Just back from a run over Blencathra - had a great jaunt out and have been reflecting on a great week:
Plenty of bookings coming in for the B&B so the diary is looking quite healthy.
Lots more interest in Ama Dablam - taken 3 bookings and 5 enquiries this week alone, as well as 2 for next year.
Just been told this morning by our guests Mark and Angela that ours is the best breakfast they've ever had in a B&B.
Also received feedback on my Everest summit video "Great video! the best from everest on youtube."
Today is the 5th anniversary of our successful ascent of Everest.
And I've been called a D.I.L.F.
It doesn't get much better than that.
Everest and Ama Dablam expedition leader, rock climbing instructor, B&B owner, husband and Dad of 2.
Sunday 30 May 2010
Wednesday 26 May 2010
The Bob - Leg 5
Another frantic day with various e mails and calls to do with Ama Dablam this November, Everest next Spring and bookings for the B&B this summer. Then off to swimming lessons with Grace before popping over to Portinscale to pick up Donald and Kate to support Leg 5 of the BGR.
Drove up to Honister and waited for Chris Scammell who was up on a 20 hour pace. Now for those who aren't in the know it's difficult enough to complete the round in 24 hours let alone shaving 10 or 15% off.
Met a couple of other guys at Honister who'd been seconded in and we got everything ready for Chris' arrival. He looked remarkably chipper considering.
Then the guys who'd just done leg 4 thought that they may as well stay on and so there were 7 of us pegging it up on to Dalehead, over to Hindscarth, across to Robinson and then down off Robinson, through Littletown and back to Keswick. It was a fantastic evening with no need for headtorches until crossing the river. Chris kept up an amazing pace and completed the round in 19hrs 39mins. Even made it to the pub in time for last orders - Hurrah!
Just received a text from him this morning and he can't move!
Drove up to Honister and waited for Chris Scammell who was up on a 20 hour pace. Now for those who aren't in the know it's difficult enough to complete the round in 24 hours let alone shaving 10 or 15% off.
Met a couple of other guys at Honister who'd been seconded in and we got everything ready for Chris' arrival. He looked remarkably chipper considering.
Then the guys who'd just done leg 4 thought that they may as well stay on and so there were 7 of us pegging it up on to Dalehead, over to Hindscarth, across to Robinson and then down off Robinson, through Littletown and back to Keswick. It was a fantastic evening with no need for headtorches until crossing the river. Chris kept up an amazing pace and completed the round in 19hrs 39mins. Even made it to the pub in time for last orders - Hurrah!
Just received a text from him this morning and he can't move!
Sunday 23 May 2010
B&B, scrambling & Ama Dablam - a busy day
Well ...
up at 06.15 to cook breakfast for our guests who wanted an early start for their mass ascent of Scafell Pike. They have chosen possibly the hottest day of the year so far which is good and bad - great views but a day to get frazzled.
Cleared the dining room, loaded the dishwashers, had a quick breakfast and managed to fit in a coffee with Ali at Good Taste before heading down the valley to meet some clients for scrambling. Mooched in to Langstrath and had a perfect day on Cam Crag Ridge before heading back across Bessy Boot and down Big Stanger Ghyll.
Back home, took 2 bookings for the B&B and answered a couple of e mails to do with rock climbing and the forthcoming expedition to Ama Dablam (the enquiries just keep coming in this year) and then helped sort the kids for bedtime before cracking on with a spot of ironing. Luckily I was saved after about half an hour by Andy and Jon who dropped by to chat about their forthcoming trip to Ama Dablam (thanks for the bottle of wine guys). Talked through a whole load of stuff to do with the trip and put everything in to perspective for them. I think they'll be maxing out the credit cards with a few purchases from Needlesports.
Bed at midnight so an 18 hour day.
up at 06.15 to cook breakfast for our guests who wanted an early start for their mass ascent of Scafell Pike. They have chosen possibly the hottest day of the year so far which is good and bad - great views but a day to get frazzled.
Cleared the dining room, loaded the dishwashers, had a quick breakfast and managed to fit in a coffee with Ali at Good Taste before heading down the valley to meet some clients for scrambling. Mooched in to Langstrath and had a perfect day on Cam Crag Ridge before heading back across Bessy Boot and down Big Stanger Ghyll.
Back home, took 2 bookings for the B&B and answered a couple of e mails to do with rock climbing and the forthcoming expedition to Ama Dablam (the enquiries just keep coming in this year) and then helped sort the kids for bedtime before cracking on with a spot of ironing. Luckily I was saved after about half an hour by Andy and Jon who dropped by to chat about their forthcoming trip to Ama Dablam (thanks for the bottle of wine guys). Talked through a whole load of stuff to do with the trip and put everything in to perspective for them. I think they'll be maxing out the credit cards with a few purchases from Needlesports.
Bed at midnight so an 18 hour day.
Thursday 20 May 2010
My 15 minutes of fame
Well the Everest summit season is underway and a new record has been set by Bonita Norris who is now the youngest British female to summit. As a consequence of that I was called by Radio Cumbria and asked for my views as well as recollections of our trip in 2005. In actual fact this then made my day quite a bit busier as I felt I ought to do a little research before the broadcast - which meant that I wasn't doing the chores around the house that needed completing. The knock on affect was that it made for a long day and I eventually finished making beds and cleaning en suites at about 11p.m. to then lay the tables ready for brekkers.
They very kindly sent me a copy of the live broadcast - I hope that you enjoy it.
As ever there have been the usual e mail enquiries to answer, bookings to process and calls to take. Also another 2 Ama Dablam enquiries who are following up on their initial interest - so this year's trip is almost full already.
Talking of Ama Dablam we had a couple round last night who had been on last year's trip so it was great to catch up with them. The legend that is Stuart Holmes (he who flew off the summit) was also round so a good night was had by all. It's nice that clients from the expeditions keep in touch as we have generally spent a month or so together and in that time you usually build up quite a rapport. I still hear from over 80% of them from time to time, which I take as a great compliment. I guess that's where the bespoke personal touch really comes in to its own.
Anyway I've also managed to fit in a couple of runs, almost finished off the accounts, tested the fire alarm and emergency lighting, bought supplies and new pillows, ordered a new table, attended a food hygiene course, was out climbing with some clients on Saturday and am off scrambling this coming weekend with another group of folk.
Oh, and I have just heard that play area project was entered in to the regional Action for Market Towns award scheme. And out of the whole Northwest, it won! Hurrah.
Who said running a B&B was a quiet, easy, life???
They very kindly sent me a copy of the live broadcast - I hope that you enjoy it.
As ever there have been the usual e mail enquiries to answer, bookings to process and calls to take. Also another 2 Ama Dablam enquiries who are following up on their initial interest - so this year's trip is almost full already.
Talking of Ama Dablam we had a couple round last night who had been on last year's trip so it was great to catch up with them. The legend that is Stuart Holmes (he who flew off the summit) was also round so a good night was had by all. It's nice that clients from the expeditions keep in touch as we have generally spent a month or so together and in that time you usually build up quite a rapport. I still hear from over 80% of them from time to time, which I take as a great compliment. I guess that's where the bespoke personal touch really comes in to its own.
Anyway I've also managed to fit in a couple of runs, almost finished off the accounts, tested the fire alarm and emergency lighting, bought supplies and new pillows, ordered a new table, attended a food hygiene course, was out climbing with some clients on Saturday and am off scrambling this coming weekend with another group of folk.
Oh, and I have just heard that play area project was entered in to the regional Action for Market Towns award scheme. And out of the whole Northwest, it won! Hurrah.
Who said running a B&B was a quiet, easy, life???
Thursday 13 May 2010
Ama Dablam, Everest and The Bob Graham Round (oh and the B&B as well)
Well it's been a pretty busy fortnight. There's been the usual coming and going of guests, various amounts of laundry, tidying, making beds, cleaning rooms, shopping for supplies and keeping up to date with paperwork not to mention attending a Level 2 Food Hygiene Course. But there's been a few other (more interesting?) bits going on as well. In no particular order:
Assisted on leg 4 of the BGR the weekend before last and was suitably impressed with the guy who was doing it as he was 45 minutes up on a 22 hour schedule. Now that is quite a pace and he'd already been going for about 14 hours when we met him and went from Wasdale over to Honister (via Yewbarrow, Red Pike, Steeple, Pillar, Kirk Fell, The Gables, Brandreth and Grey Knotts). And I guess I was suitably chuffed with myself as the pace was reasonable and it all seemed achievable - although I hadn't been going for the previous 14 hours! At the top of Red Pike it started raining a tad and by Steeple it was snowing so the conditions were far from perfect. But great to be on the hill and sussing out the route.
Then ... last weekend I did Leg 1 again with local legend Chris Scammel. Unfortunately I was doped up with Paracetamol having come down with a bout of man flu and not slept at all well that night (and having been up quite a bit throughout the week with Max who just won't go through a whole night without waking at least once and sometimes 3 or 4 times). Anyroadup, we started at quite a lick and legged it up Skiddaw in just over an hour, over to Great Calva, down and up to Blencathra and down to Threlkeld. I felt positively vile for the majority of the route but still came in at 3 hours 30 mins. Chris kept his split times and would have been in at around 3 hours - which is a sub 20 hours schedule! No wonder I felt knackered and went home - he went on to do Leg 2 with Joe Grove in around 3 and 3/4 hours.
And - have received yet more enquiries for Ama Dablam and another 2 bookings (so that is now 12 on the permit). It's all starting to take up more and more of my time with the usual need to get paperwork from folk, arrange their itineraries, start looking at the logistics and tying it all together. Met with the Keswick posse who are coming along and we ended up having a few more beers in The Square Orange than anticipated. 'Twas a good night.
Also - have received my third Everest deposit for Spring 2011. So that confirms that trip too - which I am obviously extremely excited about. We'll be on the Nepal (South side) which is warmer and safer than the Tibet (North side) where I was in 2005 with a bunch of mates. It takes quite a bit longer to get to Base Camp as we'll be in for a 2 or 3 week trek whereas on the North side you drive to Base Camp in a few days. But at least we'll be reasonably well acclimatised when we arrive. All the respective Camps on the South are at lower elevations than on the North which will make for a more comfortable trip (although I doubt many people would describe what we are letting ourselves in for as being any where near comfortable). And another benefit on the South side is that you can easily escape Base Camp and drop down for a rest at a lower altitude whereas on the North you're pretty much stuck on the Tibetan Plateau. So hopefully we'll be able to keep the blog updated and share all our adventures and photos with everyone back home.
Apart from that we have also bought new cutlery, crockery and pillows. I managed to get out for a few runs, finish off some mapping work that I do as another sideline and I'm out rock climbing with some clients this weekend.
That's about all for now ...
Assisted on leg 4 of the BGR the weekend before last and was suitably impressed with the guy who was doing it as he was 45 minutes up on a 22 hour schedule. Now that is quite a pace and he'd already been going for about 14 hours when we met him and went from Wasdale over to Honister (via Yewbarrow, Red Pike, Steeple, Pillar, Kirk Fell, The Gables, Brandreth and Grey Knotts). And I guess I was suitably chuffed with myself as the pace was reasonable and it all seemed achievable - although I hadn't been going for the previous 14 hours! At the top of Red Pike it started raining a tad and by Steeple it was snowing so the conditions were far from perfect. But great to be on the hill and sussing out the route.
Then ... last weekend I did Leg 1 again with local legend Chris Scammel. Unfortunately I was doped up with Paracetamol having come down with a bout of man flu and not slept at all well that night (and having been up quite a bit throughout the week with Max who just won't go through a whole night without waking at least once and sometimes 3 or 4 times). Anyroadup, we started at quite a lick and legged it up Skiddaw in just over an hour, over to Great Calva, down and up to Blencathra and down to Threlkeld. I felt positively vile for the majority of the route but still came in at 3 hours 30 mins. Chris kept his split times and would have been in at around 3 hours - which is a sub 20 hours schedule! No wonder I felt knackered and went home - he went on to do Leg 2 with Joe Grove in around 3 and 3/4 hours.
And - have received yet more enquiries for Ama Dablam and another 2 bookings (so that is now 12 on the permit). It's all starting to take up more and more of my time with the usual need to get paperwork from folk, arrange their itineraries, start looking at the logistics and tying it all together. Met with the Keswick posse who are coming along and we ended up having a few more beers in The Square Orange than anticipated. 'Twas a good night.
Also - have received my third Everest deposit for Spring 2011. So that confirms that trip too - which I am obviously extremely excited about. We'll be on the Nepal (South side) which is warmer and safer than the Tibet (North side) where I was in 2005 with a bunch of mates. It takes quite a bit longer to get to Base Camp as we'll be in for a 2 or 3 week trek whereas on the North side you drive to Base Camp in a few days. But at least we'll be reasonably well acclimatised when we arrive. All the respective Camps on the South are at lower elevations than on the North which will make for a more comfortable trip (although I doubt many people would describe what we are letting ourselves in for as being any where near comfortable). And another benefit on the South side is that you can easily escape Base Camp and drop down for a rest at a lower altitude whereas on the North you're pretty much stuck on the Tibetan Plateau. So hopefully we'll be able to keep the blog updated and share all our adventures and photos with everyone back home.
Apart from that we have also bought new cutlery, crockery and pillows. I managed to get out for a few runs, finish off some mapping work that I do as another sideline and I'm out rock climbing with some clients this weekend.
That's about all for now ...