45.. gusting to 55 mph

That was the forecast but it never seems that bad in the car park.. looking up into the mountains we actually couldn't see anywhere close to the Helvellyn Summit.. it was clear from the start that there would be poor visibility (pardon the pun).

As we got to Swirrel Edge we were still sheltered from the strong Westerly winds and it wasn't until we went onto the top that we were blasted with the full force. We headed North to lower man.. "keep the drop on your right or you'll miss the path"..

we'd ran 300m and I shouted against the noise of the wind.. "You've missed it already!!" we corrected our course but visibility was 20 yards at best, the rocky drop off lower man is always reassuring then the horrible drag up Whiteside.. wind now so strong that I'm leaning at almost 45 degrees.

Off lower man and start the zig zag descent, we are now on the East of the ridge and suddenly silence and respite.. it's a different day.. the temperature starts to rise again and we run steadily out past the youth hostel down the long alpine like valley chatting as we go..

We'll all be back again in 3 weeks time to battle it out on the mountain, dragging our aching and burning limbs over the rocky ground and no doubt taking a few tired tumbles on the loose descents.. I think we're ready..

Here endeth theenduranceblog..