I know I’m fit if the ascent and descent take the same time. How about you?
73
Richard
G3CWI (currently unfit…)
2 Likes
In reply to G3CWI:
With that criteria I’ll never be fit 
Roger G4OWG
1 Like
In reply to G3CWI:
Interesting… but there has to be some limits to how long it takes to get up. Otherwise just going very slow up and down will give the same times and that may give misleading measurements of fitness!
I’m not fit as I can get down quicker than I get up but the difference is often not very much. Though I sometimes think I dawdle and simply bimble along on the way down because I can. And sometimes my nearly-50 knees suggest slower is better.
Andy
MM0FMF
1 Like
In reply to G3CWI:
Personally I can’t agree with that Richard. I say to anyone going along with me, “I’ll see plenty of your back on the way up, you’ll see plenty of mine on the way down”. It doesn’t mean that I’m not fit, just that my style of ascending and descending are wildly different. I also have preferences on the type of ascent, being much happier on the long even gradients such as Carnedd Wen GW/MW-012 and the sharp steep ascents such as Tryfan GW/NW-006. The problem is that most gradients are somewhere in between!
The only summits I’ve ever managed what you suggest are ones like Ruardean G/WB-021, Crowborough G/SE-007 and Great Orme GW/NW-070. Hmmm, I wonder why…
73, Gerald
1 Like
In reply to G3CWI:
Well, being a whippersnapper of 15 years, I find that going uphill incredibly quickly can be fun, with a slow, teenage mope-style descent. If the hill is only small (1 or 2 points) I sometimes enjoy running down at full pelt, whatever the terrain may be! Although I do ache a bit afterwards…
ATB,
Tommy
M6AIM - by this time tomorrow I shall known as MM6AIM! (I hope)
2 Likes
In reply to G3CWI:
Hi Richard
As I have increased in fitness over the last 18 months (or rather decreased in weight - by about 5 stones) although my ascents have speeded up, my descents have increased in speed much more, so I’m not convinced of the universality of your assertion!
The one certain thing is the enormous benefit I have realised from my participation in SOTA. When I first started, Walton Hill was a major challenge. Now I can look forward with eager anticipation to a day out taking in a couple of major summits. They should supply it on the National Health
73 de Paul G4MD
3 Likes
In reply to G4MD:
5 stones??? I am very impressed Paul. I’d like to lose at least that much myself, what would you recommend? How did you do it?
I too can feel the health benefits that participation in SOTA brings, but so far all it seems to have done for me is make my legs a bit firmer. HI!
Maybe I don’t do it often enough?
73,
Mark G0VOF (Definitely unfit)
In reply to G0VOF:
5 stones??? How did you do it?
Hi Mark
Quite simple really, but not easy 
Basically down to obsessive counting of calories. Losing weight is much like “miracle” antennas - hype, misinformation and misunderstanding abound but as with RF currents, and quoting perhaps the most famous engineer of all time, “ye cannae change the laws of physics” - it’s all to do with balancing energy in and energy out. Add to that a big dose of motivation (that’s where SOTA came in for me!) and you’ve got it cracked.
If you’re seriously interested in losing weight, drop me a PM and I can give you a lot more detail of how I went about it - it’s probably a bit OT for the reflector!
73 de Paul G4MD
My descents are slower on bigger hills. That’s because I am tired later in the day, plus my 18 stones combined with an uneasiness with heights means that any steeper sections in the descent tend to be taken very over-cautiously.
My descents of SP-015 are very fast. That’s because I know every step off by heart, but moreover because I am chasing a very tight deadline to get to work on time!
Tom M1EYP
1 Like
In reply to M1EYP:
my 18 stones …
My descents of SP-015 are very fast. That’s because I know every step
off by heart …
Ah … so I suspect, then, that I am not the only person who can’t walk through the “stile” on the path up to SP-015 and has to resort to crawling underneath it!
LOL! 
73,
Walt (G3NYY)
1 Like
It is tight, but I can do it Walt. Fortunately, despite the 18 stone payload, I am also 6 ft 3 in tall, and so simply by standing up straight, I can get most of the “bulk” above that squeeze stile, and only my legs need to get through it!
1 Like
In reply to M1EYP:
Ah, you have the height advantage. I’m only 5ft 9in, but just a stone lighter than you!
I need to take slimming lessons from Paul!
73,
Walt (G3NYY)
In reply to G3NYY:
I lost 2 stone and my XYL lost 5 stone, I was always the big eater but now my XYL eats more than me and continues to loose weight. Its not how much you eat its what you eat that matters. Sean M0GIA
1 Like
In reply to M0GIA:
Its not how much you eat its what you eat that matters.
So a flask of Broccoli, Stilton and Bacon soup, followed by an Indian curry on the way home is perhaps not the recipe for success?
73,
Walt (G3NYY)
1 Like
In reply to thread:
When I was a little younger my decents were very much faster than the ascents because like many other climbers I adopted a sort of crab-wise galumphing action, bouncing down very rapidly. I wouldn’t do it now, I don’t trust my ankles the way I did!
73
Brian G8ADD
2 Likes
In reply to G8ADD:
I walked up Hadley Mountain (W2/GA-175) yesterday in an hour and came back down in a 1/2 hour.
I am paying for it today… my legs are sore, but I did not want to let the younger couple with their 2 children beat me up ! lol
Maybe, I should have listened to my rubber legs. It did not help that the pine pollen was blowing off the trees looking like yellow smoke and the humidity was reasonably high … my excuse and I’m sticking to it
Andrew K1YMI
1 Like
I came down Rhinog Fach GW/NW-078 the other day in the same time I went up it - 3hr 30min each way for the record! I was certainly fit for nothing by the end of it
73 Paul G4MD
5 Likes
I am generally slower going up than coming down.
I put that down the the extra gravitational pull from all the weight I am carrying (weight of the radio kit, not personal weight).
Stuart
G1ZAR
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With me it is exactly the opposite 
73 Armin
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I can attest to this. Using an app to track calories makes it really easy, and you tend to get into a good pattern of eating once you see the results. I also tend to drink a lot less during these healthy periods which makes a massive difference to the calories.
Herbalife worked really well for me too, getting me down to my lightest, that was combined with lots of exercise mind. It won’t be for everyone and they do try and get you to buy everything rather than just the essentials.
Regards, Mark
2 Likes