittens but if it gets really cold, go for Dachstein Mitts. Your fingers keep each other warm and you can put your thumb into the fingers department if you want to. They are made oversize and then boiled to shrink them so that they become very close knit. They will keep your hands toasty. You could get these from Needle Sports for example. They even come in a range of colours! Wool gloves will get wet but wool does stay warm when it's wet.

Addendum: This Safety Supply Company is amazing value!

Managing Emergency Procedures and Hazards

How do you manage a situation where you are leading a group and somebody is injured or unable to move for some reason? The text book answer is to firstly make sure you are safe, secondly make sure the rest of the group is safe and then thirdly sort out the casualty. This is all very well but how would I cope?

This was why I signed up for a 'Managing Emergency Procedures and Hazards' course run by Mike Raine and recommended by the Mountain Training Association.

Walking past Ffynnon Lloer

We met by Llyn Ogwen in North Wales and walked up Pen yr Ole Wen. On the way we talked about being aware of potential hazards and trying to think ahead. We discussed a particular scenario where someone has slipped off the path down the hillside.

Put on some more clothes, get the group to put on some more clothes, get the group into an emergency shelter and make a plan. We were thinking we should go down to the casualty next - but quite honestly,  if they haven't been able to climb back up you are going to need to call Mountain Rescue.

You might as well do that straight away. If you do call them you want to have all the information that they will ask for ready. They'll almost certainly tell you to stay put but you will want to get down to the casualty, possibly with someone else so maybe it would be better to write it all down and get someone else to phone for help? 

I know from other training that this would include: your grid reference, what happened when, who you are, the state of the party, any potential hazards to rescuers, weather conditions, how well equipped the group is, and what your plan is.

Of course that's just one scenario but thinking it all through before you act is well worthwhile. What you don't want is to be cut off from the group with no phone signal. In fact, thinking about it now, if you are planning on leaving the group for a while it could be worth exchanging phone numbers with some other group members. After all, you won't be able to call the person who is on the phone to Mountain Rescue. 

Plenty of other scenarios are possible of course. No phone signal where you are, nowhere to easily make the rest of the group safe etc. However just thinking this one through has given me a bit more confidence about dealing with other situations.

Mike recommended the Blizzard products: Blanket, Bag and Survival Jacket. We tried on a survival jacket and you could feel yourself warming up. Mike said that he'd spoken to someone at the hospital who dealt with people from rescues and they said that if people arrived in a Blizzard bag/blanket/jacket they'd treat their injuries and f they didn't, they'd treat for hypothermia!

Other great kit: Dachstein Mitts, Supalite 10 Person Bothy Bag and Personal Locator beacon. An idea that I really liked was a 1 metre square sheet of 5mm closed cell foam that you could quickly put under a casualty to protect their torso from the ground. This was pretty light.

It was a great day out in a fabulous location and really interesting to talk to other members of the group who are at various stages of their mountain leading 'journey' from working towards their summer mountain leader qualification to running their own outdoor pursuits company

Looking across Llyn Ogwen at Tryfan and the Glyders

Limone - Il Finale?

We have just returned from two weeks in Limone sul Garda. I was leading walks for HF Holidays and it will probably be the last time I lead abroad.

There were about twenty guests on each week's holiday, some of whom had come all the way from the USA or Canada. There was a little bit of rain in the first week but none in the second week and it was lovely to have the warm weather just as things are cooling off in the UK. In fact it was summer when we flew out from Gatwick and it looks like Autumn now in Hebden Bridge.

Lake Garda is the largest of the Italian lakes and is very popular with kite surfers, wind surfers and paddle boarders. The transport to the start of most of the walks was by ferry and the captain often had to sound the horn to clear them out the way. There is a cable car to the top of Monte Baldo that overlooks the lake and parascenders make use of it to fly high up over the lake.

Arriving back in Limone on the ferry.

Limone was the most northerly producer of lemons at one time and to achieve this they built Lemon Houses to keep the lemon trees in. The walls of these were posts that they could put wood and glass between to keep the trees at the right temperature. Lemons were not the only citrus fruit they grew. They also grew sour orange, sweet orange, citron, lime, mandarin, grapefruit, pomelo and bergamot. Many of these were grown by grafting them onto the root stock of a sour orange tree because it was a lot more hardy.

An old Lemon House

Sadly the lemon trees were infected by gummy disease, the army took away the boards and glass for WW1, there was an exceptionally cold winter, artificial citric acid was discovered and it was easy to grow lemons further south. These all contributed to the loss of the lemon tree business. Nevertheless enthusiasts have recreated a lemon house and it is well worth a visit. As is the wonderful Museum of Tourism.

Looking south over Malcesine

This will probably be my last lead abroad. It was already the case that many provinces in Italy, France and elsewhere were insisting that local leaders be used. See my blog entry from 2019 for example. Post Brexit this now includes many more European countries including those where they speak German and Italian, the languages I can speak a little of. I'm not keen on leading in countries where I have practically no language skills so, unless the rules change, I'll just be leading in the UK.

There will be a role for a Tour Manager to meet guests at the airport, liaise with the hotel and organise social activities on an HF Holiday abroad but it's leading the walks I like most.

I have had a good run and I do entirely understand why you might not be too happy having someone fly out to your local area from the UK to lead walks when you are trying to earn a living as a guide.

Back in Bonassola

I recently returned from another amazing trip leading for HF Holidays at Bonassola. This was the sixth time I'd been there! So you can see how much I love it. The Cinque Terre is a beautiful area with its photogenic towns by the coast and the views across the sea from higher up. There is some great and sometimes quite strenuous, walking as well.

Vernazza with Monterosso in the distance

The lower paths between the towns can get pretty busy. Top tip: if someone wants to overtake you, get in by the wall and let them pass you on the downhill side. The Cinque Terre towns: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manorola and Riomaggiore can also get very busy, especially now you get cruise ship groups, but we try to visit early in the morning when it is quieter. Seeing the tourists is really part of the experience!

We also get away from the touristy bits and visit quiter hillside villages. We have lunch at an Agriturismo high up above Framura which is five villages connected by steps. We also do some of the classic walks, like Riomaggiore to Portovenere, returning to Vernazza by ferry.

For transport to and from the walks we use the trains. This allows for more flexibility. We can depart really early if we want. That way we are making use of the cooler morning. It can get pretty hot and did while I was there. Using trains also means you are not committed to finishing the walk at a particular time. Monterosso station even has a bar on Platform 1 with an incredible view of the other Cinque Terre towns.

View from Monterosso Station Bar

However, the best bit is Bonassola itself and the Hotel Delle Rose. Two railway stations north of the Cinque Terre, Bonassola is a lovely peaceful place where Italians from the busy cities take their holidays. The hotel is run by the sons of the footballer Giorgio Bernardin who played for Inter Milan and Italy and they couldn't be more friendly. You can find out more of the history here.

The Roof Bar is a great place to sit in the evenings. You can eat breakfast there as well as listening to us describe the next day's walking. In the evening you can stroll out to the Punta Della Madonna and look back at Bonassola in the moonlight.

Bonassola from Punta Della Madonna

To finish, here is a picture of a prickly pear flowering over the Ligurian Sea.

Prickly Pear in Flower

Movement Masterclass

This week Dorothy and I attended a 'Movement Masterclass' in the Lake District. This was given by Chris Ensoll. Following on from my last posting about Gait, Chris also talked about the way we can use our legs as springs and use the momentum from the previous step. 

If you have a big step up you can go down a little and then step up. This allows you to use the leg you are standing on to push up rather than the leg you are about to use to pull you up. You can see Chris demonstrate this here.

He said that many people take too long a stride and that by taking shorter steps on the flat you can strike the ground using your mid sole rather than your heel, thus reducing the impact. We should stand up "straight and strong" and be "fluid and dynamic".

Something I really need to concentrate on personally is keeping my shoulders back and my chest out. You can feel your stomach flatten if you do this and it helps to engage your core.

When walking up or down a steep slope it helps if a line drawn through both your hips is at 45 degrees to the slope, with you facing downhill slightly. This allows you to put your feet at the same 45 degree angle, with the toes pointing downhill - allowing your heel and the whole of your foot to be in contact with the ground. You can see Chris demonstrate this going uphill here. On scree you should try to keep moving, in order to stay dynamic and cope with the scree moving as well.

Taking a break on steep ground

In a previous post on using walking poles, I recommended reaching forward and planting each pole in front of, and below you. This is based on advice from the British Mountaineering Council. Chris is not keen on this. He feels that it makes you lean forward too much and stops you from driving your movement from the hips. He is keen for people to avoid using poles going downhill if at all possible. This way you are strengthening the muscles around your knees. If you must, use the pole for balance by descending diagonally and holding a shortened pole next to your uphill hip so that it just touches the ground uphill from you. Change hands as you zig-zag down - similar to the way you would use an ice axe.

I will definitely try this but if someone is feeling very tired, I think it would be hard to dissuade them from putting some of their weight onto downhill poles. Going uphill you naturally hold the poles by your hips so no issues there.

I would really recommend the course. You might think that you learnt how to walk when you were about one year old but most of us have had years of learning to slouch since then and a course like this sets you back on the right path - so long as you practise the techniques.

Gait

I have just finished reading a book about the way we walk - 'Born to Walk' by James Earls. It is really aimed at physiotherapists and movement therapists and as such assumes a knowledge of anatomy that I don't have but as long as you don't try to follow every detail, it is still very enlightening. It has really opened my eyes to how efficiently we walk.

The book talks a lot about the fascial tissue which forms a thin casing around every organ, blood vessel, bone, nerve fibre and muscle in our bodies. Fascia has its own nerves and tightens up when it is stressed.

Humans have evolved a very economical way of walking on two legs where we 'vault' over our feet and reuse the energy that comes back from the ground when we put our feet down. Rather than contract and relax our muscles with every step, we use tendons and fascial tissue as springs with the muscles just being responsible for adding a bit of energy and correcting our stance every so often. Of course, more effort is needed by our muscles if we walk up or downhill.
 
This explains why walking around a museum or shopping centre can be so tiring. Instead of getting into a rhythmic pace, we are continually stopping and starting and wasting the momentum of the previous step.

Because walking involves bending and twisting, we counter this by using our whole body and our arms both to maintain balance and also as further energy stores to be released on the next stride.

By evolving these mechanisms our species found a way to wander over a large area searching for food with minimal use of calories.

Each step includes a number of 'key events' that allow us to use the foot as a rocker. The heel strikes the ground and then we flex the leg so that the energy is absorbed into the ankle, knee and hip as we roll over the ankle and then forefoot. As our full weight is taken by the foot the bones in the foot spread out before reforming into a dome as we push off on our toes and start the next step.

If any part of us is injured or stops functioning properly we can compensate by using our muscles but this results in a loss of efficiency and puts stress on the rest of the system.

We have different mechanisms for walking, running and sprinting, just as horses walk, trot, canter and gallop. The faster we go the more we use our arms to counter the rotation caused by our legs so that we keep our head and eyes as stable as possible.

Moving on from the book, another fascinating topic is Gait Recognition. The Chinese company Watrix is developing machine learning software that can identify people by the way they walk. Developers currently claim 94% accuracy. Scientists at Manchester University claim almost 100% accuracy for their AI software that analyses the way you put your foot down on a pressure pad.

The funding for the work comes from companies who are interested in using it for security purposes - at airports for example, but it is also claimed that it can help to detect the onset of mental illnes.

Just like fingerprint recognition, the systems rely on having a pre-existing database of people and their gait.

This link between walking and mental health is important. Personally I love the feeling of being 'in the zone' you get when you are walking at a comfortable pace and rhythm and it is a form of exercise that is available to most people.

Out and About

In July, Dorothy and I walked the South Downs Way with our friends Pete and Angie. We stayed at their house and used two cars or car and taxi for some of it then stayed at a hotel in Lewes for the last three days walking. The scenery is so different from where we live in Hebden Bridge. Instead of soft moorland and sheep there is hard, chalky ground and fields full of crops.

I grew up in South East London and my parents took my sister and me out walking in the Downs on most Sundays. It took me back to that time and forced me to try to remember the difference between barley, wheat and oats.

 

 

In August we drove to St Ives and staying at Chy Morvah - the HF House, we joined the guided walk along some of the North Cornwall Coastal Path. We started at Treyarnon Bay and walked to Cape Cornwall, returning to Chy Morvah each night. There were nine of us in the group plus our walking leader, Carol. Once again, walking by the sea was so different to Hebden Bridge.

 

We stayed on for a few nights so that we could visit Tate St Ives, Barbara Hepwoth's Garden and do some inland walks.

 

 

We walked around some archeological sites including Men a Tol. This is Cornish for 'The Stone With the Hole'. Allegedly the stone is guarded by a Cornish Piskie. If you thought your child had been swapped for a piskie child, you could push yours through the hole and it would be swapped back. Also, if a women crawls through the hole backwards seven times under a full moon, she becomes pregnant!

In September I was leading walks for HF Holidays at their Derwentwater house. For the third time we were very lucky with the weather.

The Derwent Fells

 

Last week, Dorothy and I rented a flat in Ullapool and went walking in Sutherland. We did have some sunny days but also some very wet ones.

Beinn Dearg from above Sheneval

 

 

 

 

Dorothy looking North from Sgurr am Fhidleir

 

Me on a damp day.

Back Leading Again

At last I was back leading with HF at their house near Glencoe. The walking programme has been cut down to one week to reduce the journey times and the need for ferries. We also had three coaches turn up each day so that guests could socially distance on them. In the evening there was no social entertainment like quizzes and you had to wear a face mask unless you were eating or drinking. Also we had to sit in smaller, spread out groups for dinner which was served across two rooms.

No walks talks in the evening. Guests had to read about the next day's walks on a poster. We were around to answer any questions and did a short briefing before setting off on the coach in the morning.

All very strange. It was lovely to be back there leading walks but as a social experience it really wasn't the same as it used to be. Let's hope things get back to normal soon.

 Dorothy and two other guests about to swim in the loch!

It's a Wash Out

Well, I managed the first three days. 26 Wainwrights in three days isn't bad going. Unfortunately the weather was on and off showers day and night. Also, walking with a heavy rucksack takes a lot longer than I'd anticipated. Sometimes it is possible to put the bag down and nip out to a summit without it but this wasn't often. I had a rain cover on my rucksack, a big plastic bag inside and then everything in waterproof bags within that. So there wasn't a problem with keeping my stuff dry during the day. However, when you are putting up a tent that is already wet from the night before, it is inevitable that once you've put it up, the things in it will slowly get more and more damp; including your sleeping bag. I really couldn't face putting on damp clothing and walking for another eleven hours or so. So Dorothy very kindly came and picked me up on day four.

Helvellyn from Fairfield

Answers to a few questions you might ask:

Shouldn't you have expected it to rain? After all, how do you think the lakes in the Lake District got there?

I did expect it to rain and I did expect things to get wet but the actual experience of being unable to get anything dry was worse than I had anticipated.

Will you carry on if the weather improves? 

I think I will try to do all the Wainwrights, but I may not try to do them as a continuous walk.

What about all that time you spent plannning?

Oh, I love planning. I enjoyed every minute.

Did you enjoy the walk?

Yes I did. It is satisfying to set yourself a big challenge and then go out and do it, and for the first three days that was exactly what I did. The shifting clouds and changing lighting were very atmospheric and the scenery is magnificent. I also enjoy just walking and thinking about things. You also spend quite a lot of time 'in the moment' thinking about where to put your feet or what you need to do next to get yourself up, breakfasted and packed up. The trouble is that I also began to think about being dry and comfortable again.

Ullswater and Plaice Fell from Hartsop Dodd

Are you disappointed?

It would have been amazing if I could have done it but I suppose that's because it was difficult. It was just a bit too difficult.

How do you poo?

Once I had put up the tent in an out of the way place, I dug a hole with my trowel as far away as possible from streams. When I packed everything up in the morning, I filled it in and put the grass back on top.

Were you really fit enough?

Clearly not. I did manage three days but my muscles were stiff in the morning and my knees and hips kept giving me ouch messages during the night. It's amazing to see how many fell runners there are.

Wouldn't it have been better not to broadcast what you planned to do?

I don't think good friends feel let down if you haven't met a challenge you set yourself. However, knowing that they want you to succeed does help to motivate you. It's easier to give up if no-one knows you are doing it. So telling people does help to push you.

Were you all smelly when you got home?

Yes!

Was it safe?

I'm not sure it was. I was following a route designed by a fell runner. I had adapted it a bit but occasionally I was going down very steep slopes with 15kg on my back and even with two walking poles you can't help wondering how you would stop yourself if you tripped.

Does the rucksack get lighter as you go along because you have eaten some of the food?

I thought this would be true but the fact that everything was getting more and more damp, seemed to be making it heavier!

Do you really think anyone would really ask all these questions?

You are still reading aren't you?

How do you get water? 

Fast running streams. Believe me, there was no shortage. I did have a pen that emits U/V light to kill bacteria and viruses if I felt there was any risk of contamination e.g. by sheep, but I think I should have also taken a filter. Anyway, I seem to be OK.

How do you feel now?

Camping in the wet makes you really appreciate normal life. I'm so lucky that I can go back home. What must life be like for refugees and other homeless people?

Pete's Wainwright Walk

The Wainwrights are the 214 Lake District hills (known locally as fells) described in Alfred Wainwright's seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells (1955–66).

A while back I watched a film about Steve Birkinshaw running round all the Wainwrights in six days and thirteen hours. He ran about two marathons every day basically. This set a new record. I think it's been subsequently beaten but one of the most inspiring things about the film was all the support he had from friends, family and the people of Keswick.

Many people try to climb all the Wainwrights, just as they try to bag all the Munros in Scotland and this was something I had been considering. Then I thought I could do them as one continuous route by following in Steve's steps. I am not a fell runner but I do like a bit of backpacking and wild camping. I really enjoyed doing the Cape Wrath Trail and it would be good to have another challenge. Especially since I have been unable to do any Walks Leading with HF Holidays because of Coronavirus.

This is not an original idea. In fact a guy called James Forrest is trying to do it in 18 days at the moment. I am planning to do it in 27 days, broken down into five separate backpacking trips. 

1. Rydal to Patterdale (6 days: 1 to 6)
   
2. Patterdale to Keswick (5 days: 7 to 11)
3. Keswick to Keswick (5 days: 12 to 16)
4. Keswick to Nether Wasdale (6 days: 17 to 22)
5. Nether Wasdale to Rydal (5 days: 23 to 27)

I was originally planning to have a hotel or B&B stay in between each leg but Dorothy has very kindly agreed to drop me off and pick me up for all but Keswick to Keswick. I can just leave the car in Keswick for 5 days for that one. Accomodation is awkward at the moment with the pandemic so it's much easier to come home in between and much nicer. In fact we are going walking in Scotland for two weeks after the first two legs.

I don't know if I'll manage it. I was very lucky with the weather on the Cape Wrath Trail. Wild camping is not strictly allowed in England but so long as I stay up in the hills, out of the way and leave no trace of having been there, I should be OK.

You can see the route here: