Even better than that dear... 33 point day in the Lakes

[M0NOM]

Ashamed to admit that as a newly appointed area manager I was mistaken believing that the G winter bonus finished on 1st of March - when in fact it’s the 15th, I decided to make up for that by improving my previous 31 point activation.

Approximate Route

I started at Honister Pass about 8:15am, having taken the motorbike. In a nod to the winter bonus I did see 2˚C on the motorbike in Seatoller, although it had risen to 7˚C when I got to Honister Pass.

First stretch was via the Wainwrights Grey Knotts, Brandreth and Green Gable - contacts made for WOTA - before dropping down to Windy Gap (yes it was windy!) and then the scramble up the rocky crag to Great Gable.

Honister Pass

Frogspawn on in a fell top tarn, Brandreth

Looking up Great Gable from Windy Gap

Plaque on Great Gable

Rocky summit of Great Gable

There was definitely a lift on VHF - I was using the FT1XD and Diamond RH-770 whip. The NP S2S from Tony and Ian were coming through loud and clear.

TIME	CALLSIGN	BAND	MODE	RST	RSR	OPERATOR	SIG	REF
10:30	M7OUD/P	2m	FM	59	59	Tony	SOTA	G/NP-008
10:35	GM4WHA	2m	FM	59	59	GEOFF
10:30	GW4ZPL	2m	FM	59	59	Colin
10:37	2E0LDF	2m	FM	59	59
10:38	2E0IKM	2m	FM	59	59	Mike
10:38	G0TDM	2m	FM	59	59	John
10:38	G6AEK	2m	FM	59	59	David
10:39	G7CDA	2m	FM	57	57	Douggie
10:40	G7SXR	2m	FM	59	55	Mark
10:43	2E0MIX	2m	FM	59	59	Derek
10:45	M0ABL/P	2m	FM	55	55	Ian
10:47	M0JIA/P	2m	FM	59	59	Ian	SOTA	G/NP-005
10:49	MW3YNK	2m	FM	59	59	Jerry
10:50	GI4SZW	2m	FM	53	44	Seamus
10:52	GM3OXK	2m	FM	59	59	Jack
10:53	G4VFL	2m	FM	51	56	Andrew

Ascending Kirk Fell

Kirk Fell Tarn

I got talking to a guy on Kirk Fell and forgot to take any photos!

TIME	CALLSIGN	BAND	MODE	RST	RSR	OPERATOR	SIG	REF
12:37	MW0PJE/P	2m	FM	59	59	Peter	SOTA	GW/NW-032
12:37	G6AEK	2m	FM	59	51	David
12:49	2E0LDF	2m	FM	59	59
12:40	2E0MIX	2m	FM	59	59	Derek
12:42	2E0IKM	2m	FM	59	59	Mike
12:43	GM4WHA	2m	FM	59	59	GEOFF
12:44	GW4ZPL	2m	FM	59	55	Colin
12:45	G0TDM	2m	FM	59	58	John
12:45	M0SSD	2m	FM	59	59	George
12:45	G0EVV/P	2m	FM	53	53	David	SOTA	G/LD-027

Then it was down the rocky outcrop traverse down to Black Sails Pass - I was warned about this by the guy sharing the summit with me, but I didn’t want to try and find a different path and to be honest it was no more difficult that the descent of Great Gable. My recommendation is don’t go up either summit if you don’t like steep ascents or descents over rock.

Looking towards Pillar from Black Sails Pass

I had a decision to make now - keep walking away from Honister Pass towards Pillar, or turn back and leave it a two summit activation. Derek @2E0MIX had told me on the radio that there was a path around the side of Kirk Fell I could take on the way back, so I pressed on.

Ascending towards Pillar

This is the first time ever that I arrived at a summit earlier than expected - in fact I checked the GPS that told me I was practically at the summit and didn’t believe it (it has been known to lie!) only for the trig point to come into view within literally 30 seconds! I was very happy…

Pillar flat summit and Trig Point

Pillar Rock

Some great S2S here: Andy @MM7MOX, Pete @MW0PJE, Andy @G8CPZ and unexpectedly @EI4JY Alex as I was just above to leave the summit, a great final contact!

TIME	CALLSIGN	BAND	MODE	RST	RSR	OPERATOR	SIG	REF
14:36	GM4WHA	2m	FM	59	59	GEOFF
14:37	G6LKB/P	2m	FM	59	59	David
14:38	M6LKB/P	2m	FM	59	59	Clifford
14:40	G8CPZ/P	2m	FM	52	53	A	SOTA	G/LD-052
14:41	2E0LDF	2m	FM	59	59
14:42	MM7MOX/P	2m	FM	57	57	Andy	SOTA	GM/SS-049
14:44	MW0PJE/P	2m	FM	59	59	Peter	SOTA	GW/NW-032
14:44	2E0IKM	2m	FM	59	59	Mike
14:45	GW4ZPL	2m	FM	57	57	John
14:45	G6AEK	2m	FM	59	59	David
14:53	EI4JY/P	2m	FM	53	55	Aleksandr	SOTA	EI/IE-002

I quickly turned heels after the activation and descended back to Black Sails Pass, then took the path east to Kirk Fell Ghyll. I took a break here - it isn’t the prettiest Ghyll but the water sure tasted good!

The path after this was a bit unobvious in places, so I decided to follow the contour line as best I could. It was very wet in places - that and the continous slope was now starting to have an impact on my feet.

Black Sails Youth Hostel

Interesting Humps!

Finally at Moses Trod

The sun setting definitely helped keep the spirits up - as did eventually finding that last packet of peanuts that was doing a great job hiding the rucksack!

Mandatory Lake District Sheep Photo

Honister Digger

Thanks to all the dedicated chasers, it wouldn’t work with you guys n gals!
The ride back was nice with the stars and moon in the sky.

What a great way to see out the winter bonus!

[M6BWA]

Wonderful account and pictures. I got tired just looking at the map!. Your views make our local South Wales hills look a bit tame - perhaps because they are! However they still have to be treated with respect - we got roasted on the way up Waun Rydd GW/SW-004 yesterday and then got slowly and insidiously cold in the steadily increasing east wind. A careful but quick descent from Carn Pica was called for even before any lunch could be consumed.
Keep up the good work but don’t think you can rest YET - there is still the rest of this week including Saturday in the Winter Bonus season (but it ends on 14 March in GM Land I believe).
73 Viki

[M0NOM]

Thanks for the reminder Viki, and nice to hear from you, but I’m all done now that was quite a day!

Seriously, I probably would have planned another one this weekend but we are off to Scarborough and the SOTA pickings are very slim there!

I’m guessing someone in the past has managed the maximum 39 points in a day (false assumptions here - see below!), and LD land is probably a good place to do it with the right logistics, but it would definitely require a car and careful planning.

Mark.

[M1BUU]

I think John G4YSS has done St Sunday Crag, Fairfield, Seat Sandal and Helvellyn from Patterdale in the day - adding up to 44 points.

Edit - found a relevant topic -

G4YSS: LD3-LD22-LD7-LD10 on 80m & 160m,13-03-16

G4YSS Activation Report, LD3-LD22-LD7-LD10 on 80m & 160m 13-03-16. PART-1; Main Report (For Comments and Photos, see Part-2) HELVELLYN, SEAT SANDAL, FAIRFIELD & ST. SUNDAY CRAG. SOTA’s: G/LD-003, G/LD-022, G/LD-007 & G/LD-010. G4YSS using SSEG Clubcall GX0OOO/P on 80m & 160m QRO (44 points) All times: UTC. Mobile phone coverage on all tops inc LD7 - EE (was Orange) network. Sunrise: 06:25 UTC, Sunset: 18:13 UTC EQUIPMENT (Radio): FT817ND HF/VHF/UHF 5W Transceiver MX-P50M HF (80 thru’ …

[M0NOM]

Hi Colin.

Stupid me, I don’t know where I’d got 3 summits in my head as a maximum, but that makes total sense (and an obvious choice of summits), which makes me wonder (database guardians listening?) what the maximum number of points ever obtained in a single day was.

(Just read that report, OMG, HF including top-band???, snow, crampons, ice-axes, QRO power, wow - @G4YSS John’s day makes mine look positively tame!!!)

[MM0FMF]

@M0NOM

the maximum number of points

It depends.
Things have been improved so summits should all have 150 m (100 m) prominence now. Before there were plenty of summits with little prominence for many reasons. That meant the physical effort was less than now. I think I saw someone get 80 pts in a day in DM some 10-15 years back. Activating the summits was valid, they were in the DB but the summits were in the DB mainly due assorted errors.

I remember Robin GM7PKT activated 5 Munros on 2m one Summer. I think it was 10,10,8, 6, 6 pts. Real P150 summits. The most I have ever done in GM is 14 pts. But when OK had erroneous summits, I did 5x 10 pts in a day and that involved starting after breakfast in the hotel, so leaving around 9am and a 40min drive to the parking for the 1st summit. I ran out of daylight in the end.

[MM7MOX]

It was good to catch you s2s from Culter fell GM/SS-049 on Sunday. I didn’t do as many hills but did enjoy scoring winter bonus points sitting in shirtsleeves on the summit.

This was my second summit of the weekend having done Green lowther GM/SS-056 on Saturday, nice weather on that hill too but not quite as warm.

Both outings this weekend on the bike, a bit cold and greasy in the mornings but glorious runs home on the dry surface, some of the Triumph ponies got out for a gallop !

Andy
MM7MOX

[G4IPB]

Very impressive Mark, my legs had done enough when I did Gable and Kirk Fell without adding Pillar……but I suppose that is the disadvantage of being old enough to be 5/5ths retired…. I bet it is also possible to do a high point day in NP, but only by doing lots of driving between easy starting points and Ithink that feels like “cheating”. 73. Paul (Hopfully getting a bit more winter bonus today)

[GM5ALX]

@M6BWA

but it ends on 14 March in GM Land

That’s correct, but it also starts 1 day before G (30th Nov vs. 1st Dec) so same number of days overall.

I’m sure there’s an interesting story behind that.

[MM7MOX]

The G/GM difference caught me out on The Wiss GM/SS-140 a couple of years ago…
Andy
MM7MOX

[MM0FMF]

Well…St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and in 2018, I think, St. Andrew’s Day, November 30th, became a Bank Holiday in Scotland. (Bank Holiday == public holiday). I received a request either from Rob @GM3YTS or Gavin @GM0GAV to have the GM winter bonus include this new holiday.

Now to me this is a no-brainer. The day is a holiday and the weather on Nov 30 and Dec 1 is pretty much the same but if the WX is OK and it’s a holiday, then the chances are you would get more people in GM going out activating. So starting the GM bonus on Nov 30th is simple, I moved the start one day forward. However, with a bonus period of 105 days for all the UK associations, I didn’t have any justification for extending the GM bonus and if GM got an extra day, then everyone else would want an extra day. To be honest, I wasn’t prepared to argue why GM should get an extra day and everyone else shouldn’t. So I did the easy action and moved the end one day forward to March 14 so the period is the same but it’s shifted a day to include the holiday.

Being lazy I just tweaked the the bonus period in the DB. This meant that every GM winter bonus from 2003 onwards moved a day forward and it had 2 knock-on effects. Iain MM3WJZ’s MG day moved 3 or 4 days later and Andy MM7MOX didn’t get any bonus when he activated on the 15th one year. Mea Culpa

[G0EVV]

Thanks Mark, great report and superb photographs. Thanks also for your Wota and Kirk fell summits.
Sorry I missed you on Gable, it is difficult working HF and 2m together.
I Also do not like the decent from Kirk Fell to Black Sail.
Can be a nasty decent in windy conditions with a big pack.
There is an alternative down the Eastern side of a small stream on grass on the Eastern flank that picks up the traverse path so on the same altitude as Black Sail.

David
G0EVV

[G4TGJ]

@M1BUU

St Sunday Crag, Fairfield, Seat Sandal and Helvellyn

I’ve done those in a day but it was in summer so only 32 points. If it had been winter I would have needed extra batteries for the headtorch.

[EI4JY]

My dictaphone’s record and a bit of a video montage from Sunday’s Mullaghcleevaun EI/IE-002 activation. A full QSO with @M0NOM/P 257 km, not the record breaking for that day but still the second fartherst …
https://youtube.com/shorts/A-CqEQxRyro

73 de EI4JY, Alex

[M0JIA]

Awesome, well done. Might have a look at those for a nice summer’s day!
Feel a bit lazy now only doing four Yorkshire Dales’ six pointers over two days last weekend! Driving between them and getting an overnight sleep. Not giving any of the 36 points back though.
Thanks for the summit to summit.

[M6BWA]

Tx Alex for the 2 s2s from EI/IE-007 the other day when I was on GW/SW-002 Waun Fach. I was pleased with the 2m contact and very impressed by the 70cm at 56/57! Have you got a photo of your 70cm beam? I look forward to the next contact -which will also be a s2s as I only work from SOTA summits. BTW if you want a look at Waun Fach it’s on ‘GW/SW Some Sunny ‘Winter’ Days’ at present.
73 Viki

[M0NOM]

Thanks very much for the video and audio Alex, always great to see the other side of the QSO, and congratulations on the setup because that Nagoya whip is far from great on 2m!

Here’s to the next time,

Cheers Mark

[EI4JY]

@M6BWA

Tx Alex for the 2 s2s from EI/IE-007 the other day when I was on GW/SW-002 Waun Fach. I was pleased with the 2m contact and very impressed by the 70cm at 56/57! Have you got a photo of your 70cm beam?

It was my pleasure working with you Viki! I’ve uploaded a short iPhone clip of that 70cm activation with my setup and your voice as a background to the wind Unfortunatelly, more clear dictaphone recording is gone already as I tend to delete them after a while.
https://youtube.com/shorts/q0hFxCmbDKE

73 de EI4JY, Alex

[EI4JY]

Cheers Mark, my pleasure! Looking forward to our next encounter!

73 de EI4JY, Alex

[G7HEM]

Thanks Mark, loved the report and the pictures! What a great day out.