'The Bob' is a go

Have just announced intentions to have a crack at The Bob Graham Round sometime at the beginning of August. Rather than setting a fixed date now, and being at the mercy of the weather, I've contacted my potential supporters, I'll find out their availability to do various legs according to which day of the week and what commitments they have, and then once I have a better idea about the weather I'll get in touch with everyone and set the date accordingly.

Went out on Blencathra with Stuart (the chap who'll be having a go on the same day as me) and we hoofed it up to the summit in 1hr 10mins. Then we went back along towards Great Calva to suss out the line from the river crossing and then hung a left and dropped across to the Skiddaw House track and back across the top of Latrigg. A good little run out but I realised as I got to the top of Latrigg that all I'd had that day was a left over rasher of bacon for breakfast and a spoonful of baked beans for lunch. It had been a bit of a busy day in the B&B and I'd had Max to look after and, well, I just ran out of time for breakfast and then forgot to have lunch. Nearly, but not quite, bonked - so a very valuable lesson. Good to know that I could still run on empty and took on the importance of keeping the fuel tank topped up.

Just been up Clough Head this afternoon in between and amongst the rain showers. Not sure whether to tackle it up the steeper more direct line or the less steep but longer ascent. The difference amounts to about 300m / 4 minutes - not a lot but if you lose 4 mins here and 4 mins there it could make all the difference between success and failure.

The beauty of mobiles and the internet! Managed to take 3 calls and a booking while out on the hill. Brilliant. Not like the old days where the B&B owner had to be in to get the passing trade. Or when people used to get the tourist brochure, ring the B&B, make a booking, send a letter and a cheque to secure the reservation and get a letter in reply to confirm the booking. Nowadays people can book at any time of the day or night online - which is why we offer a discount for internet bookings.

We have tweeked the B&B website and gone for a brand new, cleaner look with bigger photos and a slightly different layout. Any feedback much appreciated.

Still getting Ama Dablam enquiries but have unfortunately had to close the trip. Not so much because of the number of people that I am looking after but more that there could be a potential logjam if everyone is on the same schedule and trying for the summit round about the same time. The camps are rather bijou to say the least:

Camp 2 on Ama Dablam - just enough room for 5 or 6 tents

Camp 2.9 on Ama Dablam - even less room. 3 tents at a push.

The problem comes when trying to get more people than the available tent spaces up and down over a two or three day period - especially when relying on tent spaces being vacated for the next wave of people on their summit push only to find that the people who are already there are perhaps too pooped, or conditions haven't been suitable, for them to descend.

Anyway all being well we'll have a great time out there and hopefully we'll be reporting back with lots of summit successes. Watch this space.

In the meantime I'll be out on the hill in a couple of weeks with Pete Sidwell who is filming with a company called Liberty Bell for a forthcoming series that he's managed to get picked up for showing on Channel 4 throughout the whole of September. Fingers crossed for some good weather. Not sure how the day will pan out, or how it's going to fit in to the structure of the programme, but I'm delighted to be working with him. Apparently he's been doing an awesome job and it will be good to see the end result.

For the time being ... 'That's all Folks.'